Immigration.

Catalog description

What are the duties of U.S. citizens and institutions towards those who migrate here from other countries? How have laws, court cases, and executive orders concerning U.S. immigration been formed throughout history and what consequences have their legacies had for modern and contemporary understandings of politics? What relationship is there between immigration and racial (in)justice, if any? In this course, we will seriously consider—from a distinctly Christian perspective—how various actors, institutions, and policies involved in debates about immigration have contributed to notions of justice, equality, membership, and law and the degree to which we might find these arguments persuasive (or not) as they bear on both Christian faith/practice and on the world. Through dialogue and writing, students will develop their ability to compare and critically (though charitably) assess disparate approaches to immigration while also establishing their own scholarly and political voices. In so doing, students will work out a nuanced view of prominent actors, institutions, and policies involved in the ongoing narrative of immigration in the U.S.