G 330 Migrants, Crossings and Voyages: Migration Past Present

Fall

Migration has been a controversial issue historically, globally, and currently it is one of the major issues in locally, nationally and internationally; aspects of migration have been an important issue currently, debated by a variety of groups from politicians, lawyers, law enforcement officials to businessmen to name just the few. The goal of the course is for the students to examine and identify the global and national waves of migration. We will start with the history of migration on a global scale and focus on the migration to the U.S.A., and to Pennsylvania. Our main concern will be the treatment of the “Other” by the host society. In doing so, we shall discuss the 20th and 21st century migration legislation, and differentiate the “Other” by examining the keywords such as: a migrant, asylum seeker, a refugee etc. Finally, the students will design a questionnaire and conduct an interview with the international members of the community to exchange and understand perspectives on both sides of the equation, i.e. host and “Other”. Their final projects may be showcased to the campus community.

3 credit hours