Speakers and Panels

Introducing Keynote

8:15 a.m. | March 8 | Karen Hille Phillips Center for Performing Arts

Who: Roberto Dondisch

Title: Consul of Mexico in Seattle

Bio: Dr. Roberto Dondisch is currently Consul of Mexico in Seattle. He was previously Director-General for Global Issues within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served as the Chief Negotiator for Mexico for the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Climate Change processes. He also was Chief Negotiator for Mexico for the Arms Trade Treaty, where, he was elected Vice President of the UN negotiating process. Also he was the Special Advisor for International Security, General Coordinator for the Youth-20 Summit the youth segment of the Mexican G20 presidency, Alternate Coordinator of the COP-16/CMP-6 climate meetings in Cancun and focal point for the Mexican participation as elected member of the UN Security Council.

Mr. Dondisch holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Master’s in International Economics (Johns Hopkins SAIS); a Master of Science in Foreign Service (Georgetown University) and a Bachelor Degree on International Relations (Universidad Iberoamericana). He has authored diverse articles on political risk, multilateral negotiations, security and democratic governance and is editor of “Mexico in the Security Council of the UN 2009-2010 The Story Behind the Scenes” (Random House 2012). He has taught at Universidad Iberoamericana, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica. Also, he was a Jr. Fellow at the Center for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and researcher at Fundación PENT (Argentina).

Homo Itinerans: An Anthropological Perspective on Global Mobility

9:05 a.m. | March 9 | Regency Room

Who: Alessandro Monsutti

Title: Head of Anthropology and Sociology Steering Committee, Programme for the Study of Global Migration Graduate Institute of Geneva

Bio: Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, University of Neuchâtel (2002)

Trained as a social anthropologist, Alessandro Monsutti became a member of the faculty in 2010, after having taught at the Graduate Institute of Development Studies from 2003 to 2007. He has been Research Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (1999-2000) and Yale University (2008-2010), Grantee of the MacArthur Foundation (2004-2006), and Visiting Professor at the University of Vienna (2012) and Arizona State University (2014). He is also Research Associate at the Refugee Studies Centre (University of Oxford). In addition, he has worked as a consultant for several international and nongovernmental organizations such as UNHCR.

Alessandro Monsutti has conducted multi-sited research since the mid-1990s in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran to study the modes of solidarity and cooperation mobilised in a situation of conflict and forced migration. He has subsequently broadened the geographical scope of his research to include members of the Afghan diaspora living in Western countries. This led him to analyse war and post-conflict reconstruction in the light of the social networks and economic strategies developed by refugees and migrants, and – more generally – to address theoretical and methodological issues related to globalisation. Among his current research interests: the political economy of reconstruction in Afghanistan as an example of emerging forms of sovereignty and global governance; asylum seekers and refugees in Europe; migrants and non-migrants in urban neighbourhoods; the changing nature of borderlands in Europe and South Asia.

The Importance of Migrant Voices and Perspectives

7 p. m. | March 8 | Scandinavian Cultural Center

The 44th annual Walter C. Schnackenberg Memorial Lecture speaker

Who: Fredy González

Title: Assistant Professor of Latin American History at the University of Colorado – Boulder

Bio: Fredy González is assistant professor of Latin American History at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the author of Paisanos Chinos: Transpacific Politics among Chinese Immigrants in Mexico, published by the University of California Press. His work has received the Oscar O. Winther and Bert Fireman Awards from the Western History Association. He is currently working on a transnational history of the Chinese sworn brotherhood, the Hong Men Chee Kung Tong. In 2016-2017, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Art and Science of Human Migration

11:50 a.m. | March 8 | Regency Room

Who: Elizabeth Fussell

Title: Associate Professor of Population Studies and Environment and Society
at Brown University

Bio: Elizabeth Fussell joined Brown University and the PSTC in the fall of 2014. She is a sociologist and demographer whose research focuses on international and internal migration, and environmental drivers of migration. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Springer journal Population & Environment. Fussell’s current research focuses on the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the exposed residents of the city, regardless of where they are currently living.

