YS Speaker Series: Defining American in the Heartland: A Conversation Between Jose Antonio Vargas and William Lopez at the Foundry Theater
June 5 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT
Defining American in the Heartland: A Conversation Between Jose Antonio Vargas and William Lopez
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and Tony-nominated theatrical producer.
A leading voice for the human rights of immigrants, he founded the non-profit immigrant storytelling organization Define American, twice named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company, and explores all facets of immigration as host of its YouTube show and podcast Define American with Jose Antonio Vargas. He is also a co-founder of 1587 Sneakers, the world’s first Asian American sneaker brand.
His best-selling memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, was published by HarperCollins in 2018. An updated edition with new material for living in Trump’s America was released in June 2025. His second book, due out next year, will examine how diverse immigrant populations are upending America’s foundational Black and White racial binary. He also has a third book in the works about global migration.Bill Lopez and Jose Antonio Vargas
William Lopez is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Faculty Associate in the Latina/o Studies Program. He is the author of Raiding the Heartland: An American Story of Deportation and Resistance, a follow-up to his award-winning first book, Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid. In addition to his academic research on the public health impacts of deportation, Dr. Lopez regularly contributes to the public discussions on deportation, diversity, and Latino culture in venues such as the Washington Post, CNN, San Antonio Express News, Detroit Free Press, and Truthout.