Immigrant America

Hi Class:

Below is the schedule for presentations.  I tried to accommodate those who had special requests for a certain date. The presentations should be 15 minutes of scheduled material and 5 minutes of Q&A.

Monday, 7:30-9:30 Axinn 100

Vermont Adult Learning

Vermont Border Patrol and Fusion Center

Numbers USA/National Lobbying Organization

Tuesday, 1:30-2:45, Axinn 100

Juntos

Immigration Advocates, Vermont Law School, South Royalton

Formerly Migrant Justice and now about reporting the deportation of activist

Essay 2 will be an analytical essay that will require you to draw on the texts assigned in class as well as two additional primary sources. The essay is still an analytical paper that will require a thesis statement and evidence that supports the main thesis. You can refer to the same writing guidelines posted below. The essay is due Friday May 6 at 5:00 p.m.

Question 1: What are the connections between international adoption and U.S. foreign policy in the second half of the 20th century?

Question 2: How does Nguyen’s, The Sympathizer (2015) represent the connection between the Vietnam War and refugee experiences? How is life in the United States for immigrant refugees shaped by their experiences of war?

Question 3: What is human trafficking into the United States? How is it defined? What are some of the problems with the definitions of trafficking according to Brennan?

Question 4: Is there a qualitative difference between the term illegal alien and undocumented person? Use the Ngai and Hernandez articles to answer this question.

Essay Guidelines

This analytical essay will challenge you to address one of three questions posted below. You should come up with an argument or thesis statement and use evidence drawn from the readings to support your thesis statement.

You should draw from sources assigned in class and base your argument primarily in written materials. You may also draw on the film. This is not a research paper or an opinion piece.

I encourage you to write a draft of your essay and revise. You may have a peer or a writing tutor look over a draft on your behalf. I will not read full drafts, but will be willing to meet with you during the planning process.

Format

The essay should be 5 pages long, double-spaced, and 12 pt. font (Times Roman) with 1-inch margins all around.

It must include a bibliography or a works cited (not included in the final page count). It should include a title and page numbers at the bottom.

It should be checked over for spelling and grammatical errors. It should also include your honor statement.

The essay is due on Friday, March 25 at 5:00 p.m. Please email it to me at rjoo@middlebury.edu as a word document and please include your last name in the document name.

Common pitfalls

Please avoid any universal generalizations, i.e., Since the dawn of civilization; all people like ice cream; Everyone has prejudice; Tribes are always at war.

Avoid floating quotations. You should place quotations in context and also explain the quotations. Quotations should not be doing the work.

Think about your transitions between paragraphs and make sure that you are tying the paragraphs together smoothly.

Try not to “wrap” up each paragraph with a statement that explains how the paragraph works towards proving your thesis statement. This should be clear from the content of the paragraph.

Assessment Criteria

Clarity of your argument

Your thesis statement should come in the first paragraph and the rest of your essay should work to support this thesis statement. You should draw on evidence from the texts that support the thesis statement.

Integration and synthesis of course material

Your essay should effectively analyze and synthesize ideas, and apply them in the appropriate context. You should demonstrate that you have clear knowledge of the concepts and use examples that show that you know the concepts. You should not assume that the reader understands your use of terms, and clarify your terminology when necessary.

You should be as specific as possible in offering your statements, and provide evidence that demonstrates your level of understanding. You should be economic in your choice of details, however. Excessive use of detail will take away from your argument and will be considered “filler.”

Clear, Concise, and Focused Writing

You should have a strong thesis and a clear organizational structure. Your essays should be checked for spelling and grammatical mistakes. Please do not misspell the authors’ names.

You must cite appropriately using a standard citation style (preferably Chicago Manual of Style or MLA). Failure to cite will result in a failing grade.

Option 1:

Discuss the relationship between eugenics and immigration restriction. Going beyond the ties between legislators and eugenicists, explain the connections between the logics of eugenics and the reasoning behind immigration restriction.

Option 2:

What is the relationship between ideas of whiteness and immigration in the United States?

Option 3:

How does Mae Ngai define the illegal alien? How did this discourse emerge and how has it affected different groups?

The biography should be 3-4 pages or about 1000-1250 words. The biography should be in a narrative format with an intro, body, and conclusion, rather than an interview format (Q & A).

This biography of Sonia Sotomayor is a good example of a format for this short biography.

http://www.biography.com/people/sonia-sotomayor-453906

Here’s a biography of Junot Diaz that is in a journalistic style, that also incorporates his work and voice. It weaves the biographical information between mention of events (Pulitzer prize) and quotes (from fans and by Diaz).

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-wondrous-life-of-junot-diaz/

You will want to start with an overview which can be some basic biographical information or  a sentence or two that foreshadows themes that you will cover in the biography. Then, you should find an interesting way to divide the narrative into specific parts that are relevant to the topic of immigration. You should conclude with a brief statement that summarizes well the theme covered in the biography.

Your first required assignment is to interview and write a biography of an immigrant or the child of an immigrant.

You can interview friends, family, or Middlebury community members, and I would stick with people you are connected with for this particular assignment. This should not be about you, but it can be about someone who shares parts of your own migration history.

You should do some basic research on the migration histories of the group in which your subject hails. Initially, this may mean a quick Google search or a Wikipedia perusal. You will need to include one academic reference in your biography to offer context. You can speak to me or a librarian about finding an appropriate source (academic book published by an academic publisher, government data, library reference materials on population statistics, or peer-reviewed academic journal).

We will brainstorm good questions and trouble shoot issues.

You should complete your interview by next Tuesday and we will talk about writing the material into an effective biography next week.

Here are some great guides:

Smithsonian Oral History Guide

Oral History Association principles and best practices

Interview Tips for Undergraduates in Anthropology (UCSD Guide)

Please bring a copy of your graph to class on Thursday, February 18.

These two sites will have raw data that you can use:

http://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics

http://factfinder.census.gov/

Or you can do a google search and essentially copy the material off another graph or several graphs.

You can draw your graph or produce one easily using Excel or Google Sheets (please see a media tutor if you would like some help).

Please include a citation for your graph.

Simply photocopying the graph will not be enough. I want you to make or remake the graph yourself.

As you make choices about the graph, think about the primary message you want to convey through the graph. Why is this particular representation especially compelling? Why did you choose the particular style and format of graph? How does color or pattern change the effect?

“Graphical excellence is that which gives to the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space.”
― Edward R. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

In this class, we will focus on immigration into the United States from the late 19^th century to the present. We will investigate political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions of migration through historically specific cases. Using texts from a number of disciplines, we will analyze important thematic and ideological continuities and contradictions.

We will investigate the changing economic, political, and legal dimensions of immigration. What is the relationship between the labor needs of the United States and immigration? What is the connection between imperialism and migration? Why does war and political violence spur migration? How do laws, policies, and institutions attempt to manage and regulate migration?

This class will also investigate the subjective experiences of immigration through fiction, ethnographies, and film. We will discuss themes such as assimilation, generational conflict, gender differences, transnationalism, nativism, and racialization. We will also discuss changing and contradictory attitudes toward migration over the last 150 years.