She has investigated the arrival and reception of the Latino immigrants who formed the rapid response construction labor force, the impact of displacement on the health of vulnerable low-income mothers, and differentials in return migration of displaced New Orleans residents. Her new research focuses on the generalizable aspects of hurricane impacts on population change. Fussell’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.

Exploring the Linkage between Human Trafficking and Migration

11:50 a.m. | March 9 | Regency Room

Who: Greg Hermsmeyer ’88

Title: Senior Coordinator for International Programs in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) at the U.S. Department of State

Bio: Greg Hermsmeyer serves as the Senior Coordinator for International Programs in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) at the U.S. Department of State. He leads the team responsible for managing a global portfolio of over $85 million in short-term training and technical assistance, research, and multi-year bilateral and regional foreign assistance programming to combat human trafficking. He works with a variety of interagency, international, and private partners to build the capacity of governments and civil society organizations to protect victims, prosecute traffickers, and prevent the crime of trafficking.

Mr. Hermsmeyer previously served in the Pentagon as Director, Partnership Policy and Strategy, and led the team responsible for Department of Defense (DoD) policy, strategy, and planning on security cooperation. He was a Senior Manager at Deloitte Consulting from 2010 to 2012 and served at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2012 to 2015. Mr. Hermsmeyer retired as a Colonel from the U.S. Air Force in 2010 after a 21-year career as a KC-135 pilot, planner, action officer for two 4-Star generals, and squadron commander. He holds Masters Degrees in International Relations, Air Mobility/Transportation Management, and National Security and Strategic Studies. He graduated magna cum laude from Pacific Lutheran University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Global Studies minor.

Births, Deaths, and Deportations: Health Care and the Struggle for Immigrant Rights

3:30 p.m. | March 9 | Regency Room

Who: Lisa Sun-Hee Park

Title: Professor and Chair of Asian American Studies with affiliations in Sociology and Feminist Studies at the University of California – Santa Barbara

Bio: Lisa Sun-Hee Park is professor and chair of Asian American Studies, with affiliations in Sociology and Feminist Studies at the University of California – Santa Barbara. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology at Northwestern University. Park’s interdisciplinary research focuses on the politics of migration, race, health, and environmental justice. She is currently working on two different projects: 1) medical deportation and the state of the health care safety net for low-income uninsured immigrants in the U.S. and 2) “Environmental Privilege, Climate Change, and Making a Killing on the Coming Apocalypse.” Her books include: Entitled to Nothing: The Struggle for Immigrant Health Care in the Age of Welfare Reform (NYU 2011) and The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America’s Eden (co-authored with David N. Pellow, NYU 2011), which received the Outstanding Book Award from the American Sociological Association’s Environment and Technology Section in 2014.

The Church's Vocation in a World on the Move

6:30 p.m. | March 9 | Regency Room

Who: Munib Younan

Title: Retired Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Former President of the Lutheran World Federation (2010-2017)

Bio: Bishop Younan was born on 18 September 1950 in Jerusalem. Both his parents were Palestinian refugees, and he holds United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) refugee status. After completing his primary and secondary education in Palestine, Bishop Younan studied deaconry at Luther Opisto College in Järvenpää, Finland (1969 to 1972), and theology at the University of Helsinki (1972 to 1976), obtaining a Master’s degree with a thesis on “Election in Deutero Isaiah.” He also undertook study and research
at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Illinois (USA), in 1988, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity by Wartburg College, Iowa (USA), in 2001. In 1976, Younan was ordained at the Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem. Over the next twelve years he served the ELCJHL in various capacities in areas of pastoral leadership, youth leadership and Christian education. In 1990 Younan was appointed president of the ELCJHL Synod, a position he held until his election and consecration as bishop in January 1998. As bishop, he also chaired several boards and committees within the ELCJHL.

Bishop Younan retired from the office of bishop on January 2018.

