DREAMers to be subject of talk at UWA
LIVINGSTON—How the social movement of DREAMers began is the subject of a talk Monday, Feb 24, at the University West Alabama.
Dr. Michael P. Young, sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin for 20 years, will speak on “The Making of the DREAMers.” The presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Bridges Auditorium of Wallace Hall on the UWA campus.
Young has been on the UT Austin faculty for 20 years and received the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award there.
DREAMers is the term used to describe undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children with a collective identity forged by legislation entitled The DREAMAct.
“DREAMers coalesced as political force altering the trajectory of American immigration politics,” Young saids. “I will provide a short history of the DREAMers and the movement they shaped. I will offer some reflections on the dynamics of social movement, the formation of collective identities and the radicalization of activism.”
Young holds a doctorate in sociology from New York University and a B.A. in philosophy from Columbia University. His interests include social movements, sociology of religion, historical sociology and sociological theory. He also earned a Humanities Institute Fellowship and College Research Fellowship at UT Austin.
He speaks at conferences and events throughout the U.S. and has presented in China, Sweden and Germany.
Young’s research and publications have garnered recognition and awards from not only UT Austin but also the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the American Sociological Association, New York University, and other notable organizations.
He is the author of Bearing Witness Against Sin: The Evangelical Birth of the American Social Movement, as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters. His latest book, To Pimp the DREAMer: How the Undocumented Youth Radicalized the Immigrant Rights Movement will soon be published.
Young’s presentation is sponsored by UWA’s Department of Behavioral Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts in collaboration with the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University, coordinated by Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences Dr. Adrian Popan.