UIS Speaker Series presents "Immigration and Illegality in the American Imagination"

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series presents “Immigration and Illegality in the American Imagination” featuring Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, associate professor of history and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at The Ohio State University.

WHEN: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: UIS Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: This talk and multi-media presentation will explore the historical origins and contemporary manifestations of how the U.S. became a "gatekeeping" nation. It focuses on the groups of immigrants - Asian Americans, Eastern and Southern Europeans, Latino/a, political dissidents, women migrating alone, as well as those who have disabilities - which the U.S. government and people have sought to exclude and restrict to socially engineer ideal Americans.

The United States is often described as a nation of immigrants, a characterization that erases the history of indigenous people to the formation of the nation. At the same time, many Americans harbor intense fears about "the huddled masses" and "the wretched refuse" from other shores.

Professor Wu joined the faculty of Ohio State in 1998 after receiving her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She teaches courses on Modern U.S. History, Asian American History, Women's History, Immigration History, History of Comparative Racialization, the 1960s, Intersectionality, Women and Labor, Race and Sex, and American Women's Movements. She is particularly interested in incorporating new media assignments into her classes.

For a list of other upcoming ECCE Speakers Series events and more information, visit http://illinois.edu/goto/speakerseries. All events are free and open to the public.