EUGENE–Affirmative action, immigration, reproductive rights.

These politically charged issues are symptomatic of the borders dividing racial groups, nations and those included or excluded from citizenship.

These "hot button" issues will be explored at the "Border Lies: Race, Identity and Citizenship" conference at the University of Oregon. The UO Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) is sponsor of the free, public event, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12, in the Alumni Lounge at Gerlinger Hall, 1468 University St.

The conference will examine theories of race, the implications of anti-affirmative action legislation in Washington and California, the significance of immigration policies that exclude minorities, and the ways women and minorities continue to struggle to enjoy the rights of citizenship in the United States and globally. While speakers will address these hot-button issues, the conference aims to cross the boundaries of scholarship and politics.

"Because affirmative action, immigrant rights and protections for our lowest-paid and least-protected workers are far from academic issues in our community, we have asked some community advocates to join our researchers in the dialogue," says Sandra Morgen, CSWS director.

Keynote speakers are Lydia Chavez, associate professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of "The Color Bind: California’s Battle to End Affirmative Action." Chavez will discuss the role of women and the impact of immigration on the affirmative action debate.

Patricia Penn Hilden, professor of ethnic studies at UC-Berkeley and author of "When Nickels Were Indians: An Urban, Mixed-Blood Story," will look at how the history of the United States has created and re-created borders that have shifted according to economic requirements.

Dorothy Roberts, professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law and author of "Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty," will focus on reproductive health policies affecting black women.

The Feb. 12 conference schedule follows:

8:30—9:15 a.m. Registration

9:15—11:30 a.m. Plenary Session panel with Lydia Chavez, Patricia Penn Hilden and Dorothy Roberts

1—2:30 p.m. Concurrent Roundtable Discussions

• Border Crossings: Subjectivity and Identity

• Affirmative Action and Beyond

• Opening/Closing Borders: Immigration, Globalization and Capitalism

• Decoding Citizenship and the Reproduction of Whiteness

3—4:30 p.m. Plenary Session: The (re) Imagined Community: Research and Policy Directions, with UO panelists:

• Robin Morris Collin, professor of law

• Shari Huhndorf, assistant professor of English

• Lynn Stephen, professor of anthropology and international studies

• Mia Tuan, assistant professor of sociology

• Ajuan Maria Mance, assistant professor of African American literature

4:30—5:30 p.m. Reception and book signing by speakers and CSWS affiliates

To register or for more information about the conference and related events, contact Shirley Marc, CSWS office manager, (541) 346-5015; e-mail csws@oregon.uoregon.edu.

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