East Carolinian

Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Jessi Braxton

With its second event in a new series for ECU Researchers, ECU's Division of Research and Graduate Studies sponsored "Downtown Dialogues: Money, Markets, Migration," this past Tuesday at the Starlight Café.

Presenters included Su-Ching Huang, Ph.D., assistant professor of English, Birgit Jensen, Ph.D., associate professor of German studies and Lee Maril, Ph.D., director for the Center on Diversity and Inequality Research at ECU. Jennifer Valko, Ph.D., assistant professor of Hispanic studies, organized the event.

"I'm truly glad that we were able to support this event because migration is a very important aspect of our nation's history and has been something I have been researching since my undergraduate years," said Deidre Mageean, Ph.D., the vice chancellor for research and graduate studies who welcomed in the guests at the Starlight Cafe.

Next, Maril proceeded to give opening remarks on his experiences with migration, particularly due to his influences as a sociologist.

"In the late 1970s I taught migrant farm workers to read after having mov[ed] with my family to the Mexico area and also spent several summers with local fisherman learning their culture and ways of life," Maril said.

Maril is currently researching the meaning and impact of the border fence between the United States and Mexico, which spans some 700 miles and is continually growing in length.

According to Maril, these immigrants' actions represent their several blatant attempts to strive for something better.

"Race, class, and gender are supposed to be the three major factors that explain everyday life," Maril said. "But we also have to include migration and immigration because they are essential in understanding our country and comparative societies. If we'd not have moved, we wouldn't be here today."

Huang's presentation was titled, "The Americanization/Westernization of Jackie Chan: Shanghai Noon as Model Minority Discourse." Huang displayed several scenes from this movie in order to convey an understanding of an Asian's role in film and how it relates back to our society.

"This recent extension of Jackie Chan into the U.S. frontier shows the attitude toward Asians currently in America," said Huang.

Finally Jensen presented, "What Workers Knew: Autobiographical Responses to Class Inequities in Imperial Germany."

"There was a general distrust of the common laborer by the upper class," Jensen said, saying that most of the population, approximately 85 percent, was living below their necessary means during this time in history. "There was a great economic boom called the 'Grunderzeit' which caused a great migration of German peasants into the cities. This all happened before the economic crash in 1873."

For more information on "Downtown Dialogues," visit ecu.edu/downtown.



This writer may be contacted at news@theeatcarolinian.com

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