2026 Conference

In 2026, the Center for Global Migration Studies hosted the "250 Years of Immigrant Stories: Podcast Launch & Conference" at the University of Maryland, College Park. This conference and its panels examined the evolving paths of  migration scholarship, the conceptual and methodological challenges in podcasting, and strategies for sharing immigrant stories with public audiences. 

The conference celebrated the launch our first episodes: "The American Revolution and Dreams of Equality"; "Land of Opportunities"; "Building the Wall"; "Closing the Gate"; and "City Lives through Immigrant Eyes." Keep an eye out for the release of more episodes over the summer and fall. 

Please see below for a full panel-line up of the Spring 2026 conference. Many thanks to the University of Maryland's Department of History, Asian American Studies Program, and The Juanita Tamayo Lott Endowment in Asian American Studies for financial support. 

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Panel 1: Futures of Migration Studies

Chair: MADELINE HSU (University of Maryland / CGMS Director): Relational histories of decolonization, migration and citizenship regulation
S. DEBORAH KANG (University of Virginia): law and policy, historians in practice, and alternative sites of knowledge production.
DONNA GABACCIA (University of Toronto): Global perspectives, periodization, migration and mobility
YAEL SCHACHER (Refugees International): Asylum, refugee advocacy, and NGOs

Panel 2: Podcasting

Chair: MADELINE HSU (University of Maryland / CGMS Director)
MADDALENA MARINARI (Gustavus Adolphus College / IEHS President): “Why a Podcast?”
GERSON ROSALES (University of Maryland): “Interviewing”
PAIGE LITTLE (University of Maryland / CGMS): “Behind the Scenes”

Panel 3: Storytelling & Empowerment

This panel was supported by the Juanita Tamayo Lott Endowment in Asian American Studies.

Chair: CÉCILE ACCILIEN (University of Maryland)
SAM VONG (Smithsonian Institution): “Curating Public History at the Smithsonian"
ALEXANDRA CENATUS (UMBC / Maryland Humanities / MD 250 Commission): “Counternarratives in Public Humanities”
AZADEH NIKZADEH (Burnt Generation Studios): “Ethical Storytelling and Agency in Immigration Narratives”