The Center for the Study of Citizenship, Wayne State University, hosts its fifth annual conference March 27 - 29 on the main campus at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center. This year's theme, the Boundaries of Citizenship, kicks off with a keynote address about Asian Americans by Frank Wu, author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White and dean of Wayne State's Law School, on Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m.

This international event features thirty speakers and special talks by scholars Michael Hardt, Duke University, on democratic citizenship, Linda Bosniak, Rutgers Law School Law School, on aliens and citizenship, and Sherman Jackson, University of Michigan, discussing Islam, Muslims and the American State. Authors and scholars Peter Spiro, Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization, and Peter Linebaugh, The Magna Carta Manifesto: Liberties and Commons for All, will also participate in separate panel discussions of their new books.

The Boundaries of Citizenship explores physical and conceptual boundaries that shape the recognition and exercise of citizenship. These boundaries evoke issues beyond those of traditional legal categories. WSU Center for the Study of Citizenship Director Marc W. Kruman said of the planned conference, "These events work to maintain connections between people that are so necessary to engaged citizenship, especially in democracies. And, it's a chance to hear what people, who are on the cutting edge of scholarship say about the kinds of memberships in societies. Ultimately, this is the kind of thing that has the potential to shape policy." Wayne State Russian historian, Aaron Retish, adds, "In a presidential election year, this year's theme is especially timely given current debates about immigration, the rights of political prisoners, and disenfranchisement of voters not only here in the U.S., but worldwide."

This event, co-sponsored by the Honors College, departments of English and of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and the WSU Law School, is free and open to the public. Refreshments are available at nominal cost. Join us for a provocative and stimulating exploration of who is in, who is out, and why! For a complete schedule of presentations visit the Center for the Study of Citizenship website at www.clas.wayne.edu/citizenship.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.