Over the last decade, the United States population has undergone significant transformations. We’ve become more racially diverse, more racially segregated, more urban, older, and more publicly divided than we have been in recent memory. You might say the U.S. is undergoing an identity crisis—but then again, hasn’t it always? 

Our conversation will consider a wide range of questions, including: How did the United States come to be known as “America”? Is “America” a country, a continent (or two), a set of laws or ideals, a people, a myth, or something else entirely? What is the role of immigration in shaping and reshaping the story of “America”? What does the present moment reveal to us about the history of the U.S., and what can the history of the U.S. reveal to us about our present moment? 

Join us on Thursday, September 9, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm to listen to an illustrious panel on these questions and more.

The conversation will be moderated by: 

Stephen Pasqualina of the Core Humanities Program.

He will be joined by:

Michael Aguirre, Assistant Professor of History at UNR; 

Debra Harry, Associate Professor of Gender, Race, and Identity at UNR; 

Jody Lykes, Coordinator of the African Diaspora Program at UNR; and 

Olivia Ngo, a UNR student and College of Liberal Arts Senator for the Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN).

We’ll provide some food for thought, while you provide your own food and drinks at home. We will invite questions from the audience throughout the event.

Thought on Tap is brought to you by Core Humanities, the College of Liberal Arts, and Laughing Planet. Podcasts and transcripts of past Thought on Tap episodes are available on the Core Humanities website.