Hauptstudium: Immigration and U.S. History
(This syllabus is available online at: http://research.umbc.edu/~lindenme/Immig

Prof. Dr. Kriste Lindenmeyer
Fulbright Gastprofessorin für Amerikanstudien
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

Sommer 2005
Hauptstudium
  di 16-18   Zi. 214
MA, D, LA, IKEAS/Modul 3 und 4 (wahlobl.)    
         
Office.   Zi. 202    
Tel.   5523514    
Email.   lindenme@umbc.edu    
Homepage.   http://research.umbc.edu/~lindenme    
Office Hour.   di 14-15.30    

This course examines American history through the lens of immigration and ethnicity from the colonial period to the present. Students will compare and contrast the experience of various immigrant groups over time by using first person accounts available through the course website, assigned secondary readings, and further research. Immigration history links the United States to the rest of the world and therefore offers an excellent opportunity to see the American experience in a transnational perspective. Your final grade will be based on the following formula:

Leistungscheine   6 credits     Teilnahmescheine   3 credits
Weekly Participation   100 points     Weekly Participation   100 points
Bibliography and leadership of assigned topic discussion   100 points     Bibliography and leadership of assigned topic discussion   100 points
Research Paper
(due July 12th)
  200 points          
               
Total   400 points     Total   200 points

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) All students must come to class prepared to discuss the assigned reading materials. The reading materials are posted on the course website located at:
http://www.research.umbc.edu/~lindenme/Immig.

2) Teilnahmescheine (3 credits)Each week all students in the course are required to read an article linked to the course website. After a few weeks a student or group of students will lead a class discussion on an assigned topic (depending on how many students we have in the course). Each week the student discussion leader(s) will  provide classmates with an outline discussing their assigned topic and a bibliography listing at least 10 sources on the topic. At certain points I will deliver short lectures on the topics to bridge gaps in our reading and provide necessary background.   Students earn Group Participation points by contributing to the weekly discussion.

3) Leistungscheine (6 credits)In addition to the requirements listed above, students seeking a Leistungscheine must also write a 10 page research paper on their assigned topic. The paper is due by July 12th. Research papers should include: a) All papers must be typed, double spaced, and use 12 point Times Roman or an equivalent font, b) a title page and pages numbers on each page thereafter. There is no need to include a special cover or other jacket. In fact, I prefer that you give me papers with a single staple in the top left-hand corner. c) a thesis statement within the first paragraph, d) footnotes or endnotes citing the secondary and primary sources of information used in your essay (a minimum of 4 distinct sources), e) a conclusion that includes a summary of your analysis, f) bibliography.

Semesterapparate:

Sucheng Chan, ed. Asian Americans: An Interpretive History (Twayne).
Daniels, Roger. Coming to America. (Perrenial).
Daniels Roger. Guarding the Golden Door. (Hill and Wang).
Dublin, Thomas, ed. Immigrant Voices. (Illinois).
Ronald Takaki.  A Different Mirror (Little, Brown).

Tentative Weekly Discussion Topics and Readings

Date   Class Seminar Topic  
05.04   Introduction: Migration
 
 
12.04   Red, White and Black: Colonial America

 

 
19.04   European Migration and the "New World"

For today's class: Search the database linked below for advertisements for runaway
indentured servants and slaves in Colonial Virginia. Find at least two advertisements
for runaway indentured servants and bring copies of what you have found
with you to class. From what you have learned through these advertisements, was
there anything "typical" about runaway indentured servants in Colonial Virginia?

For copies of advertisements concerning runaway indentured servants
see the website:
"The Geography of Slavery in Virginia." Tom Costa. University of Virginia.
http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/index.html
 

 
26.04   African "Immigrants" in Colonial America

For today's class:
Read chapter 2 of, Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself. Vol. I.
London, 1789.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/equiano1/equiano1.html#p45

This chapter from Olaudah Equiano's autobiography describes the author's experience on the infamous Middle Passage. Assuming that his depiction is typical, what was the trip like for the millions of Africans who had to endure it?

Olaudah Equiano's Insights
Immigration and the U.S. Constitution
Who is White?

