Immigration Nation

This seminar will examine US immigration history from the great waves of European, Asian, and Mexican immigration during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to the more recent flows from Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. In addition to investigating how these groups were defined and treated in relation to each other, we will consider the following questions: Who is an "American"? Has the definition shifted over time? How do contemporary political debates about immigration compare with those from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Is public opinion about immigration shaped by the media? How are arguments over citizenship bound up with ideas of race, class, ethnicity, gender, and nation? Special attention will be paid to the role of immigration in the 2008 Presidential Election; Hollywood's fabrication and circulation of ethnic stereotypes; and the virulent xenophobia routinely exhibited on television. This course is reading-, writing-, and theory-intensive. Prerequisite: Division II or III students only.

Required Texts:
•   Paul Spickard, Almost All Aliens: Immigration, Race, and Colonialism in American History and Identity (available for purchase at the Hampshire Bookstore)  •    All other readings are available via the HACU/SS 280 course website.

Required Activities to Receive and Evaluation/Grade

 * Complete assigned readings in advance of each class meeting. Please bring readings to class.
 * Regular attendance and active participation in class discussions.
 * Class Presentation.
 * Regularly review course website for announcements, assignments, and additional readings.
 * Complete and submit all written work in a timely manner, which include the following:6 Blog Posts (Due on 9/11, 9/23, 10/07, 10/23, 11/13, and 12/04)
 * Paper Proposal (Due 10/2)
 * Annotated Bibliography (Due 10/21)
 * Detailed Outline (Due 11/11)
 * 12-15 Page Final Research Paper (Due 12/2)
 * Submit a portfolio consisting of all your written work at the end of the semester (Due 12/9).
 * All Hampshire students are required to submit a Mid-Term Self-Evaluation (Due 10/8) AND a Self-Evaluation (Due 12/12) to The Hub.

Class Attendance
Because attendance is critical to the success of this seminar, only two (2) absences are allowed (subsequent absences will result in a "no evaluation" or a failing grade). Please keep in mind that when you skip class, you miss information crucial to understanding the readings, a sense of which themes are important, and the presentations of your classmates.

Class Discussions
This course follows a seminar format, and as such, you are required to arrive promptly to class and actively participate in all class discussions. You are expected to fully engage with the assigned readings and offer informed perspectives in class. We all benefit when we all read, question and listen. In the process, students are expected to be respectful of and open to others’ opinions and suggestions and to avoid monopolizing class discussions. The goal is to facilitate rather than close down critical debate of the subject material. For those whom grades will not be assigned, the degree and quality of participation will be noted in your final narrative evaluations.

Class Presentation
Students will be required to give an in-class presentation of approximately 20 minutes on one of the assigned readings. Besides summarizing the key points of the text, students are expected to use the reading to a) engage in comparative analysis of different immigrant groups b) reflect upon contemporary immigration issues/debates, OR c) examine media representations of immigrants. Students should consult with the instructor before the presentation to discuss its general content.

Blog Posts
Students will be required to submit SIX posts to the class blog. Posts should be brief (400-500 words) and should be typed, proofread, spell checked and the word count confirmed before you post anything on the blog. Your posts should reflect sophisticated consideration of the readings and issues we have discussed in class. Posts should NOT summarize the text or our class discussions. Posts should engage with theoretical concepts from the readings and apply them to current and/or past immigration debates. Although not required, students are strongly encouraged to comment on the posts of their fellow students via the class blog.

Research Paper
A research paper is required for this course. Students will be evaluated based upon the successful completion of the following assignments: paper proposal, annotated bibliography, detailed outline, and final draft. Final drafts are due December 2nd at 12:30 pm and must be submitted directly to the instructor, unless other arrangements have been made beforehand. Late papers will be excused only in the case of a documented illness or family emergency. Papers should be 12-15 double-spaced pages in length (one-inch margins and 12 pt. font) and printed double-sided (NO EMAILED PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED). The paper title, author’s name and email address, and date should appear at the top of the first page. Do not include a separate cover page. Please staple papers; do not submit papers with clips, binders, or report covers. Please number all pages. Papers must include a bibliography and proper citations, with a minimum of 10 scholarly references cited including at least three academic journal publications. While Wikipedia and similar sources might be used for background information, it is expected that students will find more authoritative sources for information and cite these sources rather than citing Wikipedia. The Chicago reference style should be used for the bibliography and citations (students may use an alternative style only with permission of the Professor). Papers should be well structured with appropriate headings throughout, and include conclusions that are well supported by the rest of the paper. Remember this is a research paper, not an opinion essay. All assertions need to be supported with citations to relevant literature. You should cite ideas, not just direct quotes. Headings should be used to structure the paper. Purchasing a hard copy, CD-ROM, or online subscription of The Chicago Manual of Style is highly recommended.

