Speakers:

• Mirva Johnson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, “From Ethnic to Local: Linguistic and Cultural Change in Northern Wisconsin”
• Tanja Juuri, Tampere University, “The Finnish-Canadian Multilocal Landscape of Home and Labour in the Early 20th Century”
• Lotta Leiwo, University of Helsinki, “Weathering Capitalism: Finnish American Women and Nature-Related Socialist Rhetoric”
• Roma Lucarelli, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, “The Legacy of the Kalevala: Finnish Immigration, Co-Operative Mechanisms, and Agricultural-Based Homesteading”

This webinar is organized by the “Migrant Experiences, Past and Present” project funded by the Public Diplomacy Section of the US Embassy in Finland, in collaboration with the Migration Institute of Finland, Immigration History Research Center Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, and the Finnish American Studies Association.

Future webinars in this series are tentatively scheduled:

• Spatial Humanities Approaches to North American Histories of Segregation, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025 at 10am Central
• Climate Migration in the US and Europe, Thursday, March 6 at 10am Central
• Finnish Migrant-Settler Archives, Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 10am Central

Check our website for more information about these future events.

History Book Club Presents:

Llana Barber and Erika Lee in Conversation

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025

6-7pm

With immigration in the news, a historical perspective is more valuable than ever to help us understand the current situation in a deeper context and beyond the sensational images and narratives online. What do current trends in immigration share with those of our nation’s past? In what ways have migration trends shifted from those earlier patterns? What are the new questions and methods driving cutting-edge historical research on immigration? What role can historians play in bringing key insights to policy discussions that are too often polarized and driven by rumor rather than reality?

Fortunately the University of Minnesota has a long tradition of excellence in immigration history. We welcome both the current and immediate past directors of the Immigration History Research Center for this critical conversation about the role of migration in our country’s past and present.

Speakers:

The IHRC co-sponsored two events in December for students, faculty, staff, and community-based organizations to discuss the impact of the elections on immigrant communities. The first, on Friday, December 6th, was a forward-looking discussion on what the incoming administration may mean for DACA, mixed-status families, international students, and others. This event was a collaboration between the Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender & Sexuality Studies (RIDGS), The James H. Binger Center for New Americans, The Immigration History Research Center, The Chicano & Latino Studies Department, and Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS).

On December 15, 2024, the Binger Center and the IHRC co-sponsored a Minnesota Convening on Immigration where scholars, immigration attorneys, and immigrant service providers met to discuss the challenges ahead.

IHRC will continue to engage with scholars, service providers, and immigrant communities in the coming months and years.

On October, 30, 2024, the IHRC hosted a History of the Present Webinar: Haitian Immigration featuring Regine Jackson, Morehouse College; Guerline Jozef, Haitian Bridge Alliance; Felix Jean-Louis, University of California Irvine; Carl Lindskoog, Raritan Valley Community College; and Jemima Pierre, University of British Columbia. IHRC Director Llana Barber moderated. This excellent panel discussed the history of Haiti and Haitian migration to the United States as well as issues affecting Haitian immigrants today. They addressed the unfounded attacks on Haitian immigrants that took place during the presidential election cycle.

The event was co-sponsored by the Department of History.

The recording is now available on our YouTube page.

The IHRC is no longer on Twitter/X, but you can follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Many thanks to our Fall 2024 IHRC Graduate Research Assistant Ibrahim Hirsi for organizing several successful graduate student group events last semester. The most recent was a presentation by Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA) Archivist Maura Coonan followed by a tour of the archives. IHRC summer fellows Verna Wong, Roma Lucarelli, and Insil Jeon also shared their experiences with archival research with the group. We wish Ibrahim all the best as he completes his dissertation.

Graduate students from any department or college at UMN with an interest in global migration and/or immigration to the US can contact us at ihrc@umn.edu for more information about the graduate student group.

Congratulations to Dr. Christopher Campbell, recipient of the 2025 Michael G. Karni award. Dr. Campbell will conduct research on the activities of Eastern European émigré groups in the U.S. and their attempts to influence American foreign policy during the Cold War.

The Karni award supports a visit to Andersen Library in order to conduct research in the Immigration History Research Center Archives' collections. It is open annually to researchers of all disciplines, backgrounds, and levels of training, and supports a research visit of five days. The award is a memorial to Michael Karni, a pioneering historian and publisher of Finnish American ethnicity, who was chiefly responsible for the initial development of the Finnish American collection at the IHRCA.

This year the IHRC is supporting two UMN PhD students through our Academic Year Fellowships:

Shinya Yoshida is a PhD candidate in the Department of History and the recipient of the 2024-2025 Italian American Immigration Endowed Graduate Research Fellowship. His research focuses on Asian American history and U.S.-East Asian relations. Using the collections in the Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA), Yoshida will examine the similarities between Japanese and Italian migrants' experiences in the U.S. around World War II.

Vincent Kankans is a PhD candidate in Germanic Studies and the winner of the 2024-2025 Latvian Association Graduate Fellowship in Latvian American Studies. His dissertation is titled Unraveling the Nostalgia for Magentic Tape and explores the media history of magnetic tape. He is using materials found in the IHRCA to analyze the intersection of media and migration and the significance of audio recordings for migrant communities.

Call for Proposals:

2025-2026 Hub Residencies 

The Liberal Arts Engagement Hub is currently seeking proposals for 2025–2026 Residencies, which run from July 2025 through June 2026. Hub Residencies, our signature program, support community-based collaborative projects that engage a topic of important public interest and involve at least one community partner (individual, group, or organization) and one person (faculty or staff) affiliated with the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts. Residencies include up to $15,000 in funding; priority access to the Hub space; and access to university resources, depending on the nature of the project.

Community organizations and UMN faculty and staff interested in migration-related residencies are encouraged to apply.

If you have any inquiries or need assistance connecting with a CLA faculty or staff member, contact Amanda Steepleton, Hub Program Manager, at stee0260@umn.edu or 612-624-1811. Deadline: March 7, 2025

In the first workshop, participants will explore what AI is and what it can do, while also examining the challenges and ethical considerations of integrating AI into community-oriented practices. In the second workshop, participants will have the opportunity to bring specific case studies from their own practice to consider the limits of AI tools in their community-oriented projects. While attending both workshops will provide a more holistic understanding and practical experience, you are welcome to join either session individually based on your interests and availability.

Please note that there are separate event pages and registration forms for Part One and Part Two of this workshop. Contact Xun Yu with any inquiries. 

IHRC Director Llana Barber is quoted in this article from MPR News: Revisiting Mothers, Reimagining Stories: Lloyd Suh Finds Connection and Meaning in 'The Heart Sellers.'

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