2007-09: Democracy and Citizenship in the 21st Century

The Wayne Morse Center explored the changing concept of citizenship and democratic process. Topics included international issues, Latin America, the debate over immigration,politics and participation in the United States, race and politics, and broader conceptions of citizenship.

Wayne Morse Chair 

2007-08—Arturo Escobar
Arturo Escobar is the Kenan Distinguished Teaching Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Professor Escobar’s public address focused on political developments in Latin America.
Read “Latin America at a Crossroads: Alternative Modernizations, Postliberalism, or Postdevelopment?”

2008-09—Mark Graber
Mark Graber is a professor of law and government at the University of Maryland School of Law. Graber is a graduate of Columbia Law School and earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale. Graber was in residence at the UO School of Law in fall 2008, where he taught a class on Judicial Review and Democracy. Graber gave a public address on “Polarization and the Courts” and hosted a West Coast Constitutional Law Schmooze on Polarization and the Constitution.

Resident Scholars

Garrett Epps
Garrett Epps, Orlando J. Hollis Professor of Law, conducted research into the birthright citizenship guarantee of the 14th Amendment and convened a symposium on immigration.

Gordon Lafer
Gordon Lafer, associate professor at the Labor Education and Research Center and the Department of Political Science, researched issues of democracy at the workplace.

Michelle McKinley
Michelle McKinley, asistant professor of law, continued her research on race, gender and cultural citizenship. McKinley organized a symposium on Contested Citizenships.

Daniel HoSang
Daniel HoSang, assistant professor of political science and ethnic studies, completed his book Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives and the Making of Postwar California). He organized a major symposium on Racial Formation in the Twenty-First Century.

Distinguished Speakers

  • Steven M. Tipton, Emory University professor of religion and sociology, “Public Pulpits: Religion in the Moral Argument of Public Life.”
  • Greg Grandin, New York University professor of history, “Violence and Reconciliation in Latin America: Memory, Human Rights and Democracy.”
  • Lani Guinier, Harvard professor of law and Gerald Torres, professor of law at University of Texas, “Changing the Wind: The Demosprudence of Law and Social Movements.”
  • Sanford Levinson, “Wartime Presidents and the Constitution: From Lincoln to Obama” with Wayne Morse Center Senior Faculty Fellow Dan Tichenor.
  • Visiting Distinguished Scholars
  • Professor Richard Delgado, an alumni of the Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics, and his wife, Jean Stefancic, were Visiting Distinguished Scholars.

Events

Film Fest – Politics of Dissent: Human Stories For Our Times
Bijou Art Cinemas

This special slate of five international, American contemporary and classic 35mm films was presented by the Eugene Weekly in conjunction with the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. The films included: Medium Cool (1969), Road to Guantánamo (2006), Osama (2004), Iraq in Fragments (2006), and 12 Angry Men (1957).
Eugene Weekly Film Fest insert – published 09/27/07 (308K PDF)

Symposium — Examining Guantánamo
Organized by the Wayne Morse Fellows
A panel of experts discussed legal issues raised by the detention of prisoners at the U.S. Naval base in Guantánamo Bay. Panelists included Steve Wax, the federal public defender for the District of Oregon who representing seven Guantánamo Bay detainees; Tom Johnson, legal counsel for Guantánamo Bay detainee Ihlkham Battayav; and Ibrahim Gassama, a UO law professor who has done extensive work on human rights and foreign policy issues.
Listen to audio recording

Symposium — Immigration and Citizenship
A one-day symposium led by 2007-08 Wayne Morse Resident Scholar and Hollis Professor of Law Garrett Epps, featuring Kevin Johnson at the University of California–Davis, Hiroshi Motomura of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and John Eastman of Chapman University School of Law.

Violence and Reconciliation in Latin America: Human Rights, Memory and Democracy
This major conference was organized by the UO Latin American Studies Program, particularly Professors Carlos Aguirre and Lynn Stephen. The conference featured 19 international scholars who gave papers  on the search for the truth about what happened during decades of violence and repression in Latin American and the best ways to secure reconciliation and build a peaceful future.

The Imperial Presidency: Citizens and the Growth of Executive Power
Organized by the Wayne Morse Fellows, featuring Marjorie Cohn, President of the National Lawyer’s Guild; Shayana (Shane) Kadidal, Senior Managing Attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights; and Jordan Paust, author of Beyond the Law: The Bush Administration’s Unlawful Responses in the “War” on Terror.

Mobilizing New Constituencies: The 2008 Elections
a day-long event reviewing the strategies of the 2008 elections and attempts to involve new groups of voters.

Race, Young Voters and Local Campaigns
Featured Matthew Barreto, University of Washington;  Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy; Councilwoman Andrea Ortiz; Daniel HoSang; David Rogers; and Francisco Lopez.

Yes We Did! Organizing Lessons from the Obama Campaign
Featured veteran campaign strategists Steve Hildebrand, Deputy Campaign Manager, Obama for America; and Dan Carol, Issues and Content Director, Obama for America.

Racial Formation in the Twenty-First Century
A two-day symposium organized by Dan HoSang, 2008-09 Wayne Morse Resident Scholar.

Contested Citizenships Symposium
Symposium organized by Michelle McKinley. Keynote address entitled “Immigration, Citizenship and the Concept of Space” was given by Leti Volpp, Professor of Law at UC Berkeley with comments from Linda Bosniak, Rutgers University. This event was cosponsored by the UO School of Law.

Project Grants

  • Civil Liberties Defense Center for public interest law students conducting research for cases and projects, as well as support for public education on civil liberties.
  • University of Oregon Department of History for a course on “The Therapeutic Origins of Politics, Public Policy and Citizenship in the Post-1945 United States.”
  • Western States Center to document and evaluate its Voter Organizing, Training, and Empowerment (VOTE) program, which examines the collaborative efforts of seven community organizations to expand civic engagement in Oregon.
  • The Women’s Law Forum for a symposium titled, “Elections Exposed: Women, Money, and Politics.”
  • Teacher Education Course focused on English learners, bicultural (minority) students, and educational equity in the schools. Coordinated by Edward Olivos, it featured fieldwork on issues of immigration and culture.
  • PIPS (Public Interest Public Service) to present a discussion on Oregon ballot initiatives.
  • Lamia Karim, Associate Professor in the UO Anthropology Department, for research on Ambivalent Sisterhood: Feminist Legal Reform and Female Subjectivity in Bangladesh and Malaysia.
  • UO Anthropology Department for a course on International Migration and Citizenship.
  • City of Eugene Human Rights Commission for symposium, “Bring Human Rights Home: Implementing International Human Rights in the United States.”
  • Constitutional Law Section of the Oregon State Bar for a video project, “The Evolution of the Oregon Constitution: An Exercise in Democracy.”
  • Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) for visiting Kenyan scholar Michael Ochieng Odhiambo.
  • Gender, Families and Immigration in Oregon conference.
  • UO MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan) for annual Raza Unida Youth Conference.