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AUGUSA — The University of Maine College of Arts and Science and the UMA Senior College will present, as part of its Forum on the Future series, “Maine’s Immigration Challenge” at the Jewett Auditorium at UMA’s Augusta campus 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3
The forum is free and open to the public. Speakers will be Kristin McLaren, Barbara Taylor and Aaminah Aleem. They will address the benefits of immigration to Maine’s society and economy, the legal aspects of seeking asylum and how it differs from regular immigration, and the personal experiences and achievements of a recent immigrant. The issues will be discussed from the perspective of four persons involved in a local program for assisting immigrants in becoming part of Maine’s society.
McLaren is a lecturer in social science at UMA, where she has taught courses in religion and culture. She is a moving force behind the formation of the Capital Area New Mainers Project. CANMP is a cross-cultural organization that, with the help of community volunteers, welcomes immigrants and strives to create a thriving, integrated community in central Maine.
Taylor is a Rural Maine Project attorney with the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project. She is a University of Maine Law School graduate with a masters degree in Community Education from Columbia Teachers College. She has served as a full-time staff attorney and senior staff attorney at ILAP for10 years. ILAP works to help Maine’s immigrants improve their legal status and assure them of social justice and equity.
Aleem is employed by UMA as an administrative assistant in the Student Life, Athletics, and Dean of Students Offices. Her family emigrated from Pakistan. As a UMA student she received the Heart and Soul Student award from the Maine Campus Compact, in recognition of her efforts in helping to transform her campus into an environment of civic engagement. She is a board member of the Capital Area New Mainers Project.
The moderator of the forum will be Chris Myers Asch, Director of CANMP. He teaches history part-time at Colby College and is author of “The Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital.”
The next forum, “Our Divided Country” will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb 2.
The mission of Senior College is to provide joyful life-long learning and socializing opportunities to persons 50 and older and their spouses. Besides the forum series, UMASC offers a wide variety of courses and the Concerts at Jewett series.
For more information about UMASC and its other activities, call 207-621-3551, email at umasc@maine.edu, or visit www.umasc.org.
