Worldwide immigration and refugee flows are at an all time high because of political, economic, and environmental upheavals. While US and Canadian approaches to cultural integration have become models for European countries now facing increased immigration, most countries are also becoming more resistant to newcomers and the supposed burden they place on the society. As an example, recent legislation to reform US welfare laws, also targeted non-citizen immigrants. We will primarily examine cases of immigrants and refugees to the United States.

Should we change our immigration policies? Our integration policies? In many ways a comparatively open immigration policy is a integral part of American cultural history and ethos. What does the immigration debate mean for this country and its sense of its cultural traditions? What is it like to “become American” and to search for identity and place in the current social climate? We’ll look at the history of US immigration and the various challenges that face immigrant/refugee adaptation and incorporation in US society, assess the personal and cultural aspects of integration, and consider relevant policy questions like the meaning of citizenship and of cultural democracy, the rights of noncitizens and the responsibilities of host states to them. During this course you will contemplate your family’s immigration history and work with refugees and immigrants in the Hartford area.

Course Goals
* to consider the cultural and other consequences of immigration policies on US society and to understand the basics of US immigration history and immigration law/policy as they intersect with individual experiences
* to become acquainted with the cultural debates about immigrant adaptation
* to begin to ‘understand’ the experiences of being a refugee or
immigrant, adapting to American culture, and to become versed in the cultural approach to understanding immigrant/refugee adaptation, through life history interviews, personal interaction/service, and readings
* to become familiar with some specifics of immigrant/refugee policy implementation in Connecticut
* and possibly to assist in translating these experiences into artistic presentations or more effective immigration assistance policies

Required Readings:
Kikumura, Through Harsh Winters; Chavez, Shadowed Lives
Stepick, Pride Against Prejudice,;
Kibria, Family Tightrope
and an Immigration Reader
? and 2 web sites:
http://www. execpc. com/-dboals/divgen.html#
MIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION SOURCES
http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Immigration/index.html
American Immigration Home

Course requirements:
You should read the material by the class period for which it is assigned. This course will concentrate heavily on discussions of topics using your reading materials with background information provided by the instructor. Unless otherwise instructed, you are responsible for assigned reading material, whether or not we or able to cover it fully in class. You are responsible for critically assessing films, assigned reading, and lecture materials in terms of the topics and questions discussed in class and integrating that into your written assignments.

You must complete all exams and assignments

*Participation (25%), you are also expected to attend Human Rights and Diaspora lecture –

*Keeping a journal (10%) first of all on your work with refugees/immigrants (below) commenting on their situation in light of what you are reading as well as on the outside events which you attend–these will be reviewed periodically in class and submitted at the end of the semester. You are expected to spend 2-4 hours a week on your refugee project interviews and observations. List interview material, background material and specific questions re in relation to your person–the questions of the week.

In addition you may receive extra credit through attending events in the Human Rights, Diaspora and other events related to the class, by making entries in your journal about the relationship of this event to class concepts and readings– specifically.

*Refugee/ Immigrant Project (total 65% of your grade, in addition to the journal) includes 5 page thematic reports based on journal entries and class readings; occasionally may entail using additional (library) sources. *Do you know anything about the culture of Bosnians?* There will be a final 8-10 page final paper making use of your ongoing work but in addition give it to your refugee/immigrant to comment on or selecting on of the other options for presentation below.

Options for getting started
You may contact refugees (individuals, families or groups) by either (a)engaging in volunteer work/interviews through agencies, tutorial programs or schools or (b) by focusing on cultural groups and events–clubs or musics or
events (including religious practices) or other ongoing group activities like immigrant newspapers or political action groups- -sponsored by a particular immigrant group–and area museum exhibits.

Refugee/Immigrant or Cultural Reports -5 page papers will be judged on incorporation of class references, concepts and discussions into consideration of your refugee interviews/observations; focus questions will be discussed each week to be used in your research (interviews and observations)

(1) reconstruct your own family migration history (from family stories or Watkinson records on immigration to US) and compare with that of your refugee or immigrant (10%); focus is on legal constraints and cultural adaptation or incorporation
(2) assess work situation and skills or the culture of nonwork efforts/ties (10%)
(3) discuss the impact of racial issues or dealing with culture of race (10%)
(4) something else on cultural adaptation or clash (1 0%)–or planning for borders
(5) discuss gender, family, and or the role of agencies and institutions in incorporation; or role of cultural organizations, clubs and schools (10%)
(6) final paper (10%)- -incorporating your earlier papers and observations to draw some public policy conclusions, political effectiveness of the cultural groups
(7) presentations of final paper (5%)–response, written feedback with refugee, stories for schools, working with Austin Arts project on translating these into the arts or placing on the Diaspora Project, Peoples of Connecticut webpage or putting together some kind of handbook for new immigrants or refugees.

Assignment format –assignments should be typed, pages numbered and stabled before they are handed in. You should always keep a copy for yourself and when working on the computer you must save more than one copy of your documents in the event of disk errors. In fact it’s best to have a second backup disk, not just a second backup file.

