Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Vietnamese Boat People Event

Online event

Tuesday, February 11, 2025 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM EST
Online Location

Between 1975 to 1992, almost two million Vietnamese risked their lives to flee oppression and hardship after the Vietnam War. Escaping by boat, while many were captured or did not survive the journey, many found freedom in other countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, while others were resettled in the United States, Canada, Italy, Australia, France, or the United Kingdom in refugee camps. This population of people are known as the ‘Vietnamese Boat People'.

Please join the IIR in welcoming speakers for the online portion of this event.

The first panel (2:00pm-3:30pm EST) will include a discussion of the history of refugees in the United States. The panelists include:

Ann Ngoc Tran, PhD Candidate in the Department of American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California
Dr. Jana Lipman, Professor of History at Tulane University
Dr. Yến Lê Espiritu, Professor of Ethnic Studies at University of California, San Diego
Moderator: Dr. Jim Witte, Director of the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University

The second panel (4:00pm-5:30pm EST) will include a discussion of the current state of refugees around the world and in the United States. The panelists include:

Dr. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University
Dr. Miriam Feldblum, Executive Director of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
Dr. Yasemin Ipek, Assistant Professor in Global Affairs at George Mason University
Moderator: Dr. Michele Waslin, Assistant Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota

For information about the evening in-person part of this event, February 11th from 7:00-8:30 pm on the George Mason Fairfax campus, please visit here.

Register here for the Zoom link.