LASS254 Immigration and Race in the USA: The American Experience 3cr

Often portrayed as a “nation of immigrants” with
ample and equal opportunities for the “huddled
masses,” the United States has a long and
complicated history of immigration marked not
always by open doors but rather by exclusion,
marginalization, and contestation. Immigration
has helped define American national identity, and
it continues shaping its political debates,
economic patterns, social transformations, and
cultural life. It has become even more salient
and contentious since the 2016 presidential
election. This class places contemporary
immigration debates in historical context and
provides a systematic review of American
immigration history in local, national and global
contexts.
We will start with the early stages of
immigration since the colonial era and then place
the great waves of European, Asian, and Mexican
immigration during the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries in the context of comparable
and relatable global migrations across the world.
We will discuss the rise of federal laws on
immigration in the late 19th century and the
tightened immigration control and restriction in
the early 20th century, followed by the impacts
of WWII and the ensuing Cold War on immigration.
The rest of the class will focus on the more
recent immigrant and refugee communities from
Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa,
highlighting the changing patterns of migration
since the 1965 immigration reform (including the
changes in post-9/11 America).

Lecture

Spring