Citizen Nation

Monday 4/23 – The State of Things. Applying RV Ch 9 to the Massachusetts story. Also, last soapboxes. You will get your research papers back. Continue reading →

Continue reading →

(No class Monday 16th, Patriot’s Day)

Throughout this term, we have talked about many complex categories of people who live in the United States and call themselves Americans. Continue reading →

I revised the reading schedule til the end of the semester because of our missed class day. Some deadlines and reading assignments have been moved around, so toss the old Page 4 and use this one instead. If you were in class on Monday, April 2, then you got a paper copy of this new schedule. If not, download the new schedule as a PDF – it’s also linked in the left hand sidebar in case you need to reference it again.

The new reading for Wed 4/4 is GC p. 240-264 and RV p. 205-217

There is no class today (Wed 3/28). We will have our peer review session on Monday, 4/2 instead and I will make some adjustments to the reading schedule and post a revised syllabus later. Please review the paper guidelines carefully and make sure by April 2 to have at least 8 pages and your bibliography written plus a statement of what still remains undone or where you feel you’re having trouble. Use the critical thinking and information literacy rubrics to self-assess your research and paper-drafting process (they are attached to the guidelines).

I am happy to read anyone’s early draft, either virtually by email or in office hours on Thurs or Fri (assuming we are back to our regularly scheduled programming then).

The final version of the paper will be due on MONDAY, APRIL 9 instead of April 4th.

Take care,
Prof. Hangen

On Wednesday we’ll be talking about research papers, research strategy, and writing for the entire class time. There’s no assigned reading.

Some of you have asked me what to bring. Just bring what you have. It’s okay if it isn’t at full page length by this point, or if you haven’t got all your sources yet, or if you are only partway through writing/outlining. Bring whatever you have (preferably printed out, it’s easier for someone to read & mark it that way), just so you’ll have something to work with in pairs or small groups.

Monday’s class has light reading but will be a hands-on workshop with some sources and materials for understanding the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. That internment included both born-citizens and immigrants who were legally unnaturalizable. Please read the brief essay by David Goldstein-Shirley, and bring your laptops to class to use in group work.

Reading: “Enemies in their Own Land,” by David Goldstein-Shirley (PDF)

We also have more soapboxes than usual, and I probably won’t let the class discussion on them go quite as long as on past Mondays, just in the interest of time, so soapbox speakers should plan for about 5 minutes including discussion.

Link: Tule Lake, courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle

This coming week’s reading is all in PDF form. Take good notes, bring your laptop, or print/mark up to be prepared for discussions.

Monday 3/12 – Immigration Law. Reading: Ngai, “Architecture of Race” (PDF)

Useful Link: Dillingham Commission Reports (digitized from Harvard Library, on Internet Archive)

Wednesday 3/14 – Petitioners at the Gates. Reading: Collins, “Aliens v. Free Born” and Yung, “Bowlful of Tears Revisited” (PDF)

Did you vote on Super Tuesday?? Continue reading →

Thanks to all who could attend the Naturalization Ceremony in Worcester today. I know we all found it very moving! Continue reading →