This roundtable discussion will look at the rise of xenophobia in the United States in a global and historical context. Questions to be explored include: What is xenophobia? Is it something everyone is predisposed to? What are the origins of the current strands of xenophobia? How is xenophobia in the US similar to and different from xenophobia in other parts of the world? What stops xenophobia? What promotes it?

A Q&A with the audience will follow.

Panelists:

Moderator: Michelle Bellino (School of Education)

Anne Berg (History)
Dr. Berg’s research explores the origins of xenophobia, with a particular emphasis on the social and political conditions that facilitated the rise of Nazism. A historian of modern Germany and Europe, she is completing the manuscript of her first book Urban Legends: Cinema and the Making of the Nazi City.

Fatma Muge Gocek (Department of Sociology)
Professor Göçek’s research focuses on the comparative global analysis of history, politics and gender— including the impact of nationalism and collective violence on minorities.

Vince Hutchings (Department of Political Science)
Professor Hutchings’s research examines ethnic and race-based hostility in the United States. His current project looks at how political campaign communications can prime voters’ racial attitudes and affect their political decisions.

This event will be livestreamed beginning at 4:00pm on March 13: bit.ly/2muyCNp

The International Institute and the University of Michigan are deeply opposed to all forms of hatred.