The impact of migration and cultural identity on the relationship between the United States and Mexico will be explored in a two-day conference June 4-5 at DePaul University and Casa Michoacán.

On June 4, the conference will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. in Rooms 114-116 on Munroe Hall, 2312 N. Clifton Ave., on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus. On June 5, the conference will be held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Casa Michoacán, 1638 S. Blue Island Ave., Chicago.  The conference is free and open to the public.

The migration movement of Mexicans to the United States has created a bi-national and transnational experience the affects the economy, culture, politics, visual arts and education systems of both Mexico and the United States.

“The immigration of Mexicans and other Latin Americans to the United States affects both sides of the border,” said Rafaela Weffer, associate vice president of Academic Affairs at DePaul. “We can’t disregard the consequences of this relationship, and our students must be aware of it as well.”

Among those participating in the conference will be Manuel Rodriguez Arriaga, the Mexican Consul General of Chicago, and Lázaro Cárdenas Batel, who served as governor of Michoacán, Mexico, from 2002 to 2008, representing the Party of the Democratic Revolution. Other participants include professors from the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, the University of California San Diego, the University of Illinois-Chicago and Brown University.

DePaul immigration issue experts participating in the conference include María Beltrán-Vocal, professor in the department of modern languages in DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Jose Soltero, associate professor of sociology, Latin American and Latino Studies; Rene De los Santos, assistant professor, rhetoric and discourse in the Latin American and Latino Studies program; and Juan Mora-Torres, associate professor of Latin American history in the History Department.

The event is being organized by DePaul, Casa Michoacán, the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicholás de Hidalgo, the Secretaria del Migrante and the Mexican Consulate in Chicago. For more information, contact María Beltrán-Vocal at mbeltra1@depaul.edu.

About DePaul

With more than 25,000 students, DePaul University is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, non-profit university in the Midwest. The university offers approximately 275 graduate and undergraduate programs of study on two Chicago campuses, four suburban campuses and three international locations. Founded in 1898, DePaul remains committed to providing a quality education through personal attention to students from a wide range of backgrounds. For more information, visit www.depaul.edu.