Seminar Topics and Questions
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Term/Unit |
Week |
Topic |
Notes |
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Term 1 |
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Note for students: This schedule is now confirmed subject to any changes we choose to make together to support your own interests! |
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Week 1 |
Think about: who is a 'migrant'? An 'immigrant'? A 'refugee'? Are these terms historