The Conference will start on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. with a keynote speech by Dr. Annalee Saxenian, Dean and Professor in the School of Information and Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Her speech will be followed by Dr. Matthew Spangler's production of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and music performances.

On Friday, April 11, 2008, the conference will include a keynote speech by Dr. Glenna Matthews and various panel sessions related to immigration issues.

Topics include, but are not limited to, economic issues (e.g., labor, technology, etc.), social, cultural and religious issues (e.g., education, health, language, community relations, arts, etc.), and public policy issues. As such, researchers from all academic disciplines are encouraged to participate and submit papers.

The conference will bring together academic and community stakeholders to discuss multiple facets of immigration, make policy recommendations, and foster on-going collaboration. Community stakeholders who are interested in sharing "best practices" in working with immigrant communities or models of immigrant integration are particularly encouraged to participate. They may do so by submitting a summary of their best practices and/or models.

Please visit the website:
(http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/SocialSciences/socsci.htm) for more information about the conference themes, schedule, and the call for papers.

I encourage you to ask your colleagues, students and community members to submit an abstract/summary by October 26, 2007 (Friday). Please see our website for more information.