Contact: Princine Lewis, Vanderbilt News Service, 615-322-NEWS, princine.lewis@vanderbilt.edu

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 12 /Standard Newswire/ -- Vanderbilt University encourages active journalists to apply to attend its 2008 media fellowship, "Immigration: Nation's Bedrock or Burden?" April 1-4, 2008, in Nashville, Tenn.

The application deadline is March 7. For more information and to apply, go to www.vanderbilt.edu/news/immigration.

Through interactions with professors, service providers and Nashville's immigrant communities, journalists will have the opportunity to learn more about the complexities of new migration patterns that are leading many foreign-born people to cities like Nashville in the nation's interior.

While border cities have been at the forefront of immigration issues, interior cities are now dealing with immigration's implications for social services, health care, employment and the prospects for unionization. Nashville is emblematic of this change.

In a city known for being the buckle of the Bible belt and its country music roots - you can travel just a few miles from downtown's Country Music Hall of Fame to find the sounds and flavors of Latin America, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kurdistan. Nashville is home to the largest Kurdish community in the United States and was one of only five cities in the country where Iraqi expatriates could cast their ballots in the 2005 Iraqi elections.

From 1990 to 2005, Tennessee experienced the fourth fastest rate of immigrant growth of any state in the country. Nashville experienced a three-fold increase in foreign-born residents - from 12,662 to 39,596 - according to the last U.S. Census Report.

The fellowship is available to a limited number of print, broadcast and experienced freelance journalists. Vanderbilt will cover the costs of lodging and some meals. The participant's employer is responsible for travel expenses and salary during the fellowship.