Norfolk, Va.—Norfolk State University will explore attitudes towards immigration and immigrant experiences in Virginia and Germany in a two-day symposium scheduled March 23-24 at NSU. The symposium, entitled From Heres and Come Heres: Perceptions of the Immigrant Other and Transcultural Encounters in Virginia and North Rhine-Westphalia, is sponsored through a partnership between the University of Siegen in Germany and the NSU Honors College. The symposium is free and open to the public and no registration is necessary.

The symposium grew out of incidents which either aroused or reflected strong anti-immigrant sentiments in 2007 in Virginia Beach and North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and the collegial relationship between NSU Honors College Dean Page Laws and Dr. Cathy Waegner of the University of Siegen. The symposium looks at the clash over the claims, and the perceived superior rights, of “being here first” as opposed to “arriving later.”

Symposium sessions will include the following:

March 23

Land of Promise…Ships of Dreams–James Lee, Junior Fellow, NSU
Between 1880 and 1921 approximately 23,500,000 immigrants passed through the “golden door” in New York harbor. Most arrived after making a trans-Atlantic crossing in steerage class (third-class accommodations). This presentation examines the factors driving this mass immigration, conditions in steerage, and the response of the American population to this influx.
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 12:20 p.m.

German Turkish Teens: Second Generation Transcultural Identity
Melanie Jaeger, U. of Siegen
I am interviewing Turkish second-generation immigrant students at the University of Siegen to explore how they construct their personal identity in the context of migration and transculturalism. The concept of dynamic identity means that identity is not a static element that one possesses from birth on but a permanent and lifelong process in which conflicting experiences have to be balanced constantly. How do the Turkish students place the accents in their identity construction? Do they largely hover in a state of in-betweenness or do they manage to construct a relatively stable but dialectical “immigrant identity”?
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 2:30 p.m.

Foreign Bodies: Classroom Diplomacy among NSU’s International Faculty and Students
Ella L. Woodard and Deja C. Jennings, Junior Fellows, NSU
This documentary will feature interviews with immigrants working or studying at NSU. Sample questions will include the following: Why did you choose NSU? What are your goals? Do you plan to stay in the US? Are you concerned with a “brain drain” from your home country to the US?
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 3:00 p.m.

Broken Mirrors: Race, Historical Memory, and Citizenship in 21st Century France
Dr. Geoffroy de Laforcade, Senior Fellow, NSU
This presentation will examine the ways in which slavery, republicanism and colonialism have impacted approaches to race and citizenship in contemporary metropolitan France. It will trace controversies over the past three decades regarding nationality law and the role of immigration in French society, as well as publicly staged attempts to revisit the impact of racism, discrimination, and imperialism in French history, culminating in the current, very contentious policies of selective immigration, massive deportation of undocumented workers, and timid multicultural representation under the presidency of Nicholas Sarkozy.
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 3:30 p.m.

March 24

Bildung(sroman): Ethnic Transformations at School in North Rhine-Westphalia and Autobiographical Novels–Dr. Cathy Waegner, U. of Siegen
This presentation will point out ways in which transcultural processes both reduce and exacerbate pressure on the school-age child of “migration background”; students and educators in Siegen/North Rhine-Westphalia have provided (often startling) empirical evidence. Three recent ethnic Bildungsromane also reveal complex transcultural impulses: Native American Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), Arab American Randa Jarrar’s A Map of Home (2008), Dominican Republic immigrant Junot Díaz’s The Short Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Pulitzer Prize 2008). Two of the protagonists manage to seek some transformations and resist others, but a third self-destructively internalizes stereotypical paradigms.
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 9 a.m.

The Youngest Victims of Immigration Law–Khyrstin Armor, Deandra Hennemann, Robert Baker and Kevin Allen, Junior Fellows, NSU
This presentation will discuss how children are affected by immigration. It will explain various factors and legal issues that can end up dividing families. The presenters will discuss the ius soli (versus ius sanguinis) concept and its history, child refugees and political asylum seekers (such as the Lost Boys of Sudan), and high profile cases such as Elian Gonzalez (Cuban-American) and Sean Goldman (Brazilian-American).
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 9:30 a.m.

When Jobs Become Ethnic–Frankie Copeland, Junior Fellow, NSU
Why are the Vietnamese and Koreans in the US so closely associated with nail shops and convenience stores? Why is it that so many African immigrants own hair braiding salons? This paper will journey into the lives of immigrants who make a living practicing niche trades. The objective will be to learn about their experiences and struggles.
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 10 a.m.

