Lecture by Deborah Rosen of Lafayette College will discuss the changing racial borders of citizenship in American history. Specifically, she will analyze the evolution of constitutional law pertaining to African Americans’ citizenship, the complex debate about American Indian citizenship, and the "whiteness" prerequisite for naturalization of immigrants.

Deborah Rosen holds a Ph.D from Columbia University. She teaches early American and American legal history at Lafayette College where she also serves as head of the department. Her books include the recently published American Indians and State Law: Sovereignty, Race, and Citizenship, 1790-1880 (Nebraska, 2007), and Courts and Commerce:  Gender, Law, and the Market Economy in Colonial New York (Ohio State, 1997). She is also co-editor of Early American Indian Documents: Treaties and Laws, 1607-1789.