Home Away from Home: Age and Immigrant Belonging Among Chinese-born Seniors in the US Speaker: Dr. Nicole Newendorp Lecturer and Assistant Director of Social Studies Harvard University Discussant: Prof. James L. Watson Fairbank Professor of Chinese Society and Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, Harvard University In this paper, Professor Newendorp builds on ethnographic literature that documents Chinese transnational migration by examining how a previously overlooked but increasingly important demographic of Chinese seniors who migrate to the US following their retirement in China make sense of engaging in transnational mobility processes at a time in life in which they may also be experiencing mental and physical decline. Professor Newendorp argues that for this generation of Chinese individuals, age does not only serve as a factor that just makes transnational mobility processes difficult, as bodies and minds grow old and infirm and individuals may have increased trouble learning skills to survive in a new environment. Rather, as seniors draw on a lifelong repertoire of experiences, age for these migrants also seems to work in unexpected ways to encourage their desires to participate in these flows. For these Cantonese-speaking migrants, many individuals find they can live out their final years with a strong sense of belonging in the United States, practicing familial and social roles that resonate with their past, present, and future goals despite being geographically removed from China. YOU WILL FIND THE PAPER TO BE DISCUSSED THIS WEEK AT: http://koreanworkshop.pbworks.com Contacts: Dr. Nancy Abelmann (nabelman@illinois.edu) Dr. Jungwon Kim (kimjw@illinois.edu) Dr. Elizabeth LaCouture (elizabeth.lacouture@colby.edu)