Nazario’s talks reflect long-time pull of American dream
November 9, 2006
KOKOMO, Ind.—When Pulitzer Prize–winning author Sonia Nazario speaks at Indiana University Kokomo on Monday, November 13, she will be sharing just one recent chapter of a story told many times over around the world, says Professor Emeritus of International Business Herbert C. Miller, Ph.D., L.H.D.
That story concerns immigrants taking on “the eternal, world-wide quest for a better life and the hope that a change of venue, especially to the United States, will provide that better life, if not for themselves, then for their relatives or offspring,” Miller said.
Nazario’s book Enrique’s Journey describes the dangerous route an estimated 48,000 immigrant children take each year to enter the United States illegally from Central America and Mexico. Nazario will discuss the book and issues of immigration in two lectures in IU Kokomo’s Kelley Student Center—one in Spanish at 4 p.m. and one in English at 7 p.m. Both lectures are open to the public, with no charge.
Several hundred IU Kokomo freshmen read and discussed Enrique’s Journey in a common reading program this fall. Although the details of the immigrants’ journey described in Enrique’s Journey might vary from those of preceding immigrants, Miller said, “Nazario has fully documented that the general trend of hope for a better existence remains the same over time. Her views and experiences on the subject should be both thought-provoking and stimulating.”
Miller, who started his career at IU Kokomo in 1960 as a professor of Slavic languages, said he has translated “150-year-old letters from German and Russian [written by] people who were willing to brave unknown dangers to get here. More recently, I have talked to Chinese and Latvians who were willing to do the same thing, legally or illegally.
“The vast majority of Americans are simply not aware of the tremendous attraction which the United States has for much of the rest of the world, and they take their good fortune for granted,” Miller said.
Copies of Enrique’s Journey (Random House, Inc., 2006) are available through the IU Kokomo Bookstore.
For more information regarding Sonia Nazario’s public addresses at IU Kokomo, contact the Office of Student Activities at (765) 455-9203.
Indiana University Kokomo is located west of U.S. 31 on the south side of Kokomo. From U.S. 31, turn west on Lincoln Road. Take Lincoln to Washington Street and turn right (north). The campus is at 2300 S. Washington St. Persons without campus parking passes should follow the signs for special event parking for the November 13 lectures.
