This talk will be rescheduled for spring 2020.

Speaker: Juris Pupčenoks, PhD, Marist College

This talk will be based on an experimental study that Prof. Pupčenoks conducted with Michael Grillo at Scheiner University. They conducted two survey experiments to see how psychological and economic considerations may influence the way Americans see immigrants before and after the heated 2016 Republican Primary session. In their study, they wanted to see how our respondents perceive high (while collar) and low skilled (working class) immigrants, and whether the respondents viewed differently migrants from the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. They found that their respondents had a positive view of immigrants regardless if they were employed in high or low skill jobs—and in both surveys. However, those respondents who perceived that there are too many immigrants—as well as those who hold anti-immigrant predispositions–tend to view all immigrants as representing security, criminal, and socioeconomic threats. During this talk, Prof. Pupčenoks will start by explaining some reasons for why and when people may see immigrants as threatening, then explain the study and key findings, and then will open the floor for what should be a lively discussion related to this topic.

Juris Pupčenoks is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Marist College, a Fellow at Bard College’s Center for Civic Engagement, and the Chair of the Distinguished Book Award Committee for the Ethnicity, Nationalism and Migration Studies Section of the International Studies Association. He is a former Academic Director of the US State Department’s Study of the US Institutes (SUSI) summer institute on American foreign policy for scholars, and Visiting Scholar at the University of Latvia. He previously taught at the University of Delaware and Washington College (MD). He has conducted field research in Muslim communities in the United Kingdom, Italy and the US. A specialist in international relations and comparative politics, Juris completed a B.A. degree at Westminster College (MO), and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Delaware. His research focuses on understanding how different groups (be it diasporas, Americans or Europeans) mobilize politically and react to conflicts abroad. His recent publications have focused on the political mobilization of Muslims and minorities in the West in reaction to foreign policy events, humanitarian intervention, and international law. He is the author of several academic publications including monograph Western Muslims and Conflicts Abroad (Routledge 2017), and articles in International Interactions and Nationalism and Ethnic Politics. He is fluent in Latvian (native) and Russian, intermediate in French, and is currently learning Mandarin Chinese. His research has been supported by grants and awards from International Studies Association, Marist College, University of Delaware, and Schreiner University.

This presentation is sponsored by the John Hope Franklin Center and the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies. A light lunch will be served. Parking is available in nearby Trent Rd. and Erwin Rd. parking decks. The series provides 1-hour parking vouchers to guests.