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surviving AERA

i went to a big conference, of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). it was tiring and overwhelming, i don't know how many people were there. tens of thousands. it's the one everyone says we (grad students) have to present papers at - so i presented a paper.

met great people, learned and partied with them. saw carol lee shake her groove thing.

i submitted the same paper last year, but it was rejected. so i fixed the things reviewers didn't like, and this year they accepted it. appreciate criticism.

by the way, AERA finally has an opinion about something.
education is part of our world. how did they make it through the 20th century without any "political" opinions (eugenics, fascism, genocide, internment camps, mccarthyism, jim crow, voter literacy tests, brown v. board, nclb, etc.)?

my title:
Undocumented Paradox: Activist Immigrants and the California Dream Act

my abstract:
IDEAS is UCLA’s undocumented student support group. My ethnography follows our planning of a conference on immigrant rights legislation. How do undocumented immigrants engage politically? This conference responded to opponents - Schwarzenegger had expressed sympathy, but vetoed legislation; ICE deported families; schools said “you’re not even supposed to be here” and seized merit scholarships, regardless of academic excellence. Students struggled with rent and tuition, so financial workshops were developed for our conference. Though politically influential, these activist immigrants cannot vote. “What sense does it make to keep them disenfranchised?” Against odds, IDEAS members succeed at UCLA by emulating Freirean ideals. IDEAS’ political engagement is unique in student leadership. These “illegal” American college students contest nativist versions of the American Dream.
my PowerPoint (with no speaking or music; i recommend los dynamite):
undocumented_paradox.ppt

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