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acknowledgments This book may be authored by me, but it was only possible with the help of many people and institutions along the way. First, this book would literally not have happened without the support of the Russell Sage Foundation (RSF). In 2005, Russell Sage was willing to take a chance on a young scholar, funding the research that formed the basis of this book and later bringing me to New York to begin the manuscript and to complete it as a visiting scholar in 2010–2011. I am grateful to the foundation for believing in this project and my ability to do it. Russell Sage, however, did more than provide material support for my work. Through their commitment to creating a lively institutional space for work in the social sciences, they exposed me to a range of amazing scholars driven to understand the inner workings of social issues like immigration. My own work, both that seen in this book and that I have published elsewhere, has been shaped for the better by the opportunities for engagement I have experienced at the foundation. Being pushed to make our research speak across disciplinary, methodological, and theoretical boundaries creates stronger scholarship; and Russell Sage has helped me immensely to become more interdisciplinary. A special thanks to Aixa Cintrón for supporting this project from the beginning and to Suzanne Nichols for showing great skill in shepherding it from project to book. Without Suzanne, this book would have remained a series of articles. Thanks to her for encouraging me to think beyond journals and for being such a supportive editor. This book also would not have been possible without the support and encouragement I received in Nashville. Thanks to the long-term residents, immigrants, and city officials who were willing to open their doors and their lives to me for this project. Without them, there would, quite simply, be no book. I cannot name them here for reasons of confidentiality; but I am exceptionally grateful to all the individuals who, over the years, spoke with me about their experiences in Nashville, allowed me into their classrooms , living rooms, conference rooms, and other intimate spaces of daily xiii xiv acknowledgments life, and introduced me to their version of Nashville and its changes. I especially thank the immigrant men and women who shared with me. This study was conducted amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Nashville and across much of the country. Immigrants, especially those who were undocumented, took a real risk in speaking candidly about their lives in Nashville and in making themselves visible to me. Many did so, they stressed, because they were convinced that bringing their stories to light was the only way to begin to create a more humane process of immigrant integration and community adjustment in places like Nashville. For their courage, I am forever grateful. The same is true for long-term residents, many of whose efforts to create and re-kindle a sense of community amid change made me more hopeful for the future in places like Nashville. A special thanks as well to the teachers and administrators who, often against their better judgment, allowed me into their schools, working lives, and incredibly busy days. I came away from these schools with a deep respect for teachers and their desire to do best by their students . I hope I have done justice to the effort they put into teaching through Nashville’s demographic and social changes. I would be lying if I claimed total ownership of this book, since much of the best fieldwork was conducted by my research assistant, Sandra Sanchez . Sandra’s skills as an interviewer and ethnographer were unsurpassed. Many of this study’s strongest findings were dependent on her savvy at translating vague questions about daily life, social dynamics, and place into concrete questions that fired the imaginations of those we interviewed. Within Nashville, I also had key support from Laura Davis, who regularly, and repeatedly, opened her home to me, let me set up camp in her living room and made countless trips to and from the airport. Born and raised in Nashville and herself a teacher, Laura provided great insight at key moments in this study, helping me see historical connections I might otherwise have missed and giving excellent advice about research in public schools. Laura was there when this study was on the verge of collapse and when it was on the verge of spiraling out of control. She helped me...

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