Food and Immigrant Life Conference

April 18-19, 2013

The Center for Public Scholarship and the Food Studies Program at The New School are pleased to present the 29th Social Research conference, “Food and Immigrant Life: The Role of Food in Forced Migration, Migrant Labor, and Re-creating Home,” on Thursday and Friday April 18 and 19, 2013, at The New School in New York City.

The conference will examine the complex relationships between food and migration. Food scarcity is not only at the root of much human displacement and migration—the food industry also offers immigrants an entry point into the U.S. economic system while simultaneously confining migrants to low wages and poor, if not unsafe, work conditions. At the same time, food allows immigrants to maintain their cultural identity. The conference places issues of immigration and food service work in the context of a broader social justice agenda and explores the cultural role food plays in expressing cultural heritage.

We are also pleased to be collaborating with several organizations external to The New School to offer additional programming around the conference: the China Institute, the Korea Society, El Museo del Barrio, Feet in Two Worlds, and Streetwise New York. Please visit the Additional Events page for details.

The conference is made possible through a collaboration between The New School’s Center for Public Scholarship and the Food Studies program as well as the Writing Program, India China Institute, Vera List Center for Art and Politics, Center for New York City Affairs, Global Studies program, Gender Studies program, and International Center for Migration, Ethnicity, and Citizenship (ICMEC).

The director and founder (1988) of the Social Research conference series is Arien Mack, Alfred and Monette Marrow Professor of Psychology at The New School for Social Research, who has been the editor of Social Research since 1970. She organized this conference with Fabio Parasecoli, associate professor and coordinator of Food Studies at The New School for Public Engagement. For the history of the conference series, visit the Social Research conference series site. For information about other public events at The New School, see the university calendar. Find information about the more than 70 degree programs offered at The New School. For general information about The New School, visit the Quick Facts page.