Summary

 
03.05  

Immigration and the Early 19th Century

For today's class:
read Gottfried, A German in Missouri and the material about Robert Owen

Today's Presentations:
Arenas
Bunnefeld
Hagen
Knopf

Petzold

 
10.05  

Immigration 1880-1920

For today's class:
Read the article by Donna Gabbacia located on the UMBC eReserves system.
1) To get there, go to http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/reserves/eresindex.php3
2) You will then see a window that asks you to select a department,
choose History and click on Go
3) The next screen contains a list of classes. The first one,
"HIST 001: Immigration and U.S. History" is your class. Click on this link.
4) You should now see the screen that contains the readings for your course.
Read the first one for next week's class: Gabaccia, Donna. "Is Everywhere Nowhere? Nomads, Nations, and the Immigrant Paradigm of United States History." Journal of American History. vol. 86. no. 3. p. 1115-1134. 1999.
http://www.umbc.edu/ereserves/pdfsummer05/hist001/e2.pdf.
Electronic.
Reserve number: E2.

You will need to enter a username and password in order to have access to the article.

The USERNAME is: hist001
The PASSWORD is: halle

Be prepared to discuss this article in class on Tuesday.

Today's Presentations:
Danny Gitter
Leotina Kulko
Annika Lochbaum
Julia Scheide
Constance Seidel
Irka Tumm

 
17.05  

World War II Refugees

For today's class:
read and be prepared to discuss the article on UMBC's eReserves
Bradley Fels, Whatever Your Heart Dictates and Your Pocket Permits: Polish-American Aid to Polish Refugees during World War II

Follow the same instructions given for 10.05 in order to access this article.

Today's Presentations:
Stephanie Blümchen
Cornelia Fuhrmann
Anja Hoffmann
Briana Steffen
Johanna Seiler

 
24.05   No class meeting  
31.05   Nativism

Today's Presentations:
Julia Kolbe
Jaqueline Kuschnerzik
Annette Nölle
Birgit Reichelt
Christina Rieger
Kirsten Wiebking

 
07.06   No class meeting  
14.06   Ethnicity, Immigration and World War II

For today's class:
read and be prepared to discuss the article on UMBC's eReserves:
Zimmerman, Jonathan. "Each 'Race' Could Have Its Heroes Sung": Ethnicity and the History Wars in the 1920s . Journal of American History. vol. 87. no. 1. p. 92-111. June 2000.  There is also a copy available in the SA binder in the MLU Library.

Today's Presentations: (As those of you who have already done presentations know, I give students feedback prior to the Monday posting of the handouts to the website. A few of the following students have not sent in revised versions of their handouts, so I have posted their original versions with my comments. I will post revised handouts as I receive them.)
Bénédicte Hilbert
Il-Joo Kang
Franziska Krushop
Nicole Messerschmidt
Ani-Marieke Scheller
Ines Stumpf
Peter Vaar

 
21.06   Western Hemisphere Immigrants to the U.S.

Today's Presentations:
Claudia Adler
Renata Dimova
Diana Hoffmann
Hans Rijo Kluger
Sandy Lebek
Johanna Rebling
Annika Rudat

 
28.06   Cold War and Immigration

For today's class:
read and be prepared to discuss the following articles on UMBC's eReserves, There is also copies available in the SA binder in the MLU Library:
Jeffrey D. Bass, Beyond the Bay of Pigs: The Cuban Volunteer Program and the Reorientation of Anti-Castroism.
and
Steven A. Camarota, How the Terrorists Get In.

Today's Presentations:
Fatima Al-Latif
Tessa Lohmann
Phillip Dankel
Lorin Peters
Sven Rösch
Alexandra Singer

 
05.07   Immigration Since 1965

For today's class:
read and be prepared to discuss the article on UMBC's eReserves, There is also a copy available in the SA binder in the MLU Library:
Alvar W. Carlson, America's New Immigration: Characteristics, Destinations, and Impact, 1970-1989.

Today's Presentations:
Isabelle Blumenthal
Andreas Hiedenreich
Stefanie Kröber
Edwige Sededji
Miriam Weaver
Nicola Weinert

 
12.07   Immigration and Assimilation

Research Papers are due

Today's Presentations:
Theresa Anesah
Jan Eggert
Julia Kahnt
Christine Pokrandt
Michael Reichert
Eva Richter
Monique Salzmann
Sandy Vollmer