We disseminate key messages from these events through a variety of channels, including videos and research briefs. We also promote events organized by partner organizations on and off campus in the Boston area.
Webinar with Catherine Ramírez, University of California, Santa Cruz
Wednesday, December 2, 2020, 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Zoom or Facebook Live: Register
Assimilation explores the history of the concept of assimilation as a socio-cultural process in the United States. A pillar of the US nation-making project, assimilation is widely regarded as an outcome of immigration: it is the process by which immigrants turn into Americans. Assimilation as Americanization has been defined in relation to racialization, the process whereby racial categories are produced and understood as part of a social hierarchy. Those who do not assimilate, who are deemed unassimilable, or for whom assimilation is not an option are considered outsiders or failed citizens.
Ultimately, Assimilation argues that assimilation is not only a result of immigration; assimilation is also a consequence of indigenous dispossession, US imperialism, slavery, and an immigration apparatus that ranks migrants and produces illegality. By approaching assimilation as a relational process whereby the boundary between unequal groups and between inside and outside blurs, disappears, or, paradoxically, is reinforced, this book underscores that assimilation is a relationship of power.
Our Immigration Fellows participate in a biweekly seminar to share their work, receive professional development, and learn from nationally renowned scholars and policy makers. On occasion, these seminars are open to the broader Harvard community.
Our speakers series welcomes prominent scholars, immigration experts, policy leaders, and practitioners to Harvard to share unique insights derived from research and lived experience.
IIH works collaboratively with other groups on and off campus to bring together people who care about immigration to promote positive change. We co-sponsor events and promote events organised by other networks to support dialogue and learning around immigration.
‘Assimilation: An Alternative History’