IHR Distinguished Lecturer Coco Fusco

“Migration Interrupted: Rights, Freedom, Opportunism, and the Controversy over U.S. Immigration Policy.”  Lecture Tickets     

Map to parking and lecture venue

Fusco, an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and the Director of Intermedia Initiatives at Parsons The New School for Design, will speak on the other side of immigration—those who don’t make it to the U.S. because of interference by the U.S. government or their home government.

The lecture will take place at 5:30 p.m., at the Katzin Concert Hall on ASU’s Tempe campus. A reception will precede the event starting at 4:30 p.m. The event, sponsored by the Institute for Humanities Research, is free and open to the public.

As she writes in her book “English is Broken Here,” Fusco's identification “as a child of diaspora, of the Cold War, of the Civil Rights movement, of the Black Caribbean, of Cuba, and of the United States” has informed her work as both a scholar and performance artist.  She combines electronic media and a variety of formats, from staged multi-media performances incorporating large scale projections and closed circuit television to live performances streamed to the internet that invite audiences to take part in a “chat room” and help chart the course of action.  Her work is meant to provoke commentary and dialogue; to illuminate the unexplored.

Fusco’s performances and videos, including “Operation Atropos,” “Bare Life Study #1,” and “A Room of One’s Own,” have been presented all over the world, including two Whitney Biennials (2008 and 1993), the Sydney Biennial, the London International Theatre Festival, and more. Her books include English is Broken Here: Notes on Cultural Fusion in the Americas (1995), The Bodies that Were Not Ours and Other Writings (2001) and A Field Guide for Female Interrogators (2008).

Fusco received her B.A. in Semiotics from Brown University, her M.A. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in Art and Visual Culture from Middlesex University.

* Due to the value of benefits received, only payments in excess of fair market value may be considered a charitable contribution. The fair market value is $50 per person/$500 per table for dinner. Please consult your tax advisor regarding the deductibility of charitable contributions. Proceeds and gifts will benefit the Institute for Humanities Research and will be deposited with the ASU Foundation for A New American University, a separate nonprofit organization that exists to support ASU.