Mondays/Wednesdays 1:15-3:20 p.m., Rm. UW1-040
Office: UW1-137
What have been the relationships between immigration and ideas of "America" over the nation's history? How have immigration flows been managed in different eras and for what ends? How do race and ethnicity come into play in discourses of what "America" is and who "Americans" are?
This American Studies core course is structured with two primary goals in mind: One is to examine trends in immigration flows and immigration-related policies in the United States from European colonization to the present, in the context of contemporary discourses about race, ethnicity, and "Americanness." The other is to develop a set of skills that will serve you as scholars in American studies: the ability to pose an appropriate research question and the capability of addressing it; the ability to work in productive collaboration with your peers; the ability to perform careful and insightful textual analysis; and the ability to critically assess the world around us. We thus will combine content (understanding immigration, race, and ethnicity and the discourses around them) and the methods it takes to address important questions about race, ethnicity, and immigration in America.
NOTE: An optional, two-credit community-based learning opportunity is linked
to this course. Students approved for the community-based learning course will
receive an add code to in enroll in BIS 398 in addition to BIS 367.
Students will work in a community-based organization that serves an ethnic or
immigrant community and will earn credit. Please see http://www.washington.edu/students/icd/B/bis/398davidgs.html
for details, see http://www.uwb.edu/cbls/slcourses.xhtml for a list of community-based partner sites from
which you may choose,
Course objectives:
I am indebted to Prof. Bruce Burgett and especially Prof. Sarah Starkweather for many of the ideas and much of the language in this syllabus.
Course
texts (available in the UWB Bookstore [save your receipts for
a patronage
refund] and in library
reserve/reference).
Note: Click here
<http://tinyurl.com/6pamk>
to order books online. Click on the link for the
appropriate quarter, then enter the line number (LN) shown at the top
of this page for "UW SLN Code" (leave other spaces blank) and hit
'enter.' All items have been ordered; contact the bookstore if some
materials are not listed.
Grading: Your grade will be based on these assignments, which are described on separate pages online (links will be activated when ready):
| Response paper #1 (800-1000 words; due in midquarter portfolio [online] at 1:00 p.m. on April 28) | 15% |
| Response paper #2 (800-1000 words; due online by 1:00 p.m. on May 26) | 15% |
| Research project (900-1500 words; due in class on May 21; final version due in final portfolio [online] at 1:00 p.m. on June 2) | 30% |
| Learning portfolio (including reflective paper of 600-1000 words, due [online] at 1:00 p.m. sharp on June 2 [ungraded midquarter portfolio due at 1:00 p.m. on April 28]) | 5% |
| In-class and online contribution | 35% |
| TOTAL | 100% |
A note about grades: I know that students often need to juggle school, work, family, and other obligations. I never second-guess students' priorities, and I never think less of students who choose to devote more time and effort to one of these other obligations rather than to an assignment or the course as a whole. I respect the maturity of students who establish their priorities, make difficult choices, and accept the consequences of those decisions. Also, remember that your grade is based solely on my professional assessment of the quantity and quality of your work, not on your effort or on my opinion of you as an individual.
For an explanation of the University of
Washington grading system, see <http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html>. Your weighted grades on
assignments will be converted to grade points according to the course grade
scale in the "Course Documents" area of
Blackboard.
Schedule:
|
DATE |
READING/ASSIGNMENTS DUE by beginning of class |
IN-CLASS WORK |
| M 03/31 | Introduction | |
| W 04/02 | "Policy on Academic and Behavioral Conduct"; Hing "Introduction" | Discuss Hing "Introduction"; response papers assignment introduced |
| M 04/07 | Hing ch. 1 |
MEET IN LB1-222: Research project assignment introduced; form research clusters; primary source workshop |
| W 04/09 |
Hing ch. 2 |
MEET IN LB1-222: Scholarly source workshop |
| M 04/14 | Independent work time | NO CLASS MEETING; independent work time |
| W 04/16 | Frey (including tables in separate document) | Discuss Frey with Nicole Hoover, Director of the Quantitative Skills Center |
| M 04/21 | Hing ch. 3; annotated bibliography due online no later than 1:00 p.m. | Discuss Hing ch. 1-3 |
| W 04/23 |
Hing ch. 4 |
MEET IN LB1-222 : Research work time |
| M 04/28 |
Hing ch. 6; midquarter learning portfolio (including response #1) due online at 1:00 p.m. sharp |
NO CLASS MEETING: independent work time; extended office hours from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (drop-in) and from 12:00 to 3:30 p.m. (by appt.) |
| W 04/30 |
Hing ch. 7-9 |
Discuss Hing ch. 4, 6-9 |
| M 05/05 | Hing ch. 10, 12, and Epilogue | Discuss Hing 10, 12, and Epilogue |
| W 05/07 | Brown and Ling: Far, Mohr, and Malamud |
Play Five Tricks |
| M 05/12 | Brown and Ling: Mukherjee, Hagedorn, and Danticat | View and discuss Alienated: Undocumented Immigrant Youth |
| W 05/14 | Brown and Ling: Naimy, Mori, and Jen | Discuss Far, Mohr, Malamud, Mukherjee, Hagedorn, and Danticat (in Brown and Ling) |
| M 05/19 | Brown and Ling: Candelaria, Naqvi,and Louie | Discuss Naimy, Mori, Jen, Candelaria, Naqvi, and Louie (in Brown and Ling) |
| W 05/21 | Research project due (two copies, in class) | Research project peer critiques |
| M 05/26 | Work on research project revision | NO CLASS MEETING (Memorial Day) |
| W 05/28 |
Brimelow |
Discuss Brimelow; view and discuss Border War |
| M 06/02 |
Learning portfolio (including response paper #2 and research project) due online at 1:00 p .m. sharp |
Research project sharing; course evaluations |
| W 06/04 | Rest and reflect | Optional team-building exercise |
Readings list (except as noted, in Course Documents area of Blackboard):
This schedule is subject to change. The most current schedule will always be posted here <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/BIS367Syl.html> for your reference, and changes will be announced in class, by e-mail, or both. This course has no final examination.
About course policies:
Please carefully read the "Course Policies" at http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Policies.html , which I consider to be part of this syllabus.
About class communication:
Please carefully read the "Class Communication" document at http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Communication.html, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.
Please carefully read the "Class Contribution" document at http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Partic.html, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.
If you need to drop: You and I both invest a significant amount of time and effort having you in this course, so it is unfortunate when students do not complete a course that they began. Sometimes, however, students need to drop a course for good reasons. If that should become the case, please send me an e-mail message notifying me that you are dropping the course. Of course, I hope everyone who starts the course can complete it, so your work and time and mine are put to good use!
Continued enrollment in this
course indicates your acceptance of the terms of this syllabus.
If you have questions or concerns about any of the
assessment criteria, goals and learning outcomes, or materials, please let me
know immediately so we can address them.
Welcome to the course!
This page last updated May 20, 2008.
