Transcending Borders, the second international conference of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society, will take plat from October 31 - November 2 at New York University. The conference is free and open to the public. Registration must be received by October 10, 2003.

This conference represents an ongoing commitment to explore topics important to our understanding of migration to the United States and the diversity of the population that has resulted from its being the host to millions of newcomers throughout our history.

It has almost become a cliche to describe the current period as an age of migration, and globalism is the buzz word of the day for academics as well as journalists. However, the numbers suggest that over the past three decades the United States has once again become the destination of many millions of men and women on the move. While much scholarly attention has been focused on the pushes and pulls of migration, less has been focused on the period subsequent to migration, the period of incorporation, when immigrants become Americans. This conference is a multi-ethnic, interdisciplinary meeting of scholars to examine critical processes whereby migrants from one society find a home in another, a transformation that is significant to both donor countries and host countries. And that process of transformation has changed considerably over time. If it is true that we live in a global age that has been fashioned by new technologies of transportation and communication, then it becomes even more critical to comprehend how this new reality is affecting the incorporation of newcomers and to compare it with that of century ago, during the last great influx of immigrants.

New York City is the ideal location for such a conference, for it not only remains the premier urban destination for immigrants and refugees in North America but it is also home to a great many institutions that serve immigrant communities today as they have in the past. Moreover, itis the home of many ethnic organizations, scholarly institutions, and scholars who study the experiences of immigrants and refugees. Around the globe and in the scholarly community, New York is regarded as a microcosm of the diversity and opportunity that American embodies.