Nothing New Under The Sun? Diversity and Diaspora in Different Times.

Glasgow has long had a diverse population. During its industrial peak in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the city welcomed people from various backgrounds, including the Irish fleeing the famines of the 1840s, Italians escaping poverty in the 1890s, and Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe and later the Nazis. At the same time, between the 1840s and 1930s, about three-quarters of a million Scots emigrated, seeking better opportunities abroad. The movement of people into and out of Glasgow continues today and remains a controversial issue, much like it was 100 or 150 years ago. While these migrations seem like modern phenomena, this talk will explore, in a light-hearted way, whether similar drivers of diaspora and diversity existed thousands of years ago and how attitudes toward them have changed—or remained the same.