Bishop Munib A. Younan was elected to the presidency of The Lutheran World Federation by the LWF Eleventh Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, on 24 July 2010. As president, he also chaired the LWF Council, Executive Committee and Board of Trustees.

Younan’s involvement with the LWF dates back to 1981. It includes membership of its Youth Committee (1981-1984); adviser to the Council (1990-1997); Council member, vice- chair of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg and vice-chair of the LWF Program Committee for Mission and Development from 1997 to 2003. From 2003 to July 2010 Younan served as LWF vice-president for the Asia region, Council member and member of the LWF Executive Committee and Board of Trustees.

In 2012 Bishop Younan joined global religious leaders in signing the historic “Welcoming the Stranger: Affirmations for Faith Leaders” developed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with an LWF-led initiative.

As President of the LWF, Bishop Younan and Pope Francis co-signed a Joint Statement commemorating the Lutheran Reformation and Historical Reconciliation between the Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches on October 31, 2016 in Lund, Sweden.

In May of 2017 at the LWF twelfth assembly in Windhoek, Namibia, Younan completed his term as LWF President.

Younan continues to make a substantial contribution to the life of the churches and ecumenism in the Middle East. Younan has been an active member of the Middle East Council of Churches, serving in various capacities since 1985, and including President for the Evangelical Family. From 2004 to 2010, Younan served as president of the Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC), leading them to a unanimous vote in favor of women’s ordination in January 2010. A founding member of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), Younan has chaired its Local Reference Group since 2002.

In the field of interreligious encounter, Younan has been active since his work as co- founder of the Al-Liqa’ Center for Religious Studies in Jerusalem in 1982. Since 1991, with the Jonah Group, Younan has launched several long-running, informal dialogues providing space for joint reflection by local Christians and Jews. Younan is also a founding member of the Council for Religious Institutions in the Holy Land (CRIHL), an organization of interfaith trialogue with membership including the Heads of Churches in the Holy Land, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs, and the Islamic Shari’a Courts of the Palestinian Authority.

Younan helped bring about a Mutual Recognition Agreement between Middle East Evangelical churches in 2006 for full communion between churches of the Reformed and Lutheran traditions. It established the mutual recognition of baptism, Eucharist, ministry and ordination. A participant in Anglican-Lutheran dialogue in Jerusalem since 1984, Younan was named the Lutheran patron of the Anglican Lutheran Society in 2010. He was a member of the World Council of Churches’ Orthodox Study Group from 1998-2006.

A high-profile lecturer and speaker, Younan is sought after for his perspective on

just peace as a Palestinian Christian. Younan is also active in interreligious encounter, ecumenism and reconciliation in his own region and internationally. His work has been recognized with a number of awards and prizes.
The author of Witnessing for Peace: In Jerusalem and the World (Augsburg Fortress, USA, 2003), Our Shared Witness: A Voice of Justice and Reconciliation (Lutheran University Press, 2012), and of The Augsburg Confession in Arabic (Emerezian Est., Jerusalem, 1993), Younan has written numerous articles, lectures and presentations relating to the life of Palestinian Lutherans in the Middle East.
Bishop Younan is married to Suad Yacoub; the couple has a son, two daughters and five grandchildren.

Prepared by the LWF Office for Communication Services – November 2010 Revised by the ELCJHL January 2018

Panel Title: Welcoming the Stranger: Immigrant Workers in a Wisconsin Dairy Community—a 20 –Year Experiment

Who: John Rosenow

Title: Dairy Farmer

Bio: John Rosenow is a fifth-generation dairy farmer in Cochrane, Wisconsin. He began employing immigrant workers at his Buffalo County dairy after expanding his farm in 1997.

Who: Shaun Duvall

Title: Founder and Director of Puentes/Bridges, 2001 – 2018

Bio: Puentes/Bridges Founder and Director, Shaun Duvall was also the owner of SJD Language and Culture Services, LLC, during the same years. SJD is an interpretation and translation service that also served to facilitate better relationships between employers on more than 40 dairy farms and their immigrant employees in WI and MN. Other agencies served were the Social Service Department, Birth to 3 and WIC programs in her Wisconsin county.

