Recent Conferences and Public Talks
| April 24-25, 2009 Conference “Latinos and the 2008 Elections.”
This conference will be the seventh installment in a series of research projects that seek to understand the role of Latinos in national and state elections. The first project, organized by former UT Professor Rodolfo de la Garza and former Department of Government graduate student Louis DeSipio, studied the 1988 presidential election. Our conference will examine the influence of Latinos in the 2008 campaign, both thematically and in key states. While many journalists, politicians, and pundits are discussing Latino population growth, its implications for elections and politics in the United States are not well understood. This conference therefore brings together scholars from across the United States to assess the impact of the Latino vote.  Download a flier for the conference (PDF, 186K)
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| February 27-28, 2009 Conference Immigration and Public Opinion in the Western Democracies
Immigration is one of the key policy issues of our time. Millions of people are on the move globally, and the United States is in the midst of a fourth “Great Wave” of migration. However, the scholarly study of public opinion is not always adequate to the challenge of understanding this complex issue. This conference brought together scholars from North America, Australia, and Europe to better understand public views about immigration and government policymaking. Download a flier for the conference (PDF, 186K)
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| April 11-12, 2008 Conference "Latinos and Public Policy in Texas"
Understanding the growing Texas Latino/Hispanic population is of central importance to elected officials, government officials, journalists, educators, researchers, and other policymakers. This two-day conference examined the key policy issues facing Texas, the importance of these issues for Latinos, and the implications of Latino population growth for policymaking. Scholars from Texas and other states examined topics including education, health care, jobs and the economy, border issues, aging, mental health, criminal justice, and the environment. Download a flier for the conference (PDF, 152K)
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| October 11, 2007 Speaker "Language Policies in Canada and Quebec: Lessons for the USA"
Francois Vaillancourt On Thursday, October 11, Francois Vaillancourt of the University of Montreal spoke about language policies in Canada and the United States. He discussed the main aspects of language policies in Canada and Quebec; the status of French speakers in Quebec from 1960 to 2000; and what policy lessons the United States can draw from the Quebec and Canadian experience. |
| April 12-14, 2007 SIGLO XXI: Economies of Class, Economies of Culture
This event was the second biennial conference of the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR). The PPI sponsored two panels. The first panel was "Session 15: Economics and Policy I," which took place on Saturday, April 24, from 10:00am to noon. The second panel was "Session 21: Economics and Policy II," which took place on Saturday, April 24, from 3:45pm to 5:45pm. Both panels were moderated by Steve Trejo, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. |
| February 23-24, 2007 Seventh Annual Conference on State Politics and Policy Policymaking in the American States: Causes and Effects
The Public Policy Institute sponsored the Seventh Annual State Politics and Policy Conference on February 23-24, 2007 at the UT Thompson Conference Center. The conference featured over sixty research papers by over one hundred authors that covered a wide range of policy, governmental, and political science topics important to the American states. Scholars from all across Texas and the United States were in attendance, and the event was covered by "News 8 Austin." Download a conference program (PDF, 20K) |
| March 2-3, 2006 Conference Immigration Policy after 9/11: U.S. and European Perspectives
In the spring of 2006, the PPI co-sponsored this conference on immigration policy with the UT Center for European Studies and the School of Law. Immigration policy in the United States and Europe went under the microscope after the terror attacks of 9/11. Since that time we have seen major changes in the bureaucracies that regulate immigration, but has that led to much of a change in the way that the borders are controlled, the numbers of immigrants coming into the country, asylum policy or immigrant integration? This conference examined this broad range of issues in order to gain a better understanding of if, how, and why these policies changed in the U.S. and Europe. The Chairs of the conference were Terri Givens (Center for European Studies, Government Department), David L. Leal (Public Policy Institute, Government Department) and Barbara Hines (Immigration Law Clinic, Law School). A revised set of papers from this conference was published by Routledge in 2008 as Immigration Policy and Security: US, European, and Commonwealth Perspectives (Terry E. Givens, Gary P. Freeman, and David L. Leal, editors). Visit the conference webpage for more information about the papers and participants. |
| February 11-12, 2005 Conference Latinos and the 2004 Elections
This conference brought together political scientists from across the nation to explore the role of Latinos in the 2004 election. Each of the nine papers focuses on a particular state, ranging from California to Texas to Florida. The papers discuss how Latino communities were involved in presidential and other campaigns in these states and where and how they were able to influence election outcomes. |
| January 26-29, 2005 Conference SIGLO XXI: Latino Research into the 21st Century
In the winter of 2005, the PPI sponsored “Session 15: Immigration Politics and Policy” at the above conference. SIGLO XXI was the first biennial conference of the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR), which is a national consortium of university-based Latino research centers. By promoting and disseminating policy-relevant Latino-focused research, the IUPLR aims to foster new knowledge and greater understanding of the nation’s growing Latino population. This interdisciplinary conference featured papers primarily presented by faculty associated with IUPLR-affiliated institutions. Visit the conference webpage for more information about the papers and participants. |
| December 10-11, 2004 Conference The Politics of Latino Education
Education may be the most important policy issue for Latino communities, but the political dynamics that shape Latino school achievement and challenges are not well understood or always acknowledged. This conference therefore brought together an interdisciplinary group of political scientists, education scholars, and historians to discuss the political dynamics important to Latino education – dynamics that take place in school boards, in voting booths, in legislatures, in public opinion surveys, in reform proposals, and in the schools themselves. A revised set of papers from this conference will be published in 2010 by Teachers College Press (Columbia University) as The Politics of Latino Education (David L. Leal and Kenneth J. Meier, editors). |
| April 30-May 1, 2004 Conference Latino Politics: The State of the Discipline
The PPI co-sponsored this event with the Project for Equity, Representation, and Governance (PERG) at Texas A/M University. The conference was designed to address a wide range of important and emerging Latino politics and policy topics. For instance, the papers addressed issues such as political representation, the bureaucracy, immigration, education, voting behavior, and public opinion. A revised set of papers from this conference was published in October of 2007 by the University of Virginia Press as Latino Politics: Identity, Mobilization, and Representation, (Rodolfo Espino, David L. Leal, and Kenneth J. Meier, editors). It was reprinted in paperback in July of 2008. This is the first of several planned books to result from PPI sponsored or co-sponsored conferences. |
