The First Friday Forum speaker series provides lectures of importance and interest to the entire community about this ever-changing world sponsored by Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church. Attend the programs that interest you with no registration, subscription, or entry fee.
Programs are offered at 1:30 p.m. on a Friday January through June and are available simultaneously on the Lafayette campus and via streaming. Arrive at 1 p.m. to enjoy refreshments and conversation in the Oak Room before the talk.
To attend on-line, click the “Watch” button at the top of this page and scroll down to the FFF link. When available, program recordings will be posted in the Archive below.
To contact the First Friday Forum team or to subscribe to or be removed from the FFF email list, send an email to fff@lopc.org.
June 5th Program
Hidetaka Hirota, UCB Professor of History
Understanding the History of Immigration in the United States
Please join us for First Friday Forum featuring Hidetaka Hirota, Associate Professor and Director of the Canadian Studies Program at University of California, Berkeley.
Immigration remains one of the most widely discussed topics in the United States today. This lecture will explore the history of immigration in the United States, with particular attention to the development and evolution of anti-immigrant sentiment and legislation. Dr. Hirota will examine how these attitudes emerged, the groups that were affected, the various ways such sentiments were expressed, and how immigration policies have changed over time. The lecture will also consider the broader historical context and the continuing relevance of this history for American society today.
Hidetaka Hirota is a social and legal historian of the United States specializing in immigration. His major areas of research are nineteenth-century North America; U.S. immigration law and policy; the U.S. and the World; and transnational history. He is particularly interested in the history of American nativism and immigration control. His published works have examined the origins and early developments of U.S. immigration policy from the antebellum period to the Progressive Era. Adopting a social and legal history approach, his scholarship pays equal attention to the legal dimension of immigration control and the practical implementation of immigration laws on the ground.
We look forward to this informative discussion on the historical forces that have shaped immigration perspectives in the United States.
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