Senior Seminar: New Immigrants, Border Crossings, and American Identity
This course will explore the influence of new immigrant groups on the meanings of race, ethnicity, national, and transnational identity in the contemporary United States. We will explore autobiographical, ethnographic, literary, and mass-mediated perspectives on the identities and experiences of immigrants from Latin America, Asia, and other regions of the world. We will also consider the cultural geography of race and nationality in several contact zones, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Topics will include the rights of citizenzenship and noncitizenship, multicultural education, the new nativism, and post-9/11 concerns about border security. (Open to American Studies majors; others may register with instructor's approval).