Economic Officer Robert Dahlke spoke to students in Poznan

On May 20 Economic Officer Robert Dahlke spoke to students at The Hipolit Cegielski  School Complex of Computer Science  in Poznan on the subject of Ethnic, Racial and Religious Identity in the U.S.A..  The school, located in the center of Poznan, was established in the 1830s as a vocational school.   For decades it trained workers for Poland’s state-owned railways.  Today it specializes in information technology.  Bob Dahlke started his presentation by linking the election of Barack Obama as America’s first African American president to the larger social changes occurring in the U.S.  He tracked U.S. population growth in recent decades and then broke this down into ethnic, racial and religious identities based on information from the U.S. Census Bureau.  

In the follow-up discussion, students asked several questions about immigration, citizenship and social conflict in the U.S.  Officer Dahlke took the opportunity to ask about their own expectations for demographic change in Poland, whether the economic development brings more non-European immigrants, what social and political changes will result, is Poland ready to become a multicultural society more like those in Western Europe. 

Bob Dahlke’s visit to the school and his presentation raised the students’ interest in U.S.  society, immigration issues and multiculturalism.