Thursday, May 22, 20254:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Bunche Hall, Rm 6275
The UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies and UCLA Department of History present a book talk with Dr. Michelle Lynn Kahn (University of Richmond). This book talk will feature a discussion of Foreign in Two Homelands: Racism, Return Migration, and Turkish-German History (Cambridge University Press, 2024) with Dr. Glenn Penny (UCLA History). Please register and join us on Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM in Bunche Hall Room 6275.
About the Talk
What happens when migrants are rejected by the host society that first invited them? How do they return to a homeland that considers them outsiders? Foreign in Two Homelands explores the transnational history of Turkish migrants, Germany's largest ethnic minority, who arrived as 'guest-workers' (Gastarbeiter) between 1961 and 1973. By the 1980s, amid rising racism, neo-Nazis and ordinary Germans blamed Turks for unemployment, criticized their Muslim faith, and argued they could never integrate. In 1983, policymakers enacted a controversial law: paying Turks to leave. Thus commenced one of modern Europe's largest and fastest waves of remigration: within one year, 15% of the migrants—250,000 men, women, and children—returned to Turkey. Their homeland, however, ostracized them as culturally estranged 'Germanized Turks' (Almancı). Through archival research and oral history interviews in both countries and languages, Michelle Lynn Kahn highlights migrants' personal stories and reveals how many felt foreign in two homelands.
About the Speaker
Dr. Michelle Lynn Kahn (she/her) is Associate Professor of Modern European History at University of Richmond. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. from Stanford University, with a Ph.D. Minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her research situates post-1945 Germany and Europe in global and transnational context, focusing on migration, racism, far-right extremism, Holocaust memory, gender, and sexuality.
Venue & Parking
Bunche Hall Room 6275
(Sixth floor of Bunche Hall, accessible via elevator or stairs)
11282 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095
You can find nearby visitor parking at Parking Structure 4 or Parking Structure 5. More information including a campus parking map and daily rates is available at UCLA Visitor Parking. Ride-share drop off is closest at the turnaround at the front of Royce Hall located at: 10745 Dickson Court, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
Accessible Parking: If you have accessibility needs, you may park in the Pay-By-Space/Visitor Parking area on the rooftop (level 5) of Parking Structure 5 and proceed to the Self-Service Pay Station machine to pay by credit card.
Related Document:
May-22-Flyer-om-x5g.pdfSponsor(s): Center for European and Russian Studies, Department of History