Immigration event launches humanities series

Evelyn Cruz, director of the Immigration Law & Policy Clinic and an associate clinical professor at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, will join a panel discussion about immigration in October.

The panel will follow a screening of the 2006 documentary, “Crossing Arizona,” at 1 p.m., Oct. 7, at the Phoenix Art Museum, located at 1625 N. Central Ave., in Phoenix. The event is free and open to the public.

“Crossing Arizona” is a compelling, balanced look at the impact of illegal immigration on Arizona’s border. It examines the crisis through the eyes of frustrated ranchers, humanitarian groups, political activists, farmers and an armed citizen patrol group. The film demonstrates the surprising political stances people take when immigration and border policies fail.

In addition to Cruz, Simon Ortiz, an ASU English professor and poet, and Brian Gratton, an ASU history professor and immigration historian, will participate in the panel. The discussion will be moderated by Paul Espinosa, a professor in ASU’s Chicano and Chicana Studies Department. Espinoza also is an independent filmmaker whose work focuses on the U.S.-Mexico border region.

The event is part of the “Three Sundays on the Border” series sponsored by the Arizona Humanities Council. Other scheduled activities this month are:

• “Between Fences,” a traveling exhibition of the Smithsonian Institution that explores the American history of this everyday icon, conveying information about the people who built them, how they view and use their land, and the nature of their relations with their neighbors. It opens Oct. 14 at the Pimeria Alta Historical Society in Nogales.

• A presentation by Sonia Nazario, author of “Enrique’s Journey and America’s Immigration Dilemma,” featuring the odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable peril to reach his mother in the United States. Nazario, a Pulitzer Prize-winning L.A. Times reporter, is the guest speaker in the 17th annual Lorraine W. Frank Lecture in the Humanities, at 4 p.m., Oct. 28, at the Mesa Arts Center. For ticket information, call (480) 644-6500.