International Seminar Series: Harvest of Shame

Title of Presentation: Harvest of Shame: Seeking Justice for Farmworkers

Speaker: Miguel Keberlein, J.D., Director of immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group at Legal Assistance Foundation

Presentation Overview: The modern-day agricultural system relies upon millions of migrant and seasonal farmworkers to feed our nation; yet these workers are some of the most poorly compensated and highly vulnerable workers in our society.  From H2A guest workers to traditional migrant farmworkers, our nation’s food system relies upon highly exploitative methods in order to ensure cheap food.

Speaker Bio: Miguel Keberlein Gutiérrez is the Director of the Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group and Client Support Services at LAF Chicago. He has been litigating cases on behalf of migrant and seasonal agricultural farmworkers and other low-wage workers for over a decade.

Series Overview: The International Seminar Series offers the Illinois State campus and Bloomington-Normal communities weekly opportunities to learn about a wide range of international topics. Guest speakers are usually experts in their fields across a range of disciplines who cover a wide array of cultural, historical, political and social topics.

Series events have become one of the most popular internationally focused events on campus and continue to draw ever-growing crowds of students, faculty and community members. Audience members are given time at each event to raise questions to enable a two-way participation and learning.

International Seminar Series events are free and open to the public, and occur every Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. in the Bone Student Center. The fall 2017 series will focus on food justice and sustainability.