Global Movement, Local Stories: Diaspora, Migration, Representation

The fourteenth annual CMLLC Graduate Forum conference, held Saturday, Apr. 9, 2016, in the Wayne State Student Center, inspired conversation, collaboration, and critique. The day-long symposium on the topic of "Global Movement, Local Stories: Diaspora, Migration, Representation" featured papers from a range of disciplinary perspectives: German, French, Spanish, history, queer studies, sociolinguistics, and sociology.

Associate Dean Heather Dillaway opened the conference with remarks on the critical importance of interdisciplinary and transnational dialogue in the humanities. The focus on movement meant that transnational stories of Chaldean refugees in Detroit met North African migrants in Paris, and discussions of German communities in 19th-century Michigan entered into dialogue with Chicana icons including La Llorona.

Keynote speaker Jossiana Arroyo-Martinez made the trip from the University of Texas at Austin to deliver a fascinating paper on "Mediascapes: Transnational Times in Caribbean Culture." CMLLC graduate student moderators and organizers led discussions, organized breakfast and lunch (complete with a beautiful solo cello performance), engaged in lively question-and-answer sessions with the audience, and kept the day running smoothly.