Previously Scheduled Research and Networking Events

March 11: Community Engagement in Action: Green Card Youth Voices Atlanta. On Monday, March 11, 2019, at 5:00 PM, in Sturgis Library room 101, join us for "Community Engagement in Action: Green Card Youth Voices Atlanta" featuring special guest Dr. Tea Rozman Clark (Executive Director of Green Card Voices) and a discussion with young immigrant authors, KSU student editors, and KSU faculty members: Dr. Lara Smith-Sitton (English), Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez (Social Work and Human Services), and Dr. Paul N. McDaniel (Geography and Anthropology).

June 18: Voices of Refugees event at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. At this event, in honor of World Refugee Day, four student authors from Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from an Atlanta High School - originally from Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda and Afghanistan - read their personal essays, followed by an interview with Rev. Jesse Jackson and a panel discussion with local area refugee service providers.

May 13: Book launch event for Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from an Atlanta High School, at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. 

May 4: The Spring 2018 Georgia Immigration Research Network (GIRN) meeting will take place at Kennesaw State University (Marietta Campus). 

"Immigration and Immigrant Integration in Georgia and the U.S. South"

• What: Spring 2018 Georgia Immigration Research Network (GIRN) Meeting: Immigration and Immigrant Integration in Georgia and the U.S. South. A one-day mini conference for researchers, practitioners, and graduate and undergraduate students. 

• When: Friday, May 4, 2018, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM

• Where: Kennesaw State University, Marietta Campus: Joe Mack Wilson Student Center (Building A), Ballroom A/B. 1100 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta, Georgia 30060. (Campus Maps,
• Parking: KSU Guests may park in lot P51 just to the west of the student center on the Marietta Campus, and there is no fee for parking (KSU Marietta Campus Map). 

Program Agenda

• GIRN Agenda

Registration

Please register to attend the conference (regardless of whether or not you are submitting a presentation proposal) at the link below:

• GIRN 2018 Meeting Registration Form

Call for Proposals (Now Closed)

The Georgia Immigration Research Network invites researchers, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and practitioners to submit presentation proposals to be included in a full-day mini-conference on immigration and immigrant integration in Georgia and the U.S. South. The conference takes place at Kennesaw State University (Marietta Campus) on Friday, May 4, 2018, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 

We welcome submissions that address the following themes (these are suggestions and this is not an exhaustive list), particularly as they apply to Georgia and the broader U.S. South:

• Immigration and refugee policy
• Immigrant and refugee integration and receptivity, including municipal and regional initiatives
• Ways in which state and local leaders promote (or impede) immigrant integration
• The role of non-governmental organizations – such as nonprofit organizations, labor unions, faith-based institutions, educational organizations, business organizations, student groups, and foundations – in immigrant and refugee integration
• Urban coalitions/collaborations and immigrant/refugee integration
• Immigrant political participation of various forms
• Immigrant entrepreneurship and cities
• City policies and practices (e.g., language access, municipal ID cards, sanctuary, legal services, voting rights, housing, education, etc.) and their impact on immigrant communities
• Refugee resettlement
• Policing and immigrants
• Protests and immigrant rights
• Urban media and immigrants
• Urban (re)development and immigrants
• Cities, immigrant rights, and federalism, especially in light of new and changing policies at the federal level
• Relationships among municipal immigrant integration efforts, city branding strategies, and economic development initiatives

Researchers, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and practitioners interested in participating should submit a 300-word proposal. Please use the online presentation proposal submission form below. Proposals must be received by March 22, 2018 in order to be considered. Decisions will be announced by April 2, 2018. We will accept individual proposals, but not panel proposals. Questions can be directed to Dr. Paul McDaniel at pmcdan11@kennesaw.edu.

April 20: Panel discussion about Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from an Atlanta High School at the Atlanta Studies Symposium at Emory University. 

March 2: Civic Engagement Academy.

November 13: Geography Awareness Week Theme Event: A Discussion on the Geography of Civil Rights

November 7: Talk to Strangers: Creating a Welcoming America at KSU

April 26: Local, Regional, and National Perspectives on Immigrant Integration Policy and Welcoming Cities

March 3: GIRN Working Group and Networking Meeting

Organizers: Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and Dr. Paul N. McDaniel. Held at the Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia. March 3, 2017. The overall purpose of this meeting was to bring together those working with or conducting research on immigrant populations throughout the state of Georgia to improve their overall quality of life. There were around 60 participants. Goals of the gathering were to:

• Identify immigrant crises in the Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Georgia, including the changing political administrations at all levels of government; no-, blue-, pink-, and white collar workers' needs; and how to aid individuals and family systems with varying immigration status.
• Discuss available data sources and data gaps necessary to assess immigrant needs and the needs of the organizations that serve them.
• Prioritize issues impacting immigrant communities in the Atlanta MSA and throughout Georgia, including current and emerging issues.
• Develop an action plan to effectively address key immigrant concerns in the Atlanta MSA region.
• Explore funding opportunities and grants targeting immigrants, immigrant service provision, and immigrant integration.
• Network with other immigrant-serving professionals and researchers. 

March 13: Coming to America: A Conversation on Contemporary Immigrant and Refugee Experiences

March 9: Welcoming Cities: A Dialogue between Research and Policy