Rules and Regulations - Please Read Very Carefully!
Class Decorum: Turn off your cell phone, PDA, text messenger, or other electronic device, before class begins. Please note: In-Class laptop computer usage is permitted but should be limited to course-related activities and not casual web surfing for personal enjoyment.

Tardiness Policy
Students are expected to be in class on time. Attendance will be taken promptly at 12:30 pm. If you are late, you will be assigned extra work. 1-5 minutes late will add 100 words to your next blog post assignment (i.e., you will be required to write 600 words instead of 500). 5-10 minutes late will add 200 words (700 words instead of 500). If you are more than ten minutes late, you will be marked absent for the day. Please note: Excessive tardiness will be noted in your final narrative evaluation.

Late Assignments
No late work! No exceptions! All assignments are due on the date, time, and location specified in the syllabus. It is your responsibility to keep track of when and where assignments are due. Please plan ahead as accidents do occur (computers crash, printers run out of toner, networks go down, illnesses descend, hangovers happen, breakups take their toll, etc.). If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may impact on your ability to carry out assigned course work on time, I urge you to contact the Disabilities Services Coordinator, Joel Dansky. He is responsible for the coordination and provision of services and accommodations for students with disabilities. He may be reached at 413-559-5423 or via email jdansky@hampshire.edu.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a very serious offense and will not be tolerated. If a student is found guilty of plagiarism he or she will not receive an evaluation for this class, and the case will be handed over to the Dean for disciplinary action. If you use the words or ideas of others you must clearly identify the source in your work (that includes any information found on the web!). Direct quotations must be placed in quotation marks and their sources cited. Paraphrased sources should also be acknowledged. If you are unclear what constitutes plagiarism, consult the Professor before handing your work in. Ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism is not a defense. It is your responsibility to be sure beforehand.

September 4: Introduction
ASSIGNMENT: Students must identify FOUR class readings they would like to present on. We will hold a lottery during class on September 9th to determine the sequence of student presentations. Each student will only have to present on ONE reading. To make sure that student presenters have sufficient time, only TWO presentations will be scheduled per class.

September 9: How (Not) To Think About Immigrants

 * Paul Spickard, "Preface" to Almost All Aliens
 * Paul Spickard, "Chapter 1: Immigration, Race, Ethnicity, Colonialism"
 * Charles Ramirez Berg, "Categorizing The Other: Stereotypes and Stereotyping"
 * Lester Friedman, "Celluloid Palimpsests: An Overview of Ethnicity and American Film"

September 11: In The Beginning There Were Indians
ASSIGNMENT: Blog Post Due by 11PM.
 * Paul Spickard, "Chapter 2: Colliding Peoples in Eastern North America, 1600-1780" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation]
 * Ali Behdad, "Founding Myths of the Nation, Or What Jefferson and Hamilton Forgot About Immigration" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation]
 * Frank Manchel, "Cultural Confusion: Broken Arrow" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation]
 * Elizabeth S. Bird, "Gendered Construction of the American Indian in Popular Media"

September 16: Citizenship and Racialization - Part I
•   Paul Spickard, pages 79-94 of "Chapter 3: An Anglo-American Republic? Racial Citizenship, 1760-1860" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Karen Gagne, "Falling In Love with Indians: The Metaphysics of Becoming America" •    Shiv Visvanathan, "Nation" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Richard Delgado, "Citizenship" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Michael Omi and Howard Winant, "Racial Formation" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation]

September 18: Citizenship and Racialization - Part II
•   Paul Spickard, pages 94-128 of "Chapter 3: An Anglo-American Republic? Racial Citizenship, 1760-1860" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Ella Shohat, "Ethnicities-in-Relation: Toward a Multicultural Reading of American Cinema"

September 23: The Border Crossed Us
•   Paul Spickard, "Chapter 4: The Border Crossed Us: Euro-Americans Take the Continent, 1830-1900" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Guadalupe Luna, "The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and Dred Scott v. Sandford: 'Aren't They All Illegal Anyway?'" •    Yolanda Venegas, "The Erotics of Racialization: Gender and Sexuality in the Making of California" •    Deena Gonzalez, "Lupe's Song: On the Origins of Mexican/Woman-Hating in the United States"  ASSIGNMENT: Blog Post Due by 11PM.

