Race and Migration

Catalog description

Race and Migration explores how race and culture impact the settlement experiences of migrating people. We will focus primarily on Latinos, West Indians, and Asians and use New York City as a primary sight of investigation, but also examine case studies of migration within the Caribbean and Latin America. Questions the course will address include: how do people go from having diverse national and cultural identities to being people with a “race?” How does becoming a “raced” person shape identity, economic mobility, and social and cultural belonging? How are people differently affected by being placed in social categories in adoptive homes? How do migrants both preserve and create new culture? How do they remain connected to their countries of origin? Where do they find power? In pursuit of these questions, we will consider theories on race, culture, diaspora, nation, transnationalism, exclusion, and belonging.