VERO BEACH — The Emerson Center Florida Humanities Series, sponsored in part by Marine Bank & Trust, continues on Thursday, Jan. 17, with Immigration’s Impact on Florida and the United States presented by Alex Stepick, Ph.D.
Dr. Stepick, Director, Immigration and Ethnicity Institute Interim Director, has been studying immigration and its impact on Miami for 30 years and has published nine books along with many journal articles and book chapters.
His co-authored book, City on the Edge, has won two national awards. Pride Against Prejudice is the primary source for understanding Haitians in the U.S. His recent book, This Land is Our Land, has been described as “superior” and providing a “new framework for understanding immigration and interethnic relations.”
His most recent book is Churches and Charity: Immigrant Religion and Civic Engagement. The American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology awarded Stepick the Margaret Mead Award for his work with Haitian refugees.
His law review article on U.S. refugee and asylum law is used as a definitive reference in classrooms at major law schools throughout the U.S. For 2008-09, he had a Fulbright Fellowship at the Institute of European Ethnology of Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
The Florida Humanities Series is presented by The Emerson Center at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Vero Beach. Four acclaimed speakers and performers will be presented free at the center now through April, with all presentations relating to Florida history and issues.
Admission to each is complimentary. All performances will begin at 7 p.m.
Other performances in the Humanities Series will include: Feb. 21 – Susan Fernandez, Ph.D. – Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies; March 21 – Steve Smith – The History of Clowning: High Energy, Entertaining & Interesting; and April 11 – Jon McBride, The Florida Space Program.
Funding for these programs was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The capacity of the Emerson Center is more than 800; free admission will be offered on a first-come first-served basis. Reserved seating for season ticket holders of the Celebrated Speakers Series will be offered with prior telephone arrangements.
The Emerson Center is handicapped-accessible and is conveniently located at 1590 27th Ave., on the SE corner of 16th St. and 27th Ave. in Vero Beach.
For more information, please contact (772) 778-5249.