Panel Title:
“And justice for all?” – Public Transportation and Equity in the Puget Sound Region

Who: Andrew Austin ’06

Bio: Andrew Austin is currently the Government Affairs Manager for Metro Parks Tacoma.

Who: Sonja Ruud ’12

Bio: Sonja Ruud recently finished her MA degree in Anthropology and has currently made her home in Luxembourg.

Panel Title: Transnational Identities: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century

Who: Monica DeHart

Title: Dolliver NEH Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Puget Sound

Bio: Monica DeHart is a Dolliver NEH Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Puget Sound, where she chairs the Sociology and Anthropology department and is also affiliated with the Latin American Studies and Global Development Studies Programs. She has conducted ethnographic research on the cultural politics of development in Central America for over 20 years, with her work on transnational ethnodevelopment and migration appearing in numerous interdisciplinary journals and culminating in her book, Ethnic Entrepreneurs: Identity and Development Politics in Latin America (2010 Stanford University Press).

Since 2012, she has brought this ethnographic approach to the burgeoning field of China-Latin American studies where, through qualitative, empirical research on Chinese projects, firms, and communities in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, she is exploring China’s multifaceted presence in and impact on regional development politics. Her current book project offers a comparative view of the diverse actors and processes that define China in Central America, focusing on infrastructure and urban development projects as well as debates about corruption, national identity, and diplomatic relations. This work has appeared in journal such as, Third World Quarterly, City & Society, and the Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology. DeHart currently serves as the co-Chair of the Asia & the Americas section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA).

Who: Rachel Hershberg

Title: Assistant Professor of Community Psychology in the Social, Behavioral, and Human Sciences Division of the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington – Tacoma.

Bio: Dr. Hershberg teaches a range of psychology courses as well as seminars on the development of immigrant youth and families in the US. Her research examines (1) psychosocial wellbeing among transnational and mixed-status migrant families from the Global South, and (2) critical consciousness development in diverse groups of adolescents and young adults. She uses community-based and participatory research methods in her work with youth, families, and communities. Prior to joining the faculty at UWT, Rachel was a Research Professor at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts

Her research examines (1) psychosocial well-being among transnational and mixed-status migrant families from the Global South, and (2) critical consciousness development in diverse groups of adolescents and young adults. She uses community-based and participatory research methods in her work with youth, families, and communities. Prior to joining the faculty at UWT, Rachel was a Research Professor at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

Who: Robin Jacobson

Title: Associate Professor of Politics and Government at the University of Puget Sound

Bio: Robin Jacobson writes and speaks frequently on questions about immigration, race, and US Politics. Her publications include The New Nativism: Proposition 187 and the Debate over Immigration (2008, University of Minnesota Press) and Faith and Race in American Political Life (2012, University of Virginia Press). Connecting her knowledge about race, immigration, and social movements with her passion for change, Robin is active on issues surrounding the immigrant detention center in Tacoma and in bringing higher educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals in Washington State.

Panel Title: Welcoming the Stranger II: Organizational Approaches to Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement, and Human Trafficking

Who: Liz Begert Dunbar

Title: Executive Director of Tacoma Community House

Bio: Liz Dunbar began as the Executive Director of Tacoma Community House in April 2009. She retired in 2006 from the Department of Social and Health Services after 25 years of service. At DSHS, she served in a number of capacities, including State Refugee Coordinator, Diversity Director, Assistant Secretary for Economic Services and lastly as the Deputy Secretary of the department for six years.

Liz is active in community affairs as well, serving on the board of trustees for Tacoma Community College, the boards of the LASCO Foundation, Pioneer Human Services and the Japanese American Citizens League. She is the daughter of a Japanese immigrant and a US Air Force officer.

Liz lives in Tacoma with her husband Mike, a financial planner and they have two grown children.

