May 2008

World Cafe Dialogue on Immmigration.
Making a Difference: What can we do in Our Communities?
Thursday May 1, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in SUB II - Room 7

Part of a four-part dialogue series exploring the complexity of immigration and attempting to gain an understanding of the perspective and narrative of others, while at the same time trying to develop a sense of empowerment and responsibility to take action.  The program is open for students, faculty, staff and members of the community.

April 2008

Immigration Film Festival: Undocumented
Tuesday April 15 at 7:30, Johnson Center Cinema.
Video art presentationand lecture by anthropologist Lori Lee and video artist Edgar Endress.

The Effects of U.S. Immigration Policy on People,
A Democracy Project Panel.
Thursday April 10 at 3:00, location TBA.
Contact: rcsynder@gmu.edu.

Text and Community: Devil's Highway. Luis Urrea.
Wednesday April 9 at 7:30, Center for the Arts.

Luis Urrea and David Amoroso Reception.
Wednesday April 9th from 5:30-7:00pm, Mason Hall Atrium.

Viajeros: A Portrait Series Documenting the Stories of Immigrants, by David Amoroso.
March 31-April 18, Mason Hall Atrium Gallery.

March 2008

"Aqui Estoy" by Albany Park Theater (Chicago)
Tuesday March 18 at 7:30, Theaterspace
Performing Arts Building, room A105

The Chicago Sun-Times reviewed performances of Aqui Estoy as "Some of the most riveting and imaginative storytelling to be seen on any stage. . .APTP’s young performers possess an ensemble spirit and sleight-of-hand technique that suggests decades of stage experience."  Aqui Estoy (I Am Here) is mounted by Albany  Park Theater Project (APTP), a group of teens and young adults who conduct ethnographic research in the Chicago community, write their own plays based on the stories they collect, then perform them as an ensemble. The teens will present two short plays. Amor de Lejos chronicles the lives of day laborers from Central America and Mexico. Nine Digits tells the story of an APTP teen artist who has lived the life of an undocumented immigrant since his parents brought him to the U.S. from Colombia when he was six.

World Cafe Dialogue on Immmigration.
How is Our Community Changing?
Thursday March 6, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in SUB II – Room 7

Immmigration Film Festival: Farmingville.
Tuesday March 4, 7:30, Johnson Center cinema.
Admission: FREE
More Info: www.cssr.gmu.edu for parking info and mapps, call 703-993-2992, email scurry1@gmu.edu

Farmingville (USA, 2003, 1:18 English/Spanish w/English subtitles) a film by Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini – The chilling hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers in the small town of Farmingville, Long Island catapult the population, and the immigration issue, into the national headlines, unmasking a frontline of the new border wars – suburbia.  This bilingual, verité documentary allows many players in the story – long term residents, day laborers, elected officials, advocates on all sides of the issue – to speak for themselves, offering a rare and intimate glimpse behind today’s headlines.  For more information about the film visit www.farmingvillethemovie.com.

A discussion led by Dr. Carol Cleaveland, assistant professor of Social Work, will follow.

February 2008

World Cafe Dialogue on Immigration.
Who are we? The Many Faces of Our Community
Thursday Feb 14, 7:30 pm, SUB II room 1-2

Documentary: 9500 Liberty.
Screening and Discussion with directors.
Tuesday Feb 5, 7:30, Johnson Center Cinema.

Please join us for the first documentary of Mason Project on Immigration's immigration film festival. The directors of 9500 Liberty will be on hand to screen their "interactive documentary" and lead a discussion. Directors/Community Activists Eric Byler (Award winning director for such films as Charlotte Someday and Americanese), Annabel Park, and Jeff Man posted segments virtually real time on www.youtube.com where local residents and everyone else weighed in town hall style.

"9500 Liberty" is named after the Liberty Wall, the site of the half-destroyed banner in Manassas that reads "Stop Your Racism To Hispanics." Every-day Prince William citizens and controversial characters like Chairman Corey A. Stewart and Help Save Manassas President Greg Letiecq star in the film. It documents the historic 12-hour Citizens' Time on October 16 at the Prince William County government center, two months of ethnic tension and civic activism that led up to it, and the effects of "politicizing" the immigration issue.

