Source: Jeffrey S. Smith, 785-532-3412, jssmith7@k-state.edu
Photo available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415.
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010

K-STATE'S JEFFREY S. SMITH TO PRESENT A LARSON LECTURE ON MEXICAN IMMIGRATION

MANHATTAN -- Jeffrey S. Smith, associate professor of cultural geography at Kansas State University, will present the spring semester's first Vernon Larson International Luncheon Lecture, "Three Types of Migrants Out of Rural Mexico," at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be preceded by a luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Both events will be at the Holiday Inn at 17th Street and Anderson Avenue. The luncheon costs $15 and reservations, which are required, may be made by Friday, Feb. 12, at 532-5990.

Smith will discuss the history of legal and undocumented immigration in the United States and what motivates most immigrants to leave rural Mexico for the U.S. He'll focus on the lives of three men and their families from Zacatecas, who are representative examples of the larger migration phenomenon. A question-and-answer session will follow the lecture.

Smith's research focus is on the geographical patterns of attachment to place/sense of community, the results of cultural interaction and change in the landscape and the concept of culture regions. Much of Smith's work centers on the greater U.S.-Mexico borderlands, where he has examined the cultural landscape and settlement patterns throughout the American Southwest and Mexico.

Smith has a doctorate in geography from Arizona State University, a master's in geography from Bowling Green State University and a bachelor's in social science from the University of Northern Colorado.

K-State's Vernon Larson International Luncheon Lecture Series was started in 1979 and is named for Vernon C. Larson, former director of international agriculture programs at K-State.