Call for Papers: New Directions in Immigration: Interdisciplinary Research Perspectives, a Graduate Student Conference

The Immigration Working Group
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Date: Friday, March 28, 2014

Deadline to Submit: Friday, February 28, 2014

A year after a group of US Senators introduced an immigration reform bill in Congress—the largest of its kind proposed in nearly two decades—the promise of reform remains unfulfilled. Nevertheless, migrants continue to leave their home countries for the US to make meaningful contributions in their new communities, while the US immigration system proceeds to separate families through the deportation process at increasing rates. The Immigration Working Group (IWG) invites papers from across disciplines that elucidate the multifaceted nature of immigration in its upcoming conference. This conference also aims to celebrate the research of recent graduates and IWG members.

Title: New Directions in Immigration: Interdisciplinary Research Perspectives
Date: Friday, March 28, 2014
Place: CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Panel 1: Migration and Integration: The Local Context and Beyond-- exploring the factors that motivate migration and integration across boundaries of all kinds
We invite papers exploring the following issues:
    * Motivation and forces behind the migration process
    * Inter-state migration in the United States
    * Citizenship, transnationalism and boundaries between nation-states

Panel 2: State Responses to Immigration -exploring how governments here and abroad respond to immigrants in way that promote or hinder their social, economic and political incorporation.
We invite papers exploring the following issues:
    * Multiculturalism
    * Immigration reform
    * History of different state policies towards immigration

Panel 3: Immigrant Ingenuity in Integration: exploring how immigrants and their children have adapted to their environments by utilizing educational, cultural, and/or economic institutions to improve their lives while contributing to their communities.
We invite papers exploring the following issues:
    * Influence of immigrants and their children’s presence in schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and other social contexts
    * Assimilation and integration of immigrants and second generation immigrants  

We welcome the submission of papers dealing with other immigration-related topics as well and encourage graduate students or recent graduates from all fields and disciplines to participate.

Submissions: If you are interested in presenting a paper at the conference, please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words by February 28, 2014 to the IWG using the submission form found here. All applicants will be notified of a submission decision by March 7, 2014.

For more information, please contact the Immigration Working Group at elisabeth.brodbeck@gmail.com.