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Central Faculty Lecture Series Focuses on Immigration in the Midwest

Featured: Central Faculty Lecture Series Focuses on Immigration in the Midwest

April 6, 2021

Maria Snyder, associate professor of German and French, and Anya Butt, professor of biology, will present “Model Citizens and Undesirable Aliens: Immigrants in Iowa” from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, April 7.

The presentation is part of Central’s 2021 Faculty Lecture Series with a focus on diversity and inclusion. It can be access via Zoom.

Who are “real Iowans” and “real Americans?” Snyder and Butt will take a personal and historical approach by connecting Butt’s experience as an immigrant and “Other,” or someone who is different from the norm, with questions about immigration in the Midwest. They will look at how “Others” have been defined, rejected and tolerated and what acceptance means in our time.

Snyder has taught courses in French and German language and literature for nearly 10 years at Central. Her research experience includes stipends from the Newberry Library in Chicago and the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, Germany.

Butt has taught at Central since 2002, taking over the environmental studies program and growing it into a more dynamic, applied program. She brings to the program experience working with soil erosion in Kenya, climate change in the Antarctic ecosystems and stream restoration in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

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