Topics in Immigration

In this seminar, we will take a broad multifaceted view of immigration, from perspectives including not just law, but also economics, history, business and investment, innovation, national security, and cultural vitality. In addition, we will consider episodes of transnational migration. It should not surprise us that large-scale population movements across time and/ or space affect how populations thrive or wither. Among other issues, we will concern ourselves with the 1924 National Origins Act, which established quotas based on the percentage of immigrants from each country who were already living in the U.S. in 1890. The law additionally prohibited immigrants from Asia, and also shut out most European Jews and other refugees fleeing fascism and the Holocaust. Many in Japan were also offended, and they protested the law as well. Other quota acts followed, including the Emergency Quota Act in 1921, which stipulated that new arrivals would be limited to 3% of the number of immigrants from any given country as of the 1910 census. The Act remained in effect until 1965. These quota limits exacted irreversible declines in innovation, investment, and job creation, weakening the American economy. We will investigate the effects of immigration, incorporating the perspectives listed above. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to satisfy the requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.