Labor activist Ai-jen Poo will deliver the keynote address at the Themester symposium this Friday, Oct. 16 in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Whittenberger Auditorium.
The Themester symposium, “Politics, Promises, Possibilities: The 1965 Immigration Act at 50,” will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, according to an IU press release.
This year’s Themester, “@Work: The Nature of Labor on a Changing Planet,” tackles complex issues regarding labor and work.
“Americans like to tell a myth about themselves that the United States is this huge melting pot open to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” said Ellen Wu, associate professor of history, in the release. “But I hope this symposium will show people that the history and current situation are a lot more complicated than that.”
Poo’s keynote address, “Caregiving and the Future of Our Democracy,” will address past immigrant and labor policy, as well as outline a vision for the future of immigration and labor policy, according to the release.
“Immigration always has and probably always will be a hot topic,” said Jennifer Lee, associate professor of sociology, in the release. “The current rhetoric around immigration is not new. Rather, it echoes language and laws of the past. This symposium will help to unpack what the 1965 immigration act has meant for our understanding of race, ethnicity and labor.”
Poo directs the National Domestic Workers Alliance and co-directs Caring Across Generations, an organization working to overhaul elder care in the U.S.
Ashleigh Sherman
