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FALL 2023 Star Lecture Series
The Immigrant's Journey to the US: Did Your Polish Grandmother Cross the Border in a Rowboat? Unauthorized Immigration in Detroit Before World War II
with Dr. Ashley Johnson Bavery
In the 1920s and 1930s, Detroit, Michigan not El Paso or San Diego was the epicenter of America’s battle over unauthorized immigration and the migrants in question were Europeans. In this talk, Professor Bavery will introduce students to immigrant Detroit and discuss why and how so many newcomers began crossing the U.S.-Canada border. Beyond exciting discussions of Polish societies, Jewish synagogues, and the Ku Klux Klan, the lecture helps demonstrate that battles over immigration policy and enforcement have a long history and that Michigan has long been central to this story.
Ashley Johnson Bavery is an Associate Professor of History at EMU, where she teaches courses on United States immigration, foreign policy, and the history of Detroit. Her book, Bootlegged Aliens: Immigration Politics on America’s Northern Border was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2020 and won the First Book Award from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society.
The Philosophers’ Walk: A Journey Towards Good Character
with Dr. Evan Dority
Building character is often portrayed as suffering towards personal growth, and morality as a bunch of boring rules that go against self-interest. Yet an ancient system of ethics, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, offers morality that is good for you! It involves a journey of personal growth, not one of suffering. It involves the practice of being kind, courageous, just, and honest until those traits become a part of who you are—your character.
The Journey to the American Indian Boarding School and Back Home
with William Johnson, Interim Director of
Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways
William Johnson serves as the Interim Director of the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways in Mt. Pleasant and as the chairman of the Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation & Repatriation Alliance (MACPRA). He also was part of a team, comprised of representatives from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, Central Michigan University, and the City of Mt. Pleasant, that received a 2016 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation for documenting the history of the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School through an ongoing program of archaeological research and outreach initiatives that promote healing and understanding of the lives of boarding school students. Join us as William Johnson shares the “emotional roller coaster" that we endure when we learn about the history of the boarding school era and what it meant for mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and aunties to be assimilated into white culture and to lose their language and their culture. These difficulties continue to affect the American Indian people in their daily lives. Although Johnson finds it difficult to work on the project, he feels a solemn duty to make that history known and to use it to educate others.
WINTER 2024 Star Lecture Series
Special McAndless Lecture and Musical Performance by The Formosa Quartet: An American Roadmap
January 17, 2024 | 6:30-8:00 pm | The Honors College Auditorium
Join the Formosa Quartet on a musical tour of America. From the blues to bluegrass to jazz to motown, the Formosa Quartet will discuss the historical context behind musical selections and the group’s own journey in developing the American Mirror Project inspired by Derek Skye’s work of the same name. The American Mirror Project, which examines perceptions and assumptions about American culture through the lens of music and the performing arts, seeks to hold an honest mirror up to America through thought-provoking and dynamic musical performances.
The American Civil Rights Journey
with Dr. Barbara Patrick
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s aimed to eradicate inequality and discrimination across the country. Sixty years later, however, economic, political, and social disparity persist. Millennials have demonstrated an awareness of societal injustices and a desire to progress toward a more equitable and just society. Yet the pathway to pursuing this goal remains unclear. This presentation discusses the Civil Rights Movement and the strategies organizers utilized to challenge racial segregation and discrimination in the Deep South. It highlights successful efforts that led to meaningful change along with modern-day issues of discrimination that continue to plague the region and country.
The Ascending Journey of Women in STEM: Panel Discussion with EMU Alumni led by Dr. Bia Hamed, Director of K-12 STEM Outreach
with Dr. Bia Hamed
Dr. Bia Hamed has been researching the journey of women in STEM to identify better ways to create space for minority female students in STEM degree programs and explore how their cultural background affects their success. She has developed successful programs to help attract and retain first-generation college students. Join Dr. Hamed to learn more about her successful programs to increase the representation of women in STEM fields, including EMU's Dual Enrollment program, off-campus courses, non-credit programming, campus visits, domestic travel courses, and summer camps, such as Digital Divas, Digital Dudes, and Manufacturing Day. A panel of EMU Alumni will discuss the experiences of women who are currently working in aerospace, automotive, and software engineering.
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