Auburn University
College of Liberal Arts announces a public symposium on immigration and
migration in Alabama. Isabel Wilkerson and Carmen Agra Deedy headline a roster
of presenters who will provide historical context for the people who came to,
left, and moved within Alabama over the last two hundred years.
The two-day
public symposium, “Becoming Alabama: Immigration and Migration in a Deep SouthState," will take place on January 20-21 at the Hotel at Auburn University
and Dixon Conference Center. It will feature scholars and professionals
exploring immigration and migration from Spanish exploration to the 1813 Creek
War through the present.
Symposium
director, Dr. Mary Helen Brown, Breeden Eminent Scholar for the Caroline Marshall
Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities at Auburn, notes, “Alabama is a
complicated place, and we can learn much by looking at the state through the
lens of history and thinking about the future.”
The symposium is
a “Becoming Alabama” event. Designed to commemorate major Alabama anniversaries
of the Creek War/War of 1812, the Civil War and Emancipation and the Civil
Rights era, “Becoming Alabama” is a statewide initiative begun by the Alabama
Department of Archives and History.
Pulitzer
Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson will give a presentation based upon her
Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of
America's Great Migration. Carmen Agra Deedy, the award-winning writer of
children's literature, will present on her experiences of growing up Cuban in
Decatur, Georgia.
Prominent
scholars of history and political science from Auburn University, as well as
other institutions, will also present on topics ranging from Spanish
Exploration to how Alabama's immigrant population, including Germans, Koreans,
Southeast Asians, and Hispanics, among others, have shaped art, politics,
education and culture in the state.
Brown, an
associate professor in the Auburn University Department of Communication &
Journalism, adds, "We are excited about the quality and variety of
speakers coming to this conference.”
A genealogy
workshop will kick off the conference
from 1 – 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 19th. Presenters will
introduce family research and focus on using the census for both African
American and Native American genealogies.
The workshop is co-sponsored by OLLI at Auburn, and may be registered
for separately. Visit our website for more information.
Registration for
the conference is $50. Registration for meals, which will feature keynote
speakers, is separate. Students may register at a discounted rate. For a
schedule and a list of presenters, visit our website or call 334-844-4946.
