Migration & Citizenship

This course looks at the impact of U.S. immigration policy upon its politics and economy. The role of migration in globalizing politics and economy. Changing notions of citizenship in the age of globalization, including controversies regarding the rights of citizens and non citizens, particularly in times of national crisis. Topics include: economic interests of immigrants, politics of change in immigration law, and the implications of globalization for citizenship and integration.

This migration course is structured around asking several questions:

1. What is the nature of our political borders?

2. Why do people move? To where do they move? How?

When we ask the first question, we have to consider the political organization of our world. Specifically, we have to consider the nation-state as 

• we begin by thinking about the artificiality of the nation state, borders, and the myth of a any people's claims of "belonging" to a geographical region. In these first weeks, we read about the rise of the nation state and modern construction of citizenship (which only matters if there are "borders"); 

• using these ideas as our basis, we review the history of immigration to the US and consider ...

• finally, we turn to 

There are 17 "learning modules" in this course. That number roughly correlates to a standard 15-16 week college semester. 

In addition, there is a suggestion for how these modules can be arranged for a 6-week course (ideal for summer sessions).

• Aristotle

• Anderson's Imagined Community

• Marshall on Citizenship

1830 - 1880

• Chinese

• Mexican

• Irish

• Germans

1880 - 1924

• Italians

• Eastern European Jews

1910 - 1970

• Great Migration

1965+

• post-1965 immigration

• theorizing Migration

• theorizing Assimilation

• work

• undocumented (DACA, etc.)

• post-nationalism