The American Dream Reconsidered Conference, 2024

Immigration and the American Dream

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

At the same time, opposition has repeatedly arisen to argue against certain immigrant groups as “un-American,” (such as the Irish of the nineteenth century, Southern Europeans of the early twentieth century, or Latin and South Americans today). This year’s conference will explore the challenges and opportunities around the complex relationship between the American Dream and immigration.

Day 1 – Monday, Oct. 21

Navigating Immigration Issues in Chicago and Beyond in Today’s America 

Panelists:
Karina Ayala-Bermejo, President and CEO, Instituto Del Progresso Latino
Professor Angela S. García, University of Chicago, author of  Legal Passing: Navigating Undocumented Life and Local Immigration Law
Linda Rio, attorney and Access to Justice Consultant, most recently working with the Chicago Bar Foundation spearheading pro bono legal assistance for southwestern border arriving migrants in Chicago

Moderator:
Professor Priscilla Archibald, Roosevelt University

Opening Reception | Gage Gallery

Vanessa Charlot’s photographs will be on display in the Gage Gallery, and the artist will be on hand to give a talk about her work. 

Day 2 – Tuesday, Oct. 22

Immigration Past, Present, and Future

31st Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Distinguished Program  
Sponsored by the Center for New Deal Studies

It will be the 100th anniversary of the Immigration Act of 1924, which drastically limited annual immigration for anyone outside of Western Europe, banned Asian immigration, and established the first formal border control service in an attempt to preserve a “homogeneous” citizenry. Many aspects of this Act remained in place until the Immigration Act of 1965. This panel will provide an historical overview of the national effort to shape immigration from the 1920s to the present day. From restrictive quotas to more open borders, American policy has vacillated repeatedly about what the appropriate response to immigration should be—from an open embrace to calls for a fortress America, which barricades itself against outsiders. Placing the issue of immigration in a larger historical and social context, this panel will help deepen our understanding of the hopes and fears that have long shaped national immigration policy.

Panelists:
Professor Susan Gzesh, University of Chicago (legal scholar with a focus on Mexican immigration)
Professor Maddalena Marinari, Gustavus Adolphus College (historian with a specialty in immigration)
Professor Michael Jin, University of Illinois Chicago

Moderator:
Professor Sandra Frink, Roosevelt University

CCPA Jazz Ensemble and String Ensemble

String Ensemble Repertoire:
from String Quintet, Op. 39
1^st movement: Allegro
by Aleksandr Glazunov
John Guzdek, violin I
Estefania Quinones, violin II
Naseem Shakir-Muhammad, viola
Derek Curtis, cello I
Ivana Savic, cello II

Day 3 – Wednesday, Oct. 23

A Journey from East to West: Islam, Immigration, and Gender

Too often today, discussions involving immigration, Islam, and gender are little more than overheated political rhetoric. This panel is intended as a corrective to that—an intimate conversation with Leena El-Ali focused on her own personal journey and her hard-won experience as someone who takes the Qur’an seriously but not literally. El-Ali has worked on peace-building missions in several countries and is the author of No Truth Without Beauty: God, the Qur’an, and Women’s Rights

Panelist:
Leena El-Ali, author of  No Truth Without Beauty: God, the Qur’an, and Women’s Rights

Moderator:
Professor Stuart Warner, Roosevelt University

Virtual Panel: Education, Immigration, and the American Dream Student Panel

The number of foreign students and recent immigrants attending college in America has risen dramatically over the last several decades—a trend that has also increasingly shaped the student body at Roosevelt University. This panel will focus on the experiences of those students—the special challenges and opportunities that come from attending college as a foreign student or as a recent immigrant.