Susan Eckstein Delivers Retirement Lecture
On Tuesday, April 16, 2024, the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University hosted a retirement lecture by Professor of International Relations and Sociology, Susan Eckstein, celebrating her academic career and research. Professor Eckstein, who holds appointments in both the Pardee School and the Sociology Department, delivered a captivating talk based on her recent book, “Cuban Privilege: The Making of Immigrant Inequality in America.”
Professor Eckstein is a highly accomplished scholar, having written numerous books and articles on a wide range of topics, including the urban poor in Mexico, political-economic developments in Cuba, Cuban immigrants, immigration policy, and the impacts of Latin American revolutions. She has also edited books on Latin American social movements, social rights, and immigrant impacts in their homelands. Her most recent book, “Cuban Privilege: The Making of Immigrant Inequality in America,” is a culmination of her extensive research and expertise in these areas.
Throughout her career, Professor Eckstein has received numerous prestigious fellowships and awards, including those from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the American Council on Learned Societies, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, and the Christopher Reynolds Foundation. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of Latin American studies, she was awarded the Kalman Silvert Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Latin American Studies Association in 2023.
Dean Scott Taylor opened the lecture by expressing gratitude for Professor Eckstein’s dedication and service to the university. “Professor Eckstein has taught both in the Sociology Department and International Relations Department for many decades,” he noted. “Her contributions to Pardee through teaching and scholarship have made our community a better place.”
Zophia Edwards, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University and a former PhD student (BU ’15) and TA of Professor Eckstein, shared personal reflections on her mentor’s impact. “Susan both supported my interests and pushed me intellectually throughout my time here,” Edwards said. “She showed me how to be a great teacher and was always interested in how I was doing as a person.”
Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International History at the Pardee School, highlighted Professor Eckstein’s fearless approach to tackling the most pressing issues in Latin America. “Susan is a scholar-scholar in that sense. So she’s finding these big picture answers and often very surprising answers, but she has all the research,” Nolan remarked.
In her lecture, Professor Eckstein provided a historical overview of her research, from her early work on the urban poor in Mexico to her more recent focus on Cuban immigrants and U.S. immigration policy. She discussed the unique entitlements that Cubans have received over the past 60 years, the reasons behind this privileging, and the efforts to rescind these privileges.
“Cubans, and only Cubans, have been getting these unique entitlements for over 60 years,” Professor Eckstein stated. “And it reflects the inequities in US immigration policy.” She also highlighted the role of ordinary Cubans in shaping policy, noting that “ordinary Cubans who in their numbers have been and their transnational ties with family who previously immigrated to the United States have been able to defy U.S. immigration laws that they don’t like and they succeed.”
Professor Eckstein also addressed the controversy surrounding her book, particularly the backlash it received in Miami. “Miami went ballistic,” she said. “Basically, they want to control the narrative.” Despite the opposition, Professor Eckstein remains committed to shedding light on the complex issues surrounding immigration and inequality.
The lecture concluded with a gala reception to commemorate Professor Eckstein’s distinguished career at Boston University, marking her retirement at the end of the academic year. The event was hosted by the Pardee School of Global Studies in collaboration with the Center for Latin American Studies.
As Nolan noted, “Susan is a full person, and when she is mentoring us, her students, her junior faculty members, everyone in her life, you know, she wants us to be whole people as well.”
Learn more about Professor Eckstein on her faculty profile.