Calendar of Events

“Waking Up to a Nightmare: Undocumented Youth and the Confusing and Contradictory Routes to Adulthood”Roberto G. Gonzales is an Assistant Professor at the University Of Washington School Of Social Work.  Before joining UW, he was a fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. He earned his Ph.D. in the department of sociology at the University of California, and his MSW from the University of Chicago. He has served as a lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and at the University of California at Irvine where he received an outstanding teaching award. His research focuses on the ways in which legal and educational institutions shape the everyday experiences and the transitions to adulthood of poor, minority, and immigrant youth. Current projects include a 4½ year study of undocumented immigrant young adults in Los Angeles, a companion study in Seattle, and comparative projects on immigrant youth in the U.S. and Europe.  Among his other publications are articles in International Migration, The Peabody Journal of Education, the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, and the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy.  He has also authored policy reports, for the Migration Policy Institute, Immigration Policy Center, The College Board, and the Police Foundation, that continue to impact policy debates locally and nationally. And he has lectured nationally and internationally on the circumstances confronting immigrant youth in various contexts. He is a co-founder of Video Machete, a youth media organization in Chicago, and has served on several local level and national boards, including the Crossroads Fund and the American Friends Service Committee. He is currently working on a book manuscript based on his research on Los Angeles.Organized by students and faculty, the Immigration Series addresses the human dimensions of today’s immigration policy debates through interdisciplinary perspectives, with an emphasis on policy and practice implications for Los Angeles.This presentation is part of a year-long speaker series sponsored by the Department of Social Welfare: Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration