Immigrant America: The Educational, Labor Market, and ...



Instructor: Veronica Terriquez

Class: Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:30-4:50 p.m., VKC 100

Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:00-3:00 p.m. and by appointment

Office: KAP 348-F

Email: veronica.terriquez@college.usc.edu

Reader: Hyeyoung Kwon

Office hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 2:00-3s:00 p.m.

Office: KAP 355

Email: kwonh@usc.edu

Course Description:

The United States has long been considered a “Nation of Immigrants.” According to 2009 American Community Survey estimates, about one in eight U.S. residents are foreign-born. These racially diverse immigrants come from all over the world to the United States for a variety of reasons, but most seek a better life for themselves and their families. However, some groups encounter significant challenges to achieving the “American dream.” This course will examine the political, social, and economic factors that contribute to the unequal incorporation of immigrant groups from different parts of the world. It will also explore how immigrants and their children have mobilized to secure rights and equal opportunities. Particular attention will be paid to the experiences of immigrants in Los Angeles and New York, the two metropolitan areas with the largest foreign-born populations.

Requirements:

Lecture and section participation. Students will be required to arrive on time for and participate in all lectures and section meetings. Most lectures will include time for student discussion. Any in-class writing assignments will be included in lecture or section participation grades. Cell phones and other personal electronic devices must be turned off during lecture and section meetings. The instructor and TA reserve the right to confiscate visible personal electronic devices during class. Laptops may be used in class for note-taking purposes only. Students caught using laptops for other purposes will lose classroom participation credit.

Short writing assignments. Students will be required to complete 10 short writing assignments that focus on the readings or other material presented in the course. Hard copies of these writing assignments will be due at the beginning of each section.

Mid-term quiz. Students will take a short in-class midterm quiz that covers the material presented during the first half of the course.

Research Paper. Students will write an 8 page paper that compares the experiences of second generation immigrant youth from two different ethnic groups. Papers must examine the factors that impact the groups’ incorporation into U.S. society. Students may write a paper on another immigration- related topic, but must obtain approval from the professor or TA. The research paper is due on April 29 at 12 noon.

Final Examination. A cumulative final examination will be administered on Friday May 6, 2 p.m.

Grading:

The course grade will be based on the following:

Attendance and participation in lecture: 10 points

Attendance and participation in section: 10 points

Short writing assignments (10): 30 points

Mid-term quiz 10 points

Research Paper 20 points

Final Exam 20 points

Total 100 points

Assignments will be marked off by 20% if turned in late. They will not be accepted after 1 week past the due date and time. Letter grades will be assigned based on the class distribution of points. Any disagreements with the grading of an assignment must be submitted by email the TA specifying how an error was made in the assignment of points.

Required Readings

← Kasinitz, Philip, John H. Mollenkopf, Mary C. Waters, and Jennifer Holdaway. 2008. Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age. Russell Sage Foundation: New York.

← Waters, Mary and Reed Ueda (Eds.) 2007. The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration Since 1965. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Electronic copy available through USC library. Visit

← Journal articles, book chapters, and other readings will be posted on Blackboard.

Recommended Readings:

( Milkman, Ruth, Joshua Bloom, and Victor Narro. 2010. Working for Justice: The L.A. Model of Organizing and Advocacy. Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London. (Available at Bookstore)

( Other recommended readings will be posted on Blackboard.

Course Schedule

PART I. THEORIES OF MIGRATION, EARLY 20TH CENTURY IMMIGRATION, AND CHANGING IMMIGRATION POLICIES

Monday, January 10-- Introduction to the Course

Tuesday, January 11-- NO SECTION

Wednesday, January 12-- Theories of International Migration

Required Reading

← Chapter 1 in

Portes, Alejandro and Ruben Rumbaut. 2006. Immigrant America: A Portrait. Berkeley: University of California Press.

← Massey, Douglas, Joaquin Arango, Graeme Hugo, Ali Kouaouci, Adela Pellegreno, and J. Edward Taylor. 1993. “Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal.” Population and Development Review 19: 431-466.

Monday, January 17 – NO CLASS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Tuesday, January 18 –Short Writing Assignment #1 due in Section

Wednesday, January 19 – Historic Patterns of Immigration to the U.S.

Required Reading

← Selections from:

Cannato, Vincent. 2009. American Passage: A History of Ellis Island. New York: Harper.

← Takaki, Ronald. 2000. “From a Different Shore: Their History Bursts with Telling.” Chapter 3 in Contemporary Asian America: A Multidisciplinary Reader, edited by Min Zhou and James V. Gatewood. New York: New York University Press.

Monday, January 24 –Early 20th Century Immigration to Los Angeles and New York

Required Reading

← Laslett, John H.M. 1996. “Historical Perspectives: Immigrant and the Rise of a Distinctive Urban Region, 1900-1970” Chapter 2 in Ethnic Los Angeles, edited by Roger Waldinger and Mehdi Bozorgmehr. New York: Russell Foundation.

← Selections from:

Foner, Nancy. 2000. From Ellis Island to JFK: New York’s Two Great Waves of Immigration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Tuesday, January 25 – Short Writing Assignment #2 Due in Section

Wednesday , January 26-- Changes in Immigration Policy

Required Reading

← Chapters 3 in:

Massey, Douglas, Jorge Durand, and Nolan J. Malone. 2003. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican Immigration in an Era of Economic Integration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

← Ong, Paul and John M. Liu. 2000. “U.S. Immigration Policies and Asian Migration.” Chapter 5 in Contemporary Asian America: A Multidisciplinary Reader, edited by Min Zhou and James V. Gatewood. New York: New York University Press.

Monday, January 31-- Immigration Policy Debates

← Tichenor, Daniel. 2009. “Navigating a Political Minefield: The Politics of Illegal Immigration.” The Forum: A Journal of Contemporary Politics. 7:3

← News articles, blogs, and legislation focused on recent policies.

Tuesday, February 1 –Short Writing Assignment #3 due in Section

PART II. CONTEMPORARY IMMIGRATION FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD

Wednesday February 2—Contemporary Immigration from Mexico

← Massey, Jacob S. Rugh, and Karen A. Pren. 2010. The Geography of Undocumented Mexican Migration.” Mexican Studies 26:129-152.

← Selections from:

Fox, Jonathan and Gaspar Rivera Salgado. 2004. Indigenous Mexican Migrants in the United

States. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Monday February 7—Contemporary Immigration from Central and South America

Required Reading

← Chapter 2 in:

Hamilton, Nora and Norma Stoltz Chinchilla. 2001. Seeking Community in a Global City: Guatemalans and Salvadorans in Los Angeles. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

← The New Americans — South Americans

Tuesday, February 8 –Short Writing Assignment #4 due in Section

Wednesday February 9 — Contemporary Immigration from East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands

Required Reading

← The New Americans — 1) China: People’s Republic; 2) Korea; 3) India; 4) South Asia; 5) Pacific: Fiji, Tonga, & Samoa; 6) Philippines

Monday February 14—Contemporary Immigration from Southeast Asia & Western Asian

Required Reading

← Selections from:

Welaratna, Usha. 1993. Beyond the killing Fields: Voices of Nine Cambodian Survivors in America. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

← The New Americans — 1) Southeast Asia; 2) Vietnam; 3) Iran; 4) Middle East and North Africa

Wednesday February 16—Contemporary Immigration from the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa

Required Reading

← Selections from:

Waters, Mary. 1999. Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

← The New Americans — 1) Europe: West; 2) Africa: West; 3) Africa: East

Waters, Mary and Reed Ueda (Eds.) 2007. The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration Since 1965. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Monday February 21— NO CLASS: Presidents Day Holiday

Tuesday, February 22 –Short Writing Assignment #5 due in Section

Part III. LABOR MARKET INEQUALITY AND WORKER STRUGGLES

Wednesday February 23--Divergent Patterns of Labor Market Incorporation

Required Reading

← The New Americans — Immigrants and the Economy

← Kim, ChangHwan and Arthur Sakamoto. 2010. “Have Asian American Men Achieved Labor Market Parity with White Men?” American Sociological Review 75: 934-957.