Refugee and Immigrant Assistance: Places to locate immigrants/refugees
The instructor will assist you in finding a placement for working with immigrants/refugees through local agencies and programs. Take a look at the separate handout on local agencies and programs, and let me know what opportunities you are most interested in so I can better advise you. Shuttle service is available off campus.

Class format Lecture/ and lots of discussion. Themes and questions are provided for each class period and you should read the assigned materials with these in mind. You should read assigned material by the class period for which it is assigned so that you can enrich class discussion, understand lectures better, and contribute to the work of your assigned project groups. You will also be meeting outside of class in assigned groups. You are responsible for critically assessing films, lecture materials, and the assigned reading, whether those reading materials are fully covered in class or not.

Absence/Late Policy and Plagiarism Standards Absence will affect your participation grade. You will be absent if you are not present when role is taken. After its due date, your papers will be penalized one grade level for every week they are late. Plagiarism is unacceptable and results in academic disciplinary action. If you are unsure about the what plagiarism is, review the student handbook for this information.

Course Outline
Strangers in Strange Lands: Immigrants and Refugees

What does it Mean to be American? Introduction to Immigrant and Refugee History, Policy Issues and “Culture” of Immigration,
1/20 Background and Approaches; History of Immigration and Europeans in America

*begin assignment research the history of your families immigration to US and place in American culture, including the immigration and citizenship laws that affected your family with pictures if possible

* Recommended: Human Rights Lecture this evening and
* 1/26 Diaspora panel, 7:00 p.m., Rittenberg Lounge, on Caribbean migration/diaspora

1/27 Continuation, Reading: Ortiz; review web printout and the American Immigration Website and from web and begin Kikumura below

Individual Life History and Personal Adaptation (Japanese in America)
1/27 Reading: Kikumura
Film: “The Color of Honor”
* Report on initial meetings with refugee s/immigrants, check Journal entries

Living Between the Borders: Legal Status, Community and Cultural Incorporation
(Latinos in America)
2/3 Cultural Performance and Border Identities: Class Guest Guillermo Gomez-Pena
Reading: Gomez-Pena; Coplan
Reading: Chavez, Introduction, Ch. 1-3
*Family History paper Due; Discussion of Journals

*Recommended: 2/6, 8 p.m. attend Gomez-Pena performance, Borderscape 2000 * 2/9, Diaspora panel, 7:00 p.m., Rittenberg Lounge, Asian Diasporas

2/10 Undocumented Workers
Reading: finish Chavez; recommended: Hondagneu-Sotelo
Film: “A Dollar a Day, Ten Cents a Dance”
*Report on Work and Legal Issues Due
*check journal entries

Between Homeland and American Culture: Race and Culture (Haitians in the US)
2/17 Race and Ethnic Dilemmas of Belonging
Reading: Stepick, ch 1, 2-3, 6; Bonacich
* Report on racial/ethnic issues due

*reading week*–meet for dinner to discuss “Snapshots” of memory, photo albums 3/3 How is culture adapted? Relations/ memories of back home? Reading: Stepick ch. 2,5; Ho; Nayaran,Woldemikael; Recommended: Wolbert

New Opportunities and Old Ties: Cultural Clashes
3/10 Gender and Intergenerational Conflicts in Refugee Families
Reading: Kibria, ch. 1-3 Reading: Kibria, chs. 5 and 7; recommended: Graves, Chai

*Film: Becoming American *Recommended: Diaspora conference on culture of diaspora, March 12-13 check journal entries; * Report on immigrant culture due

3/17 Incorporation and Cultural Institutions
Reading: Kibria, ch. 6; Bauer (on the courts); Fadiman, Goldstein
*Diaspora Panel, 7:00 p.m. Rittenberg Lounge, on Middle Eastern Diaspora

3/24, culture continued
Reading: Gibson, O’Neal; Jaberi, Maira
Film: The New Puritans
*Report on gender/ family/educational issues due, *check journals

*Spring Break”

Refugees and Displaced Persons; Looking for Home

*4/6 Diaspora Panel, 7:00 p.m. Rittenberg Lounge, on circumediterranean/African, Middle Eastern Diaspora
4/7 refugee camps; Guest, Cynthia Hill
Reading: L. Long; Muecke; Cohen; Cohen and Deng
4/14 gender and refugee choices; Class guest: Jale Ahmadi
Reading: Bauer on refugees; Peck
Required: *April 15, 7 p.m. Jale’s talk: “Immigrant Women: Between Racism and
Fundamentalism” Terrace Rooms

Remaking the Nation: Debating- and Making Immigrant/Refugee and Citizenship Policy
*4/20 Diaspora Panel, 7 pm Rittenberg Lounge, on Immigration to USA and Hartford area
4/21 Reading: Kymlicka, ch. 5; Bach; Briggs; Rose
Film: The Immigrant Experience
4/28 Reading: Barbieri, Chaney, Harles, Hammar
*discussion/presentation of draft of final papers due

*Journal and Final paper due May 5, 1999

Bibliography of Reserve Readings (in order of reading)

