Research & Outreach on Latinos and Changing Communities in Missouri

Cambio Center News – August, 2007

From the Center

·         Cambio de Colores 2008: the signature conference of the Cambio Center will take place from Monday April 7^th through Wednesday April 9^th, 2008, at the Stoney Creek Inn in Columbia, Missouri.  The Planning Committee will start its work in the next few days.  Have not you signed up yet to be a member of this committee?  You can do so by clicking at this link: 2008 Planning Committee and a new message will be produced by your e-mail program.

·         New Web Section! - Web site of the Cambio Center's research project: Asset Accumulation Strategies in 3 New Settlements Communities (funded by USDA-CSREES-NRI)

·         In the News: MU’s International Programs Newsletter featured a note on the recent Cambio Center Strategic Initiatives Program Award.

Fellows’ Recent Academic Activities

·         Steve Jeanetta attended the Oxford Roundtable  (July 17, 2007), at Oxford, UK, where he presented “Measuring the Social and Cultural Contributions of Immigrants to Their Integration Efforts in Rural Communities,”  by Steve Jeanetta, Corinne Valdivia, Lisa Flores, Domingo Martinez, and Anne Dannerbeck.

·         Steve Jeanetta and Corinne Valdivia attended the Rural Sociology Society’s annual meeting at Santa Clara, California (August 2-5, 2007), where they presented the papers “Asset Accumulation Strategies of Latinos in Three New Settlement Communities of the Midwest” by fellows Corinne Valdivia, Stephen Jeanetta, Lisa Flores,  Domingo Martínez, and Anne Dannerbeck; and “Measuring the Social and Cultural Contributions of Immigrants to Their Integration Efforts in Rural Communities,”  by fellows Steve Jeanetta, Corinne Valdivia, Lisa Flores, Domingo Martinez, and Anne Dannerbeck.

·         Also at Santa Clara, but as part of the concurrent USDA-CSREES Rural Development Program Project Director's Meeting, the Cambio Center had a poster session about the USDA-CSREES funded project “Asset Accumulation Strategies in Three New Settlement Communities.”  Authors: Valdivia, Corinne, S. Jeanetta, L. Y. Flores, D. Martínez, and A. Dannerbeck.

·         Lisa Flores attended the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, California (August, 2007), where she presented “Culturally competent qualitative research with Latino immigrants,” (by Flores, L. Y., He, Yuhong, Jordan, S. E., Medina, V., Mendoza, M., Ojeda, L., Rosales, R., Wagner, J., Valdivia, C., Jeanetta, S., & Martinez, D.) at the Symposium Conducting culturally competent qualitative research: Sharing strategies and lessons learned, H. Z. Lyons (Chair).

·          Corinne Valdivia will attend the XVII International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) in Montréal (September 5-8, 2007)  to present “Asset Accumulation Strategies in 3 New Settlement Communities: A New Approach to Understanding Immigration Processes.”  This paper is product of current Cambio Center research work.

·         Fellows Deborah Cohen (UMSL-History), Juanamaría Cordones-Cook, and Iván Reyna (both from Romance Languages, MU), will also attend LASA 2007 to present their own academic work.

Opportunities

·         The Institute of Public Policy at MU’s Truman School of Public Affairs, has established a Policy Resources Directory, where MU professionals can be listed by areas of expertise.   To add your name, please click on Add or Update Your Information.  Fellows are encouraged to mention their Cambio Center affiliation.

·         The Missouri Economic Development Council is currently building a database of professionals who are willing to present workshop topics. For more details go to: http://www.showme.org/pdf/veo_memo.pdf

Publications of Interest

·         Missouri Census Data Center: Population Estimates for Missouri, April 1, 2000 and July 1, 2005, statewide and by county, showing that the Latino population grew over 24 percent in that 4-year period.  (PDF file, 233 pp.)

·         Rakesh Kochhar: 1995 – 2005: Foreign-Born Latinos Make Progress on Wages. A Pew Hispanic Center report (August, 2007).

·         Pew Hispanic Center fact sheet: The Latino Electorate: An Analysis of the 2006 Election.

·         Even though the data may be, well, dated, the following study uses a methodology that tries to measure direct and indirect impacts of undocumented immigrants: Keilkopf, James. “The Economic Impact of Undocumented Workers in Minnesota.” HACER, Minneapolis, September 2000. www.hacer-mn.org/PDFs/undocumented.pdf.

·         HACER (Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research) has an interesting series of publications —the  titles correspond well to many of the Cambio Center’s research interests.

·         Always useful and with most current information: Facts on the Hispanic or Latino Population - U.S. Census Bureau portal.