Call for Papers

Embracing Diversity: Latino Immigration and the Transformation of American Society An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, October 13-14, 2006 Sponsored by the Committee on Ethnic Studies, Harvard University

This national conference will bring together graduate students from the social sciences and the humanities who research ethnic/racial, cultural and religious diversity. It will focus on the how the recent wave of Latino immigration has transformed the American society. Conference participants will explore how Americans of different ethnic/racial backgrounds experience increased Latino immigration and the increasing diversity in the American society more generally. In addition, the conference will examine the unique benefits that this wave of immigration offers, the challenges that it poses, and the relationships between immigration and inequality, social trust, civic engagement and political participation. With this conference, we aim to provide a platform where graduate students can engage in both theoretical and empirical discussions of social processes underlying the incorporation of Latino immigrants and their children and the role of policy and institutions in shaping migration flows. Graduate students in accredited AM or PhD programs are invited to submit titled abstracts of no more than 400 words on topics related to: – Diversity and Latino immigration: benefits and challenges. – The social, economic and political incorporation of Latino immigrants and their children. – The role of policy (federal, state, and/or local), institutions, labor markets, gender, and social networks in shaping immigrant flows, incorporation, and transnational behavior. – Intergroup relations and bridging across racial/ethnic divides: how will new Latinos complicate or be impacted by existing relations? – Theoretical and/or methodological discussions of how to conceptualize and study international/internal migration, legal/illegal immigration, especially from Mexico. – Latino immigrants, ethnic neighborhood concentration and social mobility. Submit abstracts to diverse@wjh.harvard.edu no later than August 14, and a paper draft if available. Abstracts should describe the argument of the paper and the text/material/evidence on which it draws. Students selected for presentation will be notified by September 1. They will be asked to submit a completed paper by September 29. Please note that conference attendees will be responsible for finding support for their travel and accommodation expenses at their home institutions. For more information, please visit the conference website at: http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/sociology/embracingdiversity. Highlights of the conference include: – Nationally recognized keynote speaker – Faculty panel including faculty members from the Greater Boston area – Cultural exhibition and possible cultural performances Faculty Sponsors: Jennifer Hochschild, Department of Government, Harvard University Mary C. Waters, Department of Sociology, Harvard University Conference organizers: Onoso Imoagene, PhD Program in Sociology Byron Pacheco Miller, PhD Program in Government & Social Policy Yasmine Ndassa-Colday, PhD Program in Molecular Biophysics Van Tran, PhD Program in Sociology & Social Policy

KJ