Eric Schlosser Speaks on "To Be an American"

Acclaimed author and journalist Eric Schlosser will give a free talk on Thursday, March 22 at 4 p.m. in the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center auditorium. His talk, “To Be an American,” addresses the historical, cultural and social implications of our nation’s immigrant identity.

As a melting-pot nation, the United States has experienced both the vigor and the tension that comes from making one of many. Schlosser’s wide-ranging perspective addresses the roots of American identity and the impulse that helped make the nation a destination for those in search of economic, cultural and religious freedom. 

Schlosser’s first book, Fast Food Nation, published in 2001, helped start a revolution in how Americans think about what they eat. In 2011 it was named one of Time magazine’s 100 all-time best nonfiction books and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for two years. His second book, Reefer Madness (2003), looked at America’s thriving underground economy and was also a New York Times bestseller.

Schlosser served as an executive producer and co-wrote the feature film Fast Food Nation (2006), directed by Richard Linklater. He was a co-producer of the award-winning documentary, Food, Inc., directed by Robert Kenner, and served as executive producer of There Will Be Blood (2008), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Two of Schlosser’s plays have been produced in London: Americans (2003) at the Arcola Theatre and We the People (2007) at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

As an investigative journalist, Schlosser has made a career of going outside the mainstream media to give a voice to people not always widely heard. He’s followed the harvest with migrant farm workers in California, spent time with meatpacking workers in Texas and Colorado and gone on duty with the New York Police Department Bomb Squad. 

Schlosser’s talk is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts’ Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities, Department of Communication & Journalism and Community and Civic Engagement Initiative, as well as the Auburn University College of Agriculture. 

Film Series on Immigration Continues with "Abandoned"

Abandoned (2000, 55 minutes), a film by directors David Belle and Nicholas Wrathall, is the second installment of a film series on immigration. Abandoned will screen at on Tuesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (540 East Thach Avenue). Dr. Stacey Hunt, professor in the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts, will lead discussion.

Abandoned, takes a close look at the personal impact of immigration laws and depicts the severity of current detention and deportation policies. Through intimate interviews and shocking footage of detainees' treatment behind bars the film provides an eye-opening experience for those unfamiliar with the detention system.

Hunt, who will moderate Abandoned, is currently an assistant professor of Political Science. She specializes in comparative politics with an emphasis on contemporary state construction in Latin America.  Abandoned, has been shown at over a dozen film festivals and focuses on the effects of the 1996 law that allows for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to imprison legal permanent residents and asylum applicants.

The series, which is free and open to all, will include screenings of seven other films, including Harvest of Shame, Pueblos Hermanos and Morristown. Each screening will take place at AUUF at 7 p.m. Designed to spark discussion of both film and issues of immigration, the series was created by Dr. Kerri Muñoz and is sponsored by the Auburn University Latin American Studies Center for Community Connections, the College of Liberal Arts Global Citizenship Project, the departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures, English, and Political Science, as well as AUUF and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the Collegeof Liberal Arts.