Who gets to belong?

Join the Institute for Advanced Study for the first conversation of the 2026-2027 (In)Justice Series on Data & Power as we examine how the language of displacement shapes public perception and functions as a form of power. Whether due to exile, removal, genocide, or the search for a better life, or called immigrant, refugee, migrant, settler, or expatriate, the language we use becomes a form of data. A panel of scholars and community members whose lives are shaped by migration and displacement will explore who has the authority to name communities, how those labels shape public narratives, and when diaspora becomes a cultural, historical, or political identity. 

Drawing from the experiences of diasporic communities that have found a home in Minnesota, our panelists invite audience members to consider what the language of migration reveals about race, citizenship, colonialism, class, and belonging. Who benefits from the categories we use? And what happens when communities reject, reclaim, or redefine the names imposed upon them?