HIST 216 - Immigration of Western Civilization

Number of Credits: 3
History of Immigration in Western Civilization is a survey of the events and trends that have driven immigration in the Western Hemisphere from the discovery of the New Worlds through the present. An examination of the definition of what it means to be an American and the ethnicity in America. This course will cover specific events that have created the necessity to emigrate from a region, the personal desire to search for a new place in the world, and the forced immigration of groups due to external events beyond their control. It will focus on the dilemma of the immigrant arriving in a new land and on the implications of immigration for the region that opens its borders to immigrants. The course will consider legal and illegal immigration, quotas, amnesty, and assimilation in American culture. We will examine this topic from the days of building of the American nation and from the current issues created by the mass exodus from war-torn regions of the Middle East. Credit by exam available. (Fall Term Only) Three hours lecture each week. Three Credits. Three billable hours.

Pre-requisite(s): eligibility for ENGL 101.
Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

To effectively summarize and explain the impact of immigration on the culture, politics, social norms, and lifestyles of Western Civilization. (GE1,GE2,PG1,PG2,PG4)
Communicate orally, by discussing readings that offer various interpretations and key issues in Western Civilization as they produce immigration movements. (GE1,GE2,PG1,PG2,PG4)
Effectively demonstrate information literacy by knowing when there is a need for information and by identifying, locating, evaluating, and effectively using that information of the issue or problem at hand. (GE2,GE4,PG1,PG4)
Effectively express themselves in formal writing, by authoring an analysis of period documents, diaries, newspapers and books, and a research paper that offers a clear and support position on a complex aspect of this topic. (GE1,GE2,GE4,PG1,PG2,PG4,PG5)
Think critically, by analyzing the successes and failures of the past to explain and predict how people with values and mindsets different from their own will handle similar circumstances. To explain how history has shaped the movement of people in Europe, North America and the Middle East. (GE1,GE6,GE7,PG1,PG2,PG3,PG4)
To make historical connections by recognizing contemporary behaviors, action and policies that can be traced to the historical events of this period, analyzing the success and failures of these changes. (GE2,GE7,PG1)
Identify and expand their view of race, nationality, ethnicity and culture in the modern world. (GE6,GE7,PG2,PG3)