As explored in the exhibitions Caravans of Gold and The Leopard (Western Union: Small Boats), nations around the world have long been shaped by migration. This program will examine urgent issues of migration in our current moment and their connections to our place in the US, Chicago, and Evanston. Drawing on the perspectives and first-hand experiences of economic migrants, international policy experts, and humanitarian organizations, we will consider issues such as the ethics of witnessing, self-reliance and resilience, and responsibility in a time of refugee crisis. Through this discussion, we interrogate the legal, social, political, and human implications of our histories as nations of migrants.

This program is copresented by The Block Museum, the Program of African Studies, and Refugee Knowledge Hub, a community-based partnership providing leadership, knowledge, and support for refugees and asylees in our community.

Image: West African migrants returning from Libya sit in Agadez, Niger, 2015. Photo by Issouf Sanogo/AFP/ Getty Images.