Linguistic Identity and Ethnic Transformations: CNN Documentaries and Latinos vs. Hispanics–Prof. Isabel Killough, Senior Fellow, NSU
The perceptions of the Immigrant Other in the United States vary greatly depending on the circumstances of arrival into the country. Forced transnational, and transcontinental migratory relocation gain the sympathy of most Americans, while voluntary influx of immigrants in search of better living and economic conditions provokes mixed reactions and a strong anti-migration sentiment among those who believe “foreigners should just go back home”. This negative feeling is especially exacerbated at times of economic uncertainty and strife in the nation, and is accentuated due to lack of understanding of the immigrants’ culture, traditions, ethics, and mainly their original language.
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 10:20 a.m.

Texmex Culture: Fusion or Fiction?–Errica Bertsch, Junior Fellow, NSU
Is there a fusion of Texan and Mexican culture that both groups would acknowledge as an authentic hybrid? This presentation explores Texmex cuisine, celebrations, music, art, language (the Spanglish controversy) and poetry. Los Lobos, Selena, Freddie Fender and the Texas Tornados are among the entertainers who will be considered.
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 11:30 a.m.

Coming out of the Dark: An Examination of How Social Capital is used in
Hispanic-owned Small Businesses in Virginia–Dr. Robert K. Perkins, Honors Faculty
There are nearly 1.6 million Hispanic-owned firms, a small percentage of the 23 million individually owned businesses in the United States. The purpose of this study is to examine whether small-business owners' social capital is directly and positively related to their firms’ entrepreneurial orientations. Are Hispanic businesses utilizing Portes and Sensenbrenner’s four components of economic social capital: value introjection, reciprocity transaction, bounded solidarity, and enforceable trust? Quantitative methods (factor analysis, correlation models, and t-tests) will be used to obtain data and test hypotheses. The sample population for this project will be Hispanic-owned small businesses in the Northern Virginia area.
Location: New Student Center, Room 1499
Time: 1:30 p.m.

The European Capital of Culture: RUHR 2010 and “The Square of the European Promise”–Sonja Georgi, U. of Siegen
The European Capital of Culture (ECC) is one of the European Union’s cultural hallmark institutions. In 2010, the Ruhrgebiet (Germany), Pécs (Hungary), and Istanbul (Turkey) have been entitled European Capitals of Culture. This paper will critically examine the ECC and its stand on ethnicity and multiculturalism and discuss one of its projects in more detail: the art installation “The Square of the European Promise” in Bochum, Germany, which is currently created by the internationally recognized artist Jochen Gerz and European citizens.
Location: New Student Center, Room 1499
Time: 2 p.m.

Changing Lenses: Jewish Immigrants’ Influence in Hollywood–Catherine Hinton, Junior Fellow, NSU
From the Warner Brothers’ 1927 film The Jazz Singer, to WW II German Jewish refugees’ contributions, to Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, to today’s Adam Sandler comedies, Jews have become synonymous with Hollywood. This presentation will look at the influence of these filmmakers including their decisions to keep high or low profiles.
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 2:30 p.m.

Roundtable Discussion–Siegen Participants
Participants will discuss “micro-projects” being done by other University of Siegen students on organized aid for immigrants in Siegen; the headscarf ban for NRW schoolteachers; and racial profiling at airports in North Rhine-Westphalia. The “micro-project” concept will be explained and compared to similar American research project paradigms.
Location: New Student Center, Room 149
Time: 2:50 p.m.

Wallraff’s 2009 Schwarz auf Weiss: Investigative Journalism in Cinematic Blackface
Susanne Engelmann and Florian Noelting, U. of Siegen
We will analyze Guenter Wallraff's recent and decidedly uncomfortable undercover production Schwarz auf Weiss (2009). With darkened skin and a fake afro, the famous German journalist traveled through the Federal Republic to “find out what life is like for Black residents in Germany”, starting and ending with his hometown of Cologne/North Rhine-Westphalia. The documentary film which records his encounters has sparked a public debate on the legitimacy of Wallraff’s ‘blackface strategy’ and on attitudes toward the migrant Other in a country which generally prides itself on having overcome its historical racism.
Location: New Student Center, Room 1499
Time: 3:30 p.m.

Half Full of Grace: Changing Perspectives on the Immigrant Other in Recent Cinema
Dr. Page Laws, Dean, Honors College
This presentation focuses on three films --Gran Torino ( 2008), The Visitor (2007), and Sin Nombre (2009) --dealing with three respective immigrant groups: the Hmong, an unlikely Syrian and Senegalese couple, and Hondurans. Two are in English; one in Spanish. The most memorable of the three – Sin Nombre – holds the thematic key to all of them: previously nameless undocumented immigrants are finally given their own stories and names. Once the immigrant Other is individualized by an empathetic director able to convey his or her perspective, he or she can never be truly alien again.
Location: New Student Center, Room 1499
Time: 4:15 p.m.