Refugee's stories have been a large part of my reading since I decided to write down my parents' refugee journey. Of the dozens I've read there are two that I would particularly recommend: German Boy: A Child in War (by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel) and The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir (by Kao Kalia Yang).
Accuracy, balance, completeness, and fairness are major values emphasized in news coverage; still, the field of journalism struggles with the ideas and ideals of diversity.
Continue reading "What I'm Reading: What Does an Illegal Alien Look Like? " »
Many people in Europe and North America today wrongly believe that murders of daughters or wives by their fathers, husbands, or brothers - labeled as "honor killings" - are products of Moslem traditions carried by immigrants into modern, western societies.
Continue reading "What I'm Reading: "Honor Killings" - Then and Now, Part I " »
Are Americans ever emigrants or immigrants? As part of my dissertation project, I have been reading about Americans who have opted to leave their home country and make their home abroad.
For me, summer reading means escape, largely through fiction that is as unrelated as possible to my scholarly work. Imagine my surprise then when I opened two new novels pulled randomly from the shelves of the Minneapolis Public Library. Both featured main characters who were very much "on the move."
By Haven Hawley, Program Director, IHRC
The spread of a particularly virulent influenza strain in Mexico has rung a public health alarm bell because of similarities to the deadly flu pandemic of 1918. It's far too early to predict that the 2009 experience could be as devastating, but a new historical source based on fraternal association records at the IHRC may help researchers in modeling responses to today's situation.
Continue reading "A Cause for Concern and Study: The Flu Today and in 1918" »
By Haven Hawley, Acting Director and Program Director, IHRC
The spread of a particularly virulent influenza strain in Mexico has rung a public health alarm bell because of similarities to the deadly flu pandemic of 1918. It's far too early to predict that the 2009 experience could be as devastating, but a new historical source based on fraternal association records at the IHRC may help researchers in modeling responses to today's situation.
Continue reading "A Cause for Concern and Study: The Flu Today and in 1918" »
By Taehohn Lee
These are hard times. As of February 2009, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.6% in Minnesota.
By Debra Kay Markert
There have been many articles in the papers about the raids that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has carried out in the name of national security. But instead of focusing on the criminals and terrorist suspects, ICE is targeting those that are relatively easy to find. They are finding them hard at work in the meatpacking plants.
Continue reading "How Is Deporting A Meat Packer Keeping America Safe?" »
By Halyna Myroniuk, IHRC Senior Assistant Curator
Many Ukrainians who came to the United States after the Second World War as Displaced Persons were survivors of Holodomor, the great famine of 1932-1933. Some came as children with memories; others heard about it from their parents or the elders in their respective communities.
Continue reading "Ukrainian Americans commemorate 75th Anniversary of Holodomor" »
By Donna Gabaccia, IHRC Director (on sabbatical)
Immigrants have been making music in the United States for over 200 years. So why is it that no journalist writing recently about Osmo Vänskä’s jazzy clarinet-playing at New York’s Avery Fischer Hall referred to the Finnish-born Vänskä, director of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2003, as an immigrant? To reporters, he’s a Finn who happens to live in the United States.
By Haven Hawley, Acting Director
During my first year as IHRC program director in 2007-2008, I became aware of how my work expresses continuity with the partnerships and programs initiated and sustained by Donna Gabaccia, Rudi Vecoli and their predecessors in the “Minnesota School of Immigration History.�
Continue reading "IHRC's Activity Builds on "Minnesota School of Immigration History"" »
By Molly Rojas Collins, Senior Teaching Specialist, Post-Secondary Teaching & Learning
Immigrant and refugee students face a challenging path at the University – a place that often treats their multilingual and multiculturalism as a deficit.
Continue reading "Immigrant & Refugee Students Face Challenges, Bring Strengths" »
By Sonia Cancian, University of Minnesota Visiting Scholar Spring 2008
The love letter, with its expressions of love, longing and desire written between confidants and lovers living apart, is a document that for centuries has been regarded as the ultimate form of the art of letter-writing.
Rudolph J. Vecoli, long-time director of the Immigration History Research Center, died on Tuesday, June 17. The entire IHRC community mourns his loss and extends deepest sympathies to his family. Rudi will long be remembered for his trenchant critiques and contributions to the field of immigration and ethnic history. The IHRC is Rudi's legacy to the community, the university, and the historical profession. A memorial service celebrating Rudi's life and work will be held in Andersen Library on Wednesday, July 9, 6 - 8 p.m. Please read obituary in the New York Times.