This special issue of American Behavioral Scientist is the outcome of a collaborative research project led by Christophe Bertossi and Nancy Foner, which took the form of a one-day conference at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon on 10 June 2010, and organized by the Collegium-Institute of Advanced Studies in Lyon.

This issue proposes a dialogue among French and US scholars on issues of immigration and multiculturalism, as well as a reflection about the renewing of scholarly approaches on these topics by two distinct national academic traditions, which have long struggled to discuss one with the other. With contributions by: Richard Alba, Christophe Bertossi, Erik Bleich, John Bowen, Nancy Foner, and Gary Freeman.