Immigration — a hot-button topic that continues to make headlines in today’s political landscape — will be the subject of a two-day conference at Kenyon this month.
Fifteen scholars, journalists, lawyers and policy advocates will be on campus March 26-27 for a series of panels and lectures intended to dig into the most pressing contemporary issues involving immigration. The conference is sponsored by the Center for the Study of American Democracy (CSAD), and all events are open to the public.
“Immigration has been highly contested nationally over the past three decades, and very intensively so the last 10 years,” said Joseph L. Klesner, CSAD director and a professor of political science and international studies who will moderate one of the panel discussions. “At CSAD, we felt an obligation to help our students and our community make sense of the contending positions on this most critical and timely issue.”
The conference title — "A Nation of Immigrants?" — echoes the name of John F. Kennedy's 1958 pamphlet that was published later as a book. It celebrated this country’s immigrant heritage and encouraged the United States to reopen its doors to immigrants. During the upcoming conference, experts from a variety of fields will consider if America remains a nation open to immigrants.
“The national conversation about immigration is an important and complicated one that demands a nuanced understanding of historical, legal, economic, political and ethical concerns,” said President Julie Kornfeld. “I am so pleased that CSAD is providing a critical opportunity for our community — both on campus and beyond — to learn about and better understand these complex issues from renowned experts.”
Panel discussions during the biennial conference will cover such topics as: “Immigration in Ohio,” "Ethical Considerations in Immigration Policy," and "Immigrants, Refugees, and the Law." The full conference schedule can be found online.
Among the individual speakers appearing will be Caitlin Dickerson, a staff writer for The Atlantic who covers immigration and who won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory writing. She will speak March 27 on “Life on the Move” at 11:10 a.m. in Oden Hall’s Archon Auditorium.
Also speaking during the conference will be Chandran Kukathas, professor of political science at Singapore Management University and former chair of political theory and head of the Department of Government at the London School of Economics. He will talk on March 26 about “Immigration Control and the Open Society” at 7:30 p.m. in Archon Auditorium.
Established in 2007, Kenyon’s Center for the Study of American Democracy organizes conferences, lectures and seminars with the goal of stimulating nonpartisan civic and political discourse. It also provides teaching and research opportunities for faculty and students and promotes student internships in Washington, D.C.