The Moving Americans Conference

Interdisciplinary Conversations on Internal Migration

May 4-6, 2006    University of Washington, Seattle

[participants] [panel descriptions] [schedule] [papers]

 This conference is bringing together 24 leading sociologists, historians, geographers, and economists to assess the significance of internal migration in past and present America. As global diasporas have claimed more and more attention, the issue of internal migration has faded from public view and has also lost ground in scholarly communities. The Moving Americans Conference highlights the continuing importance of geographic mobility in American society and the need for new strategies of historical and social science research.

Interdisciplinarity is key. Social scientists and historians have largely ignored each other, often using different methods and asking different questions about migration and its effects. This is the moment for a serious conversation across the disciplines, with potential gains on all sides.

May 4 (Thursday) 7:30 pm Walker Ames Room, Kane Hall:
“Katrina and other Catastrophes: Environment, Poverty, Policy, and Migration”

Douglas S. Massey (Sociology, Princeton University)

Myron Gutmann (History, University of Michigan/ICPSSR)

May 5 (Friday) 9:30– 11:30 HUB 310:
“Migration Studies: Looking Backward and Forward”

Gordon De Jong (Sociology, Pennsylvania State University)
Donna Gabaccia (History, University of Minnesota)
James Gregory (History, UW)
Trent Alexander (History, Minnesota Population Center)

May 5 (Friday) 12:30– 2:30 HUB 310:
“Bridging the Gap: Connections Between Internal and International Migration Studies”

William Frey (Sociology, University of Michigan)
Matthew Garcia (History, Brown University)
Douglas Gurak (Sociology, Cornell University)
Mark Ellis (Geography, UW)

May 5 (Friday) 3:00– 5:00 HUB 310:
“Racial Movements: Migration and Race”

Nayan Shah (History, UC San Diego)
Kimberley Phillips (History, College of William and Mary)
Richard Wright (Geography, Dartmouth University)

May 6 (Saturday) 8:30-10:30 Watertown Hotel, Wallingford Room:
“Family Ties: Household Organization and Gender Relations in American Migration”

Thomas J. Cooke (Geography, University of Connecticut)
William A.V. Clark (Geography, UCLA)
James R. Walker (Economics, University of Wisconsin)

Discussants and Chairs:

Victoria Lawson (Geography, UW)

Ileana Rodriguez-Silva (History, UW)

Becky Pettit (Sociology, UW)

Suzanne Withers (Geography, UW)

Richard Morrill (Geography, UW)

Stewart Tolnay (Sociology, UW)

Rebecca Clark (National Institute of Child Health and Human Services)

Conveners:

James N. Gregory History University of Washington

Stewart Tolnay Sociology University of Washington

John Mark Ellis Geography University of Washington

Rebecca Clark Health Scientist Administrator Demography and Behavioral      Sciences Branch, NICHD

Sponsors:

National Institute of Child Health and Human Services

Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology
Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies

Dean of Social Sciences, UW

Department of Sociology

Department of History

Department of Geography

More Information: contact James Gregory <gregoryj@u.washington.edu>