This photo was taken in the first year of the Bracero Program, a WWII
program through which Mexican
citizens contracted for employment on U.S. farms as nonimmigrant
guestworkers.
PLCY 49 and INTS 83
New Immigrants and the South
T, Th 3:30-4:45 pm, Room: DE 304
Syllabus (Available on Blackboard)
Go To:
Instructor: Krista Perreira, Ph.D.
Office: 201 Abernethy Hall
Office hours: T, TH 5-6pm and by appointment
Phone: (919) 843-5009
Announcements
The course website for PLCY 49/ INTS 83 has been moved to
blackboard. All students enrolled in the course have access to
blackboard.
Objectives
This course is designed to introduce you to the
field of immigration policy. In the past decade, record numbers
of
people have left their home countries, especially in Asia and Central
America,
and have migrated to the U.S. There are many reasons for
this,
including civil war, ethnic strife, natural disasters, the breakdown of
the communist block, economic pressures, and the simple hope for a
better
life. The American South has become an important part of this
migratory
flow and North Carolina has the fastest growing Latino population in
the
country. These massive population movements generate complex
problems
for state, national, and international policy makers.
The objective of this course is to enhance
students’ understanding of the causes and consequences of U.S.
immigration
within social, historical, political, and economic contexts. In
this
course we will: (1) critically evaluate the major theories used to
explain
international migration; (2) identify key historical shifts in
immigration
policy in the U.S. and discuss their effects on ethnic composition and
ethnic conflict in the U.S.; (3) compare and contrast the immigration
and
assimilation experiences of various ethnic groups in the United States;
and (4) analyze current issues in immigration policy and their
historical
roots. Our discussion of current social policy and immigration
will
focus primarily on the new wave of Latino immigrants to North Carolina.
In addition to its academic objectives, this course
aims to provide active learning experiences that will help students
better
understand their own immigrant history and ethnic identity.
Through
this process of self exploration and discovery, students will acquire a
new appreciation for the existence and perpetuation of cultural
diversity
in the U.S.
Through class discussion and assignments you
will develop skills in interviewing, active listening, preparing field
notes, and effectively communicating your ideas through speaking and
writing.
You will learn to critically analyze policy debates by identifying key
stakeholders and interest groups, examining the historical and
ideological
underpinnings of a debate; and critically evaluating the costs and
benefits
of various solutions to an identified policy “problem.”
Required Readings
To help reduce your costs, all required and
recommended
books have been placed on reserve in the undergraduate library. We will be reading the entire
Suárez-Orozco
book but will only be reading 1/2 of the
Chavez
book, and 1/3 of the Jacobson book
- Suárez-Orozco,
Carola and Suárez-Orozco, Marcelo. 2001. Children of
Immigration. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University
Press. (ISBN
0-674-00492-2)
-
Jacobson, David. Ed. 1998. The
Immigration
Reader: America
in a Multidisciplinary Perspective. Malden,
MA:
Blackwell Publishers, Inc. (ISBN 1557869162)
-
Chavez,
Leo R. (Leo Ralph). 1998. Shadowed lives: Undocumented
immigrants in
American society / 2nd ed. Fort Worth:
Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
-
Weiss, Robert. 1994. Learning
from Strangers:
The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies. Free Press (ISBN
0-684-82312-8).
-
ON-LINE READINGS:
Additional required readings are located as pdf files
available through BLACKBOARD.
Recommended Reading
- Lin,
AC. 2002. CQ Vital Issues Series:
Immigration. Congretional Quarterly Press (ISBN 1-56802-662-5)
-
Douglas S. Massey, Jorge Durand, Nolan J.
Malone, Alfred J. Buch. 2002. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican
Immigration in
an Era of Economic Integration. Russell
Sage Foundation, New York.
(ISBN
0871545896) This book should be read by
students with particular interests in immigration from Mexico.
- Marcelo
Suarez-Orozco, Carola Suarez-Orozco. The New Immigration: An
Interdisciplinary Reader Routledge. ISBN: 0415949165.
This book includes seminal articles on topics
in assimilation of immigrants.
-
I have compiled a list of articles and books
that may be of interest to more advanced students working on a thesis
or
considering careers in immigration law and policy.
If you have suggestions for additional
readings please e-mail these to me and I will include them in the list. The list is available on the course webpage.
Grading
Information on grading is available on blackboard
Assignments
Information on assignments is available on blackboard
Honor Code
You are encouraged to study together and form discussion groups to
reflect on position papers and course materials. However, you are
expected
to
undertake the actual writing of the papers and the exams entirely
independently.
Any two papers or exams that are submitted containing the same
sentences
will be considered a breach of the honor code (http://www.unc.edu/depts/honor/gen_info.html#code).
In written work (including overheads or handouts used in
presentations)
words drawn from others should be indicated by quotation marks or other
established style and ideas drawn from others should refer to their
source.
If you are unsure about what needs to be cited, please talk with me or
ask for assistance from the writing center. Please be aware that
your work may be scanned for plagiarism using web-based resources
provided
to college faculty.
Class Schedule
The course schedule is now available on blackboard
Resources
for
Students
- Course Specific Help Sheets
- Related Seminars and Events at UNC-Duke
Service Learning
Opportunities
I strongly encourage all students to become involved
with community
programs and to atten UNC and community conferences/seminars. Here are
some opportunities to get involved.
Witness for Justice
The witness for justice program seeks volunteers
interested
in making a difference in the lives of migrant farmworkers in North
Carolina.
The volunteers will be accompanied by outreach workers in the
Farmworker
unit of Legal Services of North Carolina. Their main duty is to
bear
witness to the injustices experienced by migrant farmworkers. All
volunteers must undergo a brief training session covering the dynamics
of outreach visits and farmworker legal issues. Outreach visits
are
schedule during the harvest season beginning at the end of April.
For more information on this program, contact Laura Mullins at
919-856-2180.
The Hispanic Education Summit
Each Spring, the NC Society of Hispanic Professionals
hosts an educational summit for Latino youth in the 7th-12th grades.
Five
to sevem hundred students attend. NCHSP needs volunteers for
every
educational summit. Volunteers can help with student registration,
hosting
an information desk, coordinating speakers and translators, and
moderating
discussions. For more information go to http://www.thencshp.org/
El Foro Latino
Each Spring, El Pueblo Latino hosts a forum that brings
together representatives from across the state for a weekend of
seminars,
workshops, discussions and networking. Organized since 1996, this
is the state's largest issue-focused gathering of Latino leaders,
advocates,
and service providers. If you are interested in volunteering to
help
at this event or work in planning this event, contact El Pueblo, inc.
at
919-835-1525 or go to http://elpueblo.org/
El Centro
Latino
El Centro Latino provides community services to
spanish-speaking
individuals living in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. Volunteers
are
needed for many types of projects and the ability to speak spanish is
not
required. Many new immigrants need volunteers with whom they can
practice their English 1-2 hours per week. If you are interested
in working with El Centro Latino, please call 932-4652 and ask to speak
with the volunteer coordinator.
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