Gustavus Adolphus College will host its 15th annual Building Bridges Conference Saturday, March 13. The theme of this year’s conference is “Immigration: Surviving the Land of Opportunity” and will focus on the struggles immigrants face and the strength required to survive those struggles on a daily basis.
“It is very important that the issue of immigration is no longer ignored because it significantly influences millions of people as well as the future of our country,” Gustavus junior and co-chair of the conference Mayanthi Jayawardena said. “Though our conference is only a small way to help raise awareness of immigration issues, we hope that it will cause a ripple effect and will spread advocacy and understanding throughout Minnesota and the surrounding states.”
Kao Kalia Yang, a Hmong-American writer, and Dr. Paul Hillmer, a history professor at Concordia University-St. Paul, are this year’s keynote speakers.
Yang was born in Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand and later immigrated to the United States when she was seven. She holds bachelor degrees from Carleton College in American studies, women’s and gender studies, and cross-cultural studies. Yang also holds a master’s of fine arts in creative non-fiction writing from Columbia University. She is the author of The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, a story about the journey taken by her family, and guided by the spirits and beliefs of her grandmother.
Hillmer and several of his students at Concordia-St. Paul started the Hmong Oral History Project in order “to connect younger generations of Hmong and the broader communities in which many Hmong live, with resources describing Hmong culture in Laos, the Secret War in Southeast Asia, and stories of the Hmong immigrant experience.” He was awarded a “Save Our History” grant by the History Channel in 2006 and used it to create a six-part documentary examining the Hmong people and their resettlement in the Twin Cities. Hillmer recently completed a book, A People’s history of the Hmong, based on the 200-plus interviews he and his students collected.
In addition to the keynote speakers, there will be three workshop sessions in the afternoon. The workshops will allow attendees to hear personal immigration stories from Gustavus students and staff members, receive a crash course on immigration in the United States and Minnesota, and learn about some of the legal aspects of immigration. Attendees will also have the opportunity to see Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Don Bartletti talk about his experiences at the border as well as Abdi Roble and Doug Rutledge talk about their coverage of Somali migration and the Somali Documentary Project.
There will also be opportunities for conference attendees to take action by writing a letter to Congress, donating food to the Trinity Lutheran Church St. Peter Soup Kitchen, assembling care packages for recent immigrants, or by making a monetary donation toward a scholarship for an immigrant and St. Peter High School student to attend a four-year college. In addition, conference goers will be able to participate in a walk through designed to let them experience some of the challenges of the immigration process by following real life stories of immigrants to the United States.
The full schedule for the day is as follows:
9 a.m. / Registration in the C. Charles Jackson Campus Center
10 a.m. / Welcoming Address; “I Am…We Are” social justice theatre performance; keynote address in Christ Chapel
12:30 p.m. / Lunch (on your own)
1:30 p.m. / Workshop Session 1
2:30 p.m. / Workshop Session 2
3:30 p.m. / Workshop Session 3
3:30 p.m. / Action piece
“Immigration is something that affects everyone and it’s also something that a lot of people don’t know much about,” Gustavus senior and co-chair of the conference Rebekah Schulz said. “It is also something that very easily lends itself to stereotypes, which is why it is so important to educate people about it.”
The conference is open to the public, but tickets are required and may be purchased in advance. Tickets are $10 per person, but are complimentary for college students, high school students, and Gustavus students, faculty, and staff with valid I.D. For more information and to register for the conference, visit the conference website at gustavus.edu/diversity/buildingbridges or contact the Gustavus Diversity Center at 507-933-7449.
Building Bridges is a student-led, student-initiated diversity conference dedicated to addressing today’s pressing social and global issues. The conference works to increase awareness and action, promoting mutual respect and understanding about diversity. These aims are achieved through inspirational speakers supplemented by interactive workshops and action steps.
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