Embracing Diversity:
Latino Immigration and the Transformation of American Society

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Embracing Diversity: Latino Immigration and the Transformation of American Society
An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference
Harvard University

Friday-Saturday, October 13-14, 2006

All sessions will be held in the Belfer Case Study Room (S020)
at the Center for Government and International Studies
1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge MA 02138

All panels and discussions are free and open to the public.


FRIDAY                October 13, 2006 | CGIS South, Concourse Level, Belfer Case Study Room


8:30-9:00 AM      Registration & Continental Breakfast (CGIS South, Concourse-level Lobby)

9:00-9:15 AM       WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS

Jennifer Hochschild ( Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government and Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University )

Mary C. Waters (M.E. Zukerman Professor of Sociology, Harvard University)

9:15-10:45 AM     LATINO WORKERS IN LOW-WAGE LABOR MARKETS

Renee Reichl (PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of California at Los Angeles)
Has the Mainstream Been Remade? Mexican-Origin Workers in the New Economy
(Co-authored with Roger Waldinger) 

Cesar G. Abarca (PhD Candidate, Sociology & Social Work, Boston University)
The Middleman in the Global Semi-Informal Job Market: Immigrant Latinos in a Temp Agency 

Rodolfo A. H. Corchado (PhD Candidate, Cultural Anthropology, the Graduate Center of the City University of New York)
We Came to Work: The Criminalization and the Making of the Mexican Undocumented Immigrant Labor Market in New York City

Discussant: Richard B. Freeman (Herbert S. Ascherman Professor of Economics, Harvard University )

10:45-11:00 AM   Coffee Break (CGIS South, Concourse-level Lobby)

11:00-12:30 AM   EDUCATION & PUBLIC POLICY

Roberto G. Gonzales (PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of California at Irvine)
Born in the Shadows: The Children of Mexican Migrants in Contemporary America 

Catherine L. Belcher (PhD Candidate, Education, University of Pennsylvania)
Developing Border Success: Bilingual Education Policy and the Integration of Latino Immigrant Students in Calexico, California  

Aurora Villegas-Muriel (MA Candidate, Latin American Studies, Tulane University)
Rebuilding New Orleans: Hurricane Katrina, Latinos, and Reconstruction

Discussant: Glenda R. Carpio (Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies and of English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University)

12:30-1:30 PM     Luncheon (CGIS South, Concourse-level Lobby)

1:30-3:15 PM     RECEPTION OF LATINO IMMIGRANTS

Monika Gosin (PhD Candidate, Ethnic Studies, University of California at San Diego)
Constructing Racial Identities: Black Voices on Cuban Immigration in South Florida 

Ryan Mast & Adam Frick (MA Candidates, Latin American Studies, Tulane University)
Rebuilding a City, Rebuilding a Citizenry: Charting Immigration Growth and Patterns in Post-Katrina New Orleans´s Brazilian Demographic 

Leslie A. Martino (PhD Candidate, Sociology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York)
From 'La Montaña' to Manhattan :  The Impact of Mexican Mixtec Migration to New York City

Abby Williamson (PhD Candidate, Public Policy, Harvard University)
Group Relations in New Immigrant Destinations: Conflict, Contact, or Constrict?

Discussant: Susan Eckstein (Professor of Sociology, Boston University)

3:15-4:00 PM     INFORMATIONAL PANEL: FELLOWSHIPS & DATA RESOURCES

Shirin Hakimzadeh (Research Assistant, Pew Hispanic Center)

Randy Higgins (Senior Program Assistant, National Research Council of the National Academies)

Cynthia Verba (Director of GSAS Fellowships Office, Harvard University)

4:00-4:10 PM     Coffee Break (CGIS South, Concourse-level Lobby)

4:10-5:30 PM      FACULTY PANEL: LATINO IMMIGRATION & PUBLIC POLICY

Jennifer Hochschild (Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government and Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University)
Debating Immigration Policy: The Political (Dis)Incentives for Going after Illegal Immigrants

Peggy Levitt (Associate Professor of Sociology, Wellesley College)
Understanding Immigration Transnationally: Immigrants, Politics and Policy Implications

Mary C. Waters (M.E. Zukerman Professor of Sociology, Harvard University)
Beyond the Horizon: The Implications of Taking a Long View on Assimilation for Public Policy Concerns

5:45 PM                Dinner for Faculty Participants and Student Presenters at John Harvard's


SATURDAY        October 14, 2006 | CGIS South, Concourse Level, Belfer Case Study Room


8:30-9:00 AM      Continental Breakfast (CGIS South, Concourse-level Lobby)

9:00-10:30 PM    HEALTH & INEQUALITY

Marcus Alexander (PhD Candidate, Government, Harvard University)
Growing Old in a New America : The Effects of Latino Immigration on Health and Life-Expectancy Inequalities among Older Americans

Christie D. Batson (PhD Candidate, Sociology, Ohio State University)
New Evidence of Ethnic Resilience? First Birth Patterns among Mexican American Women 

India J. Ornelas (PhD Candidate, Health Behavior & Health Education, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill)
The Causes and Consequences of Maternal Depression In Mexican Immigrant Families 
(Co-authored with Linda Beeber & Krista M. Perreira)

Discussant: Edna A. Viruell-Fuentes ( Yerby Postdoctoral Fellow and W.K. Kellogg Scholar in Health Disparities, Harvard School of Public Health)

10:30-10:45 AM  Coffee Break (CGIS South, Concourse-level Lobby)

10:45-12:15 AM   KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Ivan H. Light (Professor of Sociology, University of California at Los Angeles)
Deflecting Immigration : Networks, Markets, and Regulation in Los Angeles

12:30-1:30 PM     Luncheon (CGIS South, Concourse-level Lobby)

1:30-3:00 PM       LATINO IMMIGRANT SOCIAL NETWORKS

Jessie Rochford (PhD Candidate, Sociology, Fordham University)
The Impact of Social Networks and Human Capital on Puerto Rican and Dominican Migrants' United States Destination Selections

Jody A. Agius (PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of California at Irvine)
Latina Spaces: The Role of Ethnic Professional Associations among the Mexican-Origin Middle Class

Elsa von Scheven (PhD Candidate, Urban Planning, University of California at Los Angeles)
Mexican Migration and Return Migration: Incentives and Reasons

Discussant: Silvia Dominguez (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Northeastern University)

3:00-3:15 PM      Coffee Break (CGIS South, Concourse-level Lobby)

3:15-4:45 PM      DIVERSITY & LATINO HETEROGENEITY

Daniel J. Hopkins (PhD Candidate, Government, Harvard University)
All Local Politics is National: The Shifting Impact of Ethnic and Racial Diversity on American Communities

Alan P. Marcus (PhD Candidate, Geography, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
Debunking Pan-Latinamericanisms: The 'Hispanic/Latino' Category, Brazilian Immigrants and (Another) American Ethnic Dilemma

Corina Graif (PhD Candidate, Sociology, Harvard University)
Conceptualizing and Measuring Diversity and its Benefits across Neighborhoods: A Multi-Method Spatial Approach

Discussant: Deborah Schildkraut (Assistant Professor of Political Science, Tufts University)

5:00 PM                DEPARTURE


Note: Because these conference papers are work-in-progress, they will be password-protected. Access to these papers will be limited to "registered conference participants" only. To register, please rsvp to <diverse@wjh.harvard.edu>.