Monday February 28 –Low Wage Immigrant Workers

Required Reading

← Selections from:

Milkman, Ruth, Ana Luz Gonzalez, and Victor Narro. 2010. Workplace Violations in Los Angeles County: The Failure of Employment and Labor Law for Low Wage Workers. UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. (Executive Summary)

← Selections from:

Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. 2007. Domestica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence. University of California Press.

Wednesday March 2 --Labor Unions and Immigrant Incorporation

( MIDTERM QUIZ

Required Reading

← Burgoon, Brian, Janice Fine, Wade Jacoby, and Daniel Tichenor. 2010. “Immigration and the Transformation of American Unionism.” International Migration Review 44:933-973.

Monday March 7 –Immigrant Labor Unions

Required Reading

← Waldinger, Roger, Christopher L. Erickson, Ruth Milkman, Daniel J. B. Mitchell, Abel Valenzuela, Kent Wong, and Maurice Zeitlin. 1998. "Helots No More: A Case Study of the Justice for Janitors Campaign in Los Angeles." Pp. 102-119 in Organizing to Win, edited by Kate Bronfenbrenner, Sheldon Friedman, Richard W. Hurd, Rudolph A. Oswald, and Ronald L. Seeber. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

← Selections from:

Chun, Jennifer Jihye. 2009. Organizing at the Margins: The Symbolic Politics of Labor in South Korea and the United States. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Recommended Reading:

← Wells, Miriam J. “Unionization and Immigrant Incorporation in San Francisco Hotels.” Social Problems 47: 241-65.

Wednesday March 9--Worker Centers and Immigrant Worker Rights

Required Reading

← Milkman, Ruth. 2010. “Introduction” Pp. 1-19 in Working for Justice The L.A. Model of Organizing and Advocacy. Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London.

Recommended Reading

← Dziembowska, Maria. “NDELON and the History of Day Labor Organizing in Los Angeles.” Chapter 7 in Working for Justice.

← Kwon, Jong Bum. “The Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance: Spatializing Justice in an Ethnic “Enclave’” Chapter 1 in Working for Justice.

SPRING BREAK –MARCH 14-19

Monday March 21 – Worker Centers Campaigns

Required Reading

← Archer, Nicole, Ana Luz Gonzalez, Kimi Lee, Simmie Gandhi, and Delia Herrera. 2010. “The Garment Worker Center and the “Forever 21 Campaign” Pp. 154-164 in Working for Justice: The L.A. model of Organizing, edited by Ruth Milkman, Joshua Bloom, and Victor Narro. Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London.

Recommended Reading

← Garea, Sysan, and Sasha Alexandra Stern. “From Legal Advocacy to Organizing: Progressive Lawyering and the Los Angeles Car Wash Campaign.” Chapter 6 in Working for Justice.

Tuesday, March 22 –Short Writing Assignment #6 due in Section

Part IV. THE SECOND GENERATION

Wednesday March 23 – Social Inequality and the Second Generation

Required Reading

← Zhou , Min. 1997. Segmented Assimilation: Issues, Controversies, and Recent Research on the

New Second Generation. International Migration Review 31:975-1008.

← Inheriting the City-- Chapters 1, Introduction and 2, The Worlds of Fathers and Mothers

March 28 – Educational Disparities in the Second Generation

Required Reading

← Feliciano, Cynthia. 2005. “Does Selective Migration Matter? Explaining Ethnic Disparities in Educational Attainment among Immigrants’ Children.” International Migration Review 39 (4) 841-871.

