On October 28th, 2020, many IA scholars, including myself, attended a virtual event via Zoom focused around the research of Dr. Ines Valdez. Dr. Valdez, a political theorist and political science professor at OSU, focuses her time studying race, ethnicity, and democracy. Through this event, I was able to learn more about Dr. Valdez’s findings as well as her contributions to the Center of Ethnic Studies at OSU.

Through this event, Dr. Valdez elaborated on her book in progress which will highlight key points relating to empire, labor, migration, and western democracy. In Dr. Valdez’s words, this book will, “argue that the political concepts and institutions that oriented democratic thinking and actions are themselves tainted by Imperial remnants.” Dr. Valdez believes that the American way of democracy practices traditional values that are not up-to-date with the current times and polices.

Dr. Valdez also discussed migration throughout her lecture. Migration is obviously a very prevalent topic so hearing more about Dr. Valdez’s stance on the topic was interesting. Dr. Valdez believes that regulations on immigration emerged to exclude non white people as opposed to regulate foreigners entering the country. I have never thought of migration through this perspective but I think Valdez’s brings up a unique point. Dr. Valdez does not see migration regulations as a way to filter who can enter the country but rather as a way to exclude non-white people from America.

As an IA Scholar, it is important to understand international topics through multiple perspectives. Dr. Valdez provided our entire scholars program with a new perspective on migration and helped advance our knowledge and understanding on the topic. For me personally, I have never considered migration in a great amount of detail. This event/meeting did help me advance my understanding of migration policies in the U.S.

As a business student, it also important for me to understand the industry implications of strict migration laws. In one of my business core classes, we have learned more about the importance of varying perspectives. Varying perspectives bring varying problem solving skills and processes. Openly inviting people from different background into the business industry is a great way to expand the perspectives within a company.