Ortiz, Karol, 1985 Mental Health Consequences of Life History Method: Implications from a Refugee Case. Ethos 13 (2):99-120.
Gomez-Pena 1993 excerpts from Warrior for Gringostroika. Graywolf Press.
Coplan, D. 1987 Eloquent Knowledge: Lesotho Migrants’ songs and the anthropology of experiences. American Ethnologist 14(3):413-433.
Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. 1992 Overcoming Patriarchal Constraints: The Mexican Immigrant Women and Men. Gender and Society 6(3):3 93 -415.
Bonacich, Edna A Theory of Middleman Minorities. American Sociological Review
Woldemikael, Tekle 1987 Assertion Versus Accommodation. A Comparative Approach to Intergroup Relations. American Behavioral Scientist 30(4):411-428.
Ho, Christine 1993 The Internationalization of Kinship and the Feminization of Caribbean Migration: the Case of Afro -Trinidadian Immigrants in Los Angeles. Human Organization 52 (1):32-40.
Wolbert, Barbara 1991 More than a Golden Bangle … The Significance of Success in School for Returning Turkish Migrant Families. Anthropology and Education Quarterly
Nayaran, Uma 1997 Eating Cultures: Incorporation, Identity and Indian Food. In Dislocating Cultures. NewYork: Routledge.
Chai, Alice Yun 1987 Freed from the Elders but Locked into Labor: Korean Immigrant Women In Hawaii. Reprinted from Women’s Studies_13(3):223-234.
Graves, Nancy 1984 Adaptation of Polynesian Female Migrants in New Zealand. In Women in the Cities of Asia. Fawcett, Khoo, and Smith, eds. Pp. 362-393. Westview Press.
Bauer, J. 1999 Speaking of Culture: Immigrants in the American Legal System. In Immigrants and the Courts. Moore, J., ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Goldstein, Beth 1986 Resolving Sexual Assault. Hmong and the American Legal System. In The Hmong in Transition. Hendricks et al., eds.pp. 135-144. The Center for Migration Studies, New York.
Fadiman, Anne 1997 (ch. 3-5) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. The Noonday Press.
O’Neal, Colleen Forthcoming When Teaching Differently Means More of the Same: Anglo-Conformity in a
Job-Training Program for Immigrant and Refugee Women. Forthcoming in Bauer, ed., Teaching Differently.
Gibson, Margaret and Parminder Bhachu 1991 The Dynamics of Educational Decision Making: A Comparative Study of Sikhs in Britain and the United States. In Minority Status and Schooling. Gibson and Ogbu, eds. Pp. 63- 95. New York: Garland.
Maira, S Making Room for a Hybrid Space. Reconsidering Second-Generation Ethnic Identity. Sanskriti.
Jaberi, Bahar 1996 Identity Crises. Who Am I? Second Generation Internet Magazine.
Muecke, Marjorie 1995 Trust, Abuse of Trust and Mistrust among Cambodian Refugee Women: A Cultural Interpretation. In Mistrusting Refugees. Daniel and Knudsen, eds. Pp 36-55. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Long, L 1993 Creation of an International Relief System. In Ban Vinai: The Refugee Camp. New York: Columbia University Press.
Cohen and Deng 1998 Exodus within Borders. Foreign Affairs 77(4):12-16.
Cohen, R. 1998 A New Tool for NGO’s. The Mustard Seed 49:9-11. Jesuit Refugee Service/USA.
Bauer, J. 1993 Ma’ssoum’s Tale. Feminist Studies 19(3):519-548
Peck, Jeffrey 1995 Refugees as Foreigners: The Problem of Becoming German and Finding Home. In Mistrusting Refugees. Daniel and Knudsen, eds. Pp 102-125. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kymlicka, Will 1995 Freedom and Culture (chapter 5) in Multicultural Citizenship. Clarendon Press.
Rose, Peter 1993 Of Every Hue and Caste: Race, Immigration and Perceptions of Pluralism. Annals of the American Academy of Political Science 530:187-202.
Barbieri, W, 1998 Membership Debates. In Ethics of Citizenship. Immigration and Group Rights in Germany. Durham: Duke University Press.
Bach, Robert 1993 Recrafting the Common Good: Immigration and Community. Annals of the American Academy of Political Science 530:155-170.
Harles, John 1993 Immigrants, Consensus and America. In Politics in the Lifeboat. Immigrants and the American Democratic Order. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Hammar, Tomas 1985 Citizenship, Aliens’ Political Rights, and Politicians’ Concern for Migrants: The Case of Sweden. In Guests Come to Stay. Rosemarie Rogers, ed. Pp. 85-107. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Chaney, Elsa 1988 Migrant Workers and National Boundaries: The Basis for Rights and Protections. In Boundaries, National Autonomy and its Limits. Brown and Shue, eds. Pp. 37-77. Rowman and Littlefield.
Briggs, Vernon 1983 Foreign Labor Programs as an Alternative to Illegal Immigration: A Dissenting View. In The Border that Joins. Brown and Shue, eds. Pp. 223 -245. Rowman and Littlefield