September 30: The Great Wave and the Reshaping of European Ethnicity
•   Paul Spickard, "Chapter 5: The Great Wave, 1870-1930" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Charles Musser, "Ethnicity, Role-Playing, and American Film Comedy: From Chinese Laundry Scene to Whoopee (1894-1930)"

October 2: Of Gangsters and Other New Immigrants
•   Giorgio Bertellini, "Black Hands and White Hearts: Southern Italian Immigrants, Crime, and Race in Early Cinema" •    Peter Stanfield, "'American as Chop Suey': Invocations of Gangsters in Chinatown, 1920-1936" •    Rachel Rubin and Jeffrey Melnick, "Hollywood, 1930: Jewish Gangster Masquerade"  ASSIGNMENT: Submit Research Paper Proposal. Proposals should be 1 page in length and typed (double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12 pt. font). Don't forget to check spelling and grammar! See course website for helpful tips!

October 7: Racial Hierarchies, Rape Fantasies, and The Language of Empire
•   Paul Spickard, "Chapter 6: Cementing Hierarchy: Issues and Interpretations, 1870-1930" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Gina Marchetti, "The Rape Fantasy: The Cheat and Broken Blossoms" •    Nerissa Balce, "Filipino Bodies, Lynching, and the Language of Empire"  ASSIGNMENT: Blog Post Due by 11PM.

October 8:

 * Mid-Term Evaluations Due

October 16: Nativism and Eugenics or How to Imagine a White Nation
•   Ali Behdad, "Discourses of Exclusion: Nativism and the Imagining of a 'White Nation'" •    Nancy Ordover, "ImagiNation" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Nancy Ordover, "Calculating Hysteria" •    Nancy Ordover, "The Immigrant Within" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation]

October 21: White People's America?
•   Paul Spickard, "Chapter 7: White People's America, 1924-1965" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Rachel Buff, "Internal Frontiers, Transnational Politics, 1945-1965: Im/Migration Policy as World Domination"  ASSIGNMENT: Turn in Annotated Bibliography for Research Paper. Annotated bibliographies must include a minimum of 6 scholarly references and include at least 2 academic journal publications. None of the sources may be from the class reading list. While Wikipedia and similar sources might be used for background information, it is expected that students will find more authoritative sources for information and cite these sources rather than citing Wikipedia. The Chicago reference style should be used for the bibliography and citations. See course website for helpful tips! As always, don’t forget to check spelling and grammar!

October 23: Celluloid Immigrants -- Caught Between Desire and Dread
•   Hye Seung Chung, "Between Yellowphilia and Yellowphobia: Asian American Romance in Oriental Detective Films" •    Charles Ramirez Berg, "A Crash Course on Hollywood's Latino Imagery" •    Richie Perez, "From Assimilation to Annihilation: Puerto Rican Images in U.S. Film"  ASSIGNMENT: Blog Post Due by 11PM.

October 28: The Trials and Tribulations of Hollywood Mexicans
•   Chon Noriega, "Citizen Chicano: The Trials and Tribulations of Ethnicity in American Cinema, 1935-1962" •    Carlos Cortes, "Chicanas in Film: History of An Image" •    David Maciel and Maria Rosa Garcia-Acevedo, "The Celluloid Immigrant: The Narrative Films of Mexican Immigration"

October 30: New Immigrants, New Dilemmas: Assimilation or Transnationalism? Panethnic or Postcolonial? - Part I
•   Paul Spickard, "Chapter 8: New Migrants from New Places Since 1965" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Jenny Sharpe, "Is The United States Postcolonial?: Transnationalism, Immigration, Race"  •    Aimee Carillo Rowe, "Whose 'America'?: The Politics of Rhetoric and Space in The Formation of US Nationalism"

November 4: New Immigrants, New Dilemmas: Assimilation or Transnationalism? Panethnic or Postcolonial? - Part II
•   Paul Spickard, "Chapter 9: Redefining Membership Amid Multiplicity Since 1965" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Claire Jean Kim, "Imagining Race and Nation in Multiculturalist America" •    Lisa Lowe, "The Power of Culture" •    Silvia Pedraza, "Assimilation or Transnationalism?: Conceptual Models of the Immigrant Experience in America"  [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    George Martinez, "Immigration and The Meaning of United States Citizenship: Whiteness and Assimilation"  [Not Eligible for Class Presentation]  REMINDER:  Vote! Vote! Vote!