Who: Linda Faaren ’78

Title: Director of the Puget Sound Welcome Back Center at Highline College

Bio: Linda Faaren is the director of the Puget Sound Welcome Back Center at Highline College, a center that helps internationally educated professionals return to their careers here in the US. She also works with special English programs for refugees and immigrants at Highline. Earlier in her career she taught English in the US and Japan and directed a literacy program in Cameroon, West Africa, in the Gbaya language.

Who: Sarah Peterson

Title: Washington State Refugee Coordinator, Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, Community Services Division, Economic Services Administration, Department of Social and Health Services

Bio: Sarah Peterson is the Washington State Refugee Coordinator and oversees the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance (ORIA) at the Washington Department of Social and Health Services. ORIA’s mission is to help refugee and immigrant families and individuals to succeed and thrive in Washington State. This is accomplished by building strong community partnerships and providing culturally appropriate services and programs, including employment services, English language classes, self-sufficiency education, immigration assistance, comprehensive case management, health screenings and health promotion services, and naturalization services. ORIA collaborates with more than 50 community-based organizations, refugee resettlement agencies, local community colleges, and other government agencies.

Prior to joining DSHS/ORIA three years ago, Sarah spent 15 years working with refugee and immigrant communities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sarah attributes her passion in working with people from other countries to the rich experience she gained as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala. When she returned to the U.S., she earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pennsylvania. During her tenure in Philadelphia, Sarah gained a broad range of experience in the nonprofit sector. She worked as a foster care social worker serving Unaccompanied Refugee Minors. She managed a program helping individuals granted asylum navigate systems and remove barriers to achieving self-sufficiency in Pennsylvania. She directed the refugee resettlement program with HIAS Pennsylvania, helping to establish a citywide refugee health collaborative. Sarah moved to Seattle, Washington in 2014 with her husband and daughter, and loves exploring the forests and beaches in the Puget Sound region.

Who: Kerri Pedrick ’08

Title: Executive Director of Washington Traffic Prevention (formerly Washington Engage)

Bio: Kerri Pedrick is the Executive Director of Washington Trafficking Prevention, an organization empowering youth and communities to end human trafficking in Washington State. Her passion and experience is in empowering and directly supporting young people, refugees and those who serve them. Prior to joining Washington Trafficking Prevention Kerri spent seven years working training youth-serving professionals at Peace Community Center in Tacoma, WA and developing a Somali-Bantu tutoring program for young refugee students.

Kerri’s education is in community-based social work with master’s degree in Social Enterprise Administration from Columbia University School of Social Work in New York, NY and her Bachelor’s in Social Work from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA.

She grew up in rural eastern Washington but has called Tacoma home since 2004, where she now lives with her partner James and daughters Penny and Parker.

Panel Title: Mobility Made Visible: Disciplinary Approaches to Migrant Stories

Who: Rebekah M.K. Mergenthal

Title: Associate Professor of History at Pacific Lutheran University

Bio: Rebekah M.K. Mergenthal received her B.A. from Columbia University and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Her research and teaching interests involve many aspects of U.S. history, especially westward expansion, colonization, and race relations.

Who: Adela Ramos

Title: Associate Professor of English at Pacific Lutheran University

Bio: Adela Ramos’ book project, “Hospitable Species: Hosts, Guests, and Strangers in the Eighteenth-Century British Novel, 1720-1830” examines how eighteenth-century writers develop ideas about nation, gender, race, and class through representations of interspecies relations, specifically in narratives of hospitality. Her teaching emphases include eighteenth-century British literature, critical animal studies, women and gender studies, border literature, and digital humanities. She is a recipient of PLU’s Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching (December 2016).

Who: Jennifer Spence

Title: Visiting Instructor of Anthropology at Pacific Lutheran University

Bio: Jennifer recently earned her Ph.D. in biological anthropology from Ohio State University. Before teaching at Pacific Lutheran University, she lived in northern Brazil for several years while conducting dissertation fieldwork. Her current research focuses on how a mother’s circumstances during her life and pregnancy and an infant’s condition during early life are related to dental development. She is also interested in understanding what factors, including the dentition, mothers consider when deciding what to feed and when to wean their infants.