← Inheriting the City -- Chapter 5, The School System as a Sorting Mechanism

Tuesday, March 29 – Short Writing Assignment #7 due in Section

March 30 – Ethnic Identity and Racial Discrimination

Required Reading

← Inheriting the City --Chapter 3, Ethnic Identities & Chapter 10, Race Prejudice, and Discrimination

← TBD

March April 4 – Employment patterns among the second generation

Required Reading

← Inheriting the City--Chapter 6, The Second Generation Goes to Work

← Waldinger, Roger, Nelson Lim, and David Cort. 2007. “Bad Jobs, Good Jobs, No Jobs?: The Employment Experience of the Mexican American Second Generation.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 33:1-35.

Tuesday, April 5 – Short Writing Assignment #8 due in Section

April 6 – Family and Culture

Required Reading

← Inheriting the City—Chapter 4, Family and Neighborhood Origins & Chapter 8, Culture Matters

← Valenzuela, Abel Jr. 1999. “Gender Roles and Settlement Activities among Children and Their Immigrant Families.” American Behavioral Scientist, 42: 720-742.

The April 11 – Gender Inequality, Sexuality, and the Second Generation

Required Reading

← Feliciano, Cynthia and Ruben Rumbaut. “Gendered Paths: Educational and occupational expectations and outcomes among the children of immigrants.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 28: 1087-1118.

← Cammarota, Julio. 2004. “The gendered and racialized pathways of Latina and Latino youth: Different struggles, different resistances in the urban context.” Anthropology and Education Quarterly 35: 53-74.?

← Espiritu, Yen L. 2001. ‘“We Don’t Sleep Around Like White Girls Do”: Family, Culture, and Gender in Filipina American Lives.” Signs 26:2 415-440.

Recommended Reading:

← Hom, Alice. 2000. “Stories from the Homefront: Perspectives of Asian American Parents with Lesbian Daughters and Gay Sons.” Chapter 26 in Contemporary Asian America: A Multidisciplinary Reader, edited by Min Zhou and James V. Gatewood. New York: New York University Press.

Tuesday, April 12 – Short Writing Assignment #9 due in Section

Part V: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

April 13—The Immigrant Rights Movement

Required Reading

← Narro, Victor, Kent Wong, and Janna Shadduck Hernandez. 2007. “The 2006 Immigrant Uprising: Origins and Future.” New Labor Forum

← Other news articles and blogs.

Recommended Reading

( Patler, Caitlin. “Alliance-Building and Organizing for Immigrant Rights: The Case of the Coalition

for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.” Chapter 3 in Working for Justice.

( Osuji, Chinyerer. “Noncitizen Citizenship”: A Case Study of the Multi-Ethnic Immigrant Workers Organizing Network.” Chapter 4 in Working for Justice.

April 18 – Gender and the Immigrant Civic Engagement

Required Reading

← Jones-Correa, Michael. 1998. “Different Paths: Gender, Immigration, and Political Participation.” International Migration Review 32: 326-349.

April 20 – The DREAM Act

Required Reading

← Abrego, Leisy. 2006. “I Can’t Go to College because I Don’t Have Papers: Incorporation Patterns of Latino Undocumented Youth.” Latino Studies 4:212-231.

← Gonzalez, Roberto. 2008. “Left Out, but Not Shut Down: Political Activism and the Undocumented Latino Student Movement.” Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy 3: 219-239.

← Dream Act Legislation

Monday April 25 – The Civic and Political Engagement of the Immigrant Second Generation

Required Reading

← Inheriting the City-- Chapter 9, Civic and Political Engagement

← Rogers, John and Ernest Morrell. 2011. “The Campaign for College Access in Los Angeles.” Pp. 227-249 in Public Engagement for Public Education: Joining Forces to Revitalize Democracy and Equalize Schools, edited by Marion Orr and John Rogers. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

Recommended Reading

( Kwon, Soo Ah. 2008. “Moving from Complaints to Action: Oppositional Consciousness in a Political Community." Anthropology and Education Quarterly 39: 59-76.

Tuesday, April 26 – Short Writing Assignment #10 due in Section

April 27 – Course Review

April 29 – Research Paper due at noon

May 6 – Final Exam at 2 p.m.

The contents of this syllabus are subject to change.

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