November 6: Neoliberalism, South Asians, and The American Dream
•   Vijay Prashad, "Of The Origin Of Desis and Some Principles of State Selection" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Vijay Prashad, "Of Authentic Cultural Lives" •    Inderpal Grewal, "Introduction: Neoliberal Citizenship, The Governmentality of Rights, and Consumer Culture"

November 11: The New Nativism, Scientific Racism, and The Dehumanization of Immigrants
•   Nancy Ordover, "The Pioneer Fund: Scientific Racism and Eugenic Endowment" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Nancy Ordover, "The Abiding Panic" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Dorothy Roberts, "Who May Give Birth to Citizens?: Reproduction, Eugenics, and Immigration" •    Justin Aker Chacon and Mike Davis, "The Right Wing Calls The Shots" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Leo Chavez, "Immigration Reform and Nativism: The Nationalist Response to the Transnational Challenge" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Otto Santa Ana, "'Like An Animal I Was Treated': Anti-Immigrant Metaphor in US Public Discourse"  ASSIGNMENT: Detailed outline of research paper due. Outlines should be 2-3 pages long. See course website for helpful tips! As always, don’t forget to check spelling and grammar!

November 13: The Minutemen and Other Signs of Xenophobia
•   Justin Aker Chacon and Mike Davis, "The Last Vigilantes" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Justin Aker Chacon and Mike Davis, "Terrorists on the Border: The Minutemen Stalk Their Prey" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Justin Aker Chacon and Mike Davis, "Militarizing the Border: Death Warrant For Migrant Workers" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Kevin Johnson, "The New Nativism: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue" •    Raymond Tatalovich, "Official English as Nativist Backlash" •    Media Matters, "Fear &amp; Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration Myths and Cable News"  ASSIGNMENT: Blog Post Due by 11PM.

November 18: Asians, Latinos, and the Shifting The Boundaries of Race
•   Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, "From Bi-Racial to Tri-Racial: Towards a New System of Racial Classification in the USA" •    Jennifer Lee and Frank Bean, "Reinventing the Color Line: Immigration and America's New Racial/Ethnic Divide" •    Angela Miri Song, "Comparing Minorities' Ethnic Options: Do Asian Americans Possess 'More' Ethnic Options Than African Americans" •    Jonathan Warren and France Winddance Twine, "White Americans? The New Minority: Non-Blacks and the Ever-Expanding Boundaries of Whiteness" •    Edward Park and John Park, "A New American Dilemma?: Asian Americans and Latinos in Race Theorizing"

November 20: Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration in Post-9/11 America
•   Paul Spickard, "Chapter 10: Epilogue: Future Uncertain - Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Ali Behdad, "Conclusion: Remembering 9/11" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Inderpal Grewal, "Transnational America: Race, and Gender After 9/11" •    Justin Aker Chacon and Mike Davis, "Inventing an Invisible Enemy: September 11th and The War on Immigrants" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation]

December 2: Monster, Terrorist, Alien
•   Ali Behdad, "Practices of Exclusion: National Borders and the Disciplining of Aliens"  •    Jasbir Puar and Amit Rai, "Monster, Terrorist, Fag: The War on Terrorism and the Production of Docile Patriots" •    Amy Brandzel and Jigna Desai, "Race, Violence, and Terror: The Cultural Defensibility of Heteromasculine Citizenship in the Virginia Tech Massacre and The Don Imus Affair" •    Shirley Steinberg, "Desert Minstrels: Hollywood's Curriculum of Arabs and Muslims"[Not Eligible for Class Presentation]  ASSIGNMENT: Final Draft of Research Paper Due (See the Paper FAQ on the Course Website)

December 4: Presumed Disloyal: State Power and the Policing of Otherness
•   David Manuel Hernandez, "Undue Process: Racial Genealogies of Immigrant Detention" •    Thomas Joo, "Presumed Disloyal: Executive Power, Judicial Difference and the Construction of Race Before and After September 11th" •    Natsu Taylor Saito, "Interning The 'Non-Alien' Other: The Illusory Protections of Citizenship"  ASSIGNMENT: Blog Post Due by 11PM.

December 9: Of Solidarity and Other Desires
•   Justin Aker Chacon and Mike Davis, "Immigrant Workers Continue To Build America" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Justin Aker Chacon and Mike Davis, "A New Civil Rights Movement" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Justin Aker Chacon and Mike Davis, "Making Borders History" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Andrew Burridge and Jenna M. Loyd, "La Gran Marcha: Anti-Racism and Immigrant Rights in Southern California"  [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Robert Chang, "A Meditation on Borders" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation] •    Vijay Prashad, "Of Solidarity and Other Desires" [Not Eligible for Class Presentation]  ASSIGNMENT: Portfolios Due in Class. Portfolios should include hard copies of the following: blog posts, paper proposal, annotated bibliography, and detailed outline.

December 10:
Email A Media Example/Sample to the Professor by 11PM Students should come to the final class on (Thursday (12/11) prepared to discuss their research paper. Each student will have up to 3 MINUTES. If they choose, students can use this time to play a short clip to illustrate their project.

December 11:
Last Class: Summing Up and Discussion of Research Paper Topics

December 12:
Self-Evaluation Due