November 2007

On the Eve of the Election: The Immigrant Issue and the Challenge to Virginia's Communities

The question of immigration policy has become a hot button issue that has polarized many communities across our nation, including many counties and municipalities that have sought to adopt restrictive policies toward undocumented or illegal immigrant groups. Especially as Virginia's election draws near, there is a pressing need for reasoned, informed discussion of immigration and the challenge it poses to Virginia's communities.

The forum will include Rev. Stephen Smith-Cobbs, Pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, Virginia and affiliate of Project Hope and Harmony; Ms. Maria Teresa Petersen, founding Executive Director of Voto Latino, a youth organization seeking to galvanize the fastest growing eligible voting block  in America; and Ms. Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, the principal and chief strategist of CG2 Consulting, a firm that provides strategic legislative services and public policy advice. She currently represents nonprofit groups before the Virginia General Assembly, including the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations.

October 2007

Douglas Massey, "Understanding America's Immigration Crisis", Director of the Mexican Migration Project at Princeton University

The escalation of border enforcement has not only failed to stop immigration from Mexico, it has backfired.  The unilateral militarization of the  border with one of our largest trading partners has lowered the probability of
apprehension, nationalized what had been a regional flow, lowered the rate of return migration, increased the rate of settlement in the U.S., and has driven up the costs to U.S. taxpayers beyond what they would otherwise have been.

Douglas S. Massey is professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. In 1982, Massey and Jorge Durand (Universidad de Guadalajara), with an interdisciplinary team of researchers, created the Mexican Migration Project to further our understanding of the complex process of Mexican migration to the United States.  The project is a binational research effort and has collected survey data on over 114 communities in Mexico. Since its inception, the MMP's main focus has been to gather social as well as economic information on Mexican-US migration. The data collected has been compiled in a comprehensive database that is available to the public for research and educational purposes through the MMP website (http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/).

Massey has authored and co-authored some 14 books on international migration and segregation, including Return to Aztlan: The Social Process of International Migration from Western Mexico (U of California Press: 1987); Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium (Oxford UP: 1997); Crossing the Border: Research from the Mexican Migration Project (Russell Sage Foundation: 2006); and most recently Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System (Russell Sage Foundation: 2007).

Documentary film "A Dream in Doubt"
With discussion facilitated by Tami Yeager, the film maker, and Preetmohan Singh, co-producer and
Deputy Director of Public Policy at The Interfaith Alliance in Washington, DC
Thursday, October 2, seating begins at 7:30 pm
Harris Theater

September 2007

Lost and Found in Mexico: a documentary by Caren Cross
Co-sponsored by Mason Projection on Immigration and the Folklore Programs
JC Cinema

Although the transnational movement of cultures and communities is not new, when most Americans think about immigration they imagine people coming to the U.S. and the effect immigrants have on their local communities. Rarely do they see immigration as a two-way process, with Americans traveling to foreign countries and exerting their influence on others' communities. While Americans are not leaving the U.S. in overwhelming rates, there are places in Mexico and Central America where U.S. retirees constitute a growing trend: a growing population of American emigrants.

For over a decade Mexico has been a preferred location for North American retirees, and it is estimated that it is home to over one million Americans. San Miguel de Allende is one of the oldest and best-known expatriate communities in Mexico and leads the list of preferred locations abroad for American retirees.

Lost and Found in Mexico, a documentary film by American expatriate Caren Cross, examines the life choices of a variety of Americans who have made San Miguel de Allende their permanent home.  Cross was a successful professional who was pursing the American dream with a successful career, family and comfortable lifestyle. After she and her husband took a one-week vacation to Mexico, however, the couple came home and dismantled their lives in the United States and moved permanently to San Miguel.  A few years later, Cross realized that she had been significantly changed by the experience of living in Mexico.  Her film gathers a compelling collection of life stories and explores why she and a variety of San Miguel expatriates have given up their lives in the U.S.  Lost and Found in Mexico is a complex and honest portrayal of an evolving trend in U.S.-Mexico immigration, and offers important insights to the lives of America's growing emigrant population. Her film recently won the award for Best Film Made in Guanjuato at Expresion en Corto, Mexico's largest film festival.