Immigration, Diversity and Multiculturalism in North America

Curriculum guideline

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Course
HIST 3325
Discontinued
No
Course code
HIST 3325
Descriptive
Immigration, Diversity and Multiculturalism in North America
Department
History
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start date
End term
202010
PLAR
No
Semester length
15
Max class size
25 (writing intensive)
Contact hours
Lecture: 2 hrs. per week / semester Seminar: 2 hrs. per week / semester
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Learning activities

Class sections will be divided between lectures and seminar discussions. The seminar discussion sessions will serve as a forum for the analysis and discussion of scholarly literature and as a testing ground for student hypotheses. The instructor will encourage students to elaborate, refine and revise ideas. Discussion sessions will also include tutorials in conducting historical research, the exploration of primary source documents, and practice in oral presentations. Participation in both lectures and seminar discussions is required for the successful completion of the course.

 

Methods may include:

  • lecture/discussion
  • group work
  • peer review
  • independent research
  • instructor feedback on students’ work
  • individual consultation
  • presentation (individual or group)
Course description
This course considers immigration and nation-building in a comparative North American context, exploring and challenging the melting pot/mosaic dichotomy often used to explain differences in American and Canadian approaches to cultural diversity. The course will consider four waves of immigration (colonial, nineteenth century, turn-of-the-century, and twentieth century) and five main themes: host response to newcomers, displacement of Aboriginal peoples, newcomers’ immigration and resettlement experience, the use of immigration to build the nation, and evolving definitions of national identity and citizenship in light of influxes of newcomers.
Course content

A sample course outline would include the following topics.

Note: Content may vary according to the instructor’s selection of topics.

 

  1. Introduction
  2. Natives and Newcomers
  3. Colonies and Nations
  4. Labour, Part 1: Slaves and Indentured Servants
  5. Nation Creation and the West
  6. Transplanting: Ethno-Religious Communities and Identity
  7. Labour, Part 2: Forging New Immigration Policies
  8. The Politics of Race: The “Immigration Problem”
  9. The Politics of Race: “None is Too Many”
  10. Crossing the 49th Parallel
  11. Postwar Immigration
  12. Postwar Aboriginal Advocacy
  13. Paradigm and Policy: Melting Pot and Mosaic
  14. Diversity and Transnationalism: Immigration in a Global World
Learning outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:

 

  1. Examine historical sources critically and analytically. These sources include not only survey texts and scholarly articles, but also short monographs and extended primary sources. Students are required to read in the course subject area beyond the texts assigned by the instructor.
  2. Create and communicate personal interpretations of historical problems. This course is writing intensive. Forms for communication of personal interpretations include research proposals and annotated bibliographies, research essays (from 3000-5000 words), comparative book reviews, shorter interpretive essays, historiography analyses, primary source studies, and final examinations or final summative assignments.
  3. Analyze the ideas of other students and the instructor in both tutorials and seminars both independently and in cooperation with other students.
Means of assessment

Assessment will be in accord with the Douglas College student evaluation policy. Specific evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the semester and will vary according to the instructor’s assessment of appropriate evaluation methods.

 

An example of one evaluation scheme: Any combination of the following totalling 100%

 

Primary source document analyses

 15%

Research proposal and annotated bibliography

 10%

Research essay

 25%

Comparative book review

 15%

Seminar presentations

 10%

Class participation

 10%

Final examination

 15%

Total

100%
Textbook materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:

 

Texts will be chosen from the following list, to be updated periodically:

An instructor’s Course Reader may be required, and students will be required to read in the course subject area beyond the texts assigned by the instructor.

 

Daniels, Roger. Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life. New York: Perennial, 2009.

Day, Richard F. Multiculturalism and the History of Canadian Diversity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000.

Gjerde, Jon. Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History. 2nd ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011.

Iacovetta, Franca. The Writing of English Canadian Immigrant History. Ottawa: Canadian Historical Association (Ethnic Groups Series), 1997.

Kelley, Ninette. Making of a Mosaic: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010.

Knowles, Valerie. Strangers at our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540-2006.  Toronto: Dundern Press, 2007.

Walker, Barrington, ed. The History of Immigration and Racism in Canada: Essential Readings.  Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc., 2008.

Prerequisites

One 1000 level course in History

Or the permission of the instructor