As part of Homecoming 2025, the Patrick Power Library and SMU Alumni are presenting a special public talk as part of the Library’s Faculty Author Series. We will be celebrating both the 50th anniversary of the library and the 50th anniversary of the Geography Department with a talk by Dr. Cathy Conrad BA’93.

Dr. Conrad is a researcher of migration. But she is also the mother of a migrant, the wife of a migrant and the daughter of a migrant. This narrative presentation is an autoethnography of these lived experiences. Contemporary migration research is awash in understanding what motivates a person to embark on a migration journey. The media oversimplifies the narratives as being either related to fleeing conflict or wanting the spoils of the west. Her stories and understandings dig into the human desires of mobility, of aspirations of living a life fulfilled, of adventure and curiosity. She does this through the lens of her personal family stories from The Gambia, West Africa and from the port of Bremerhaven, Germany.

The event is open to all, and will be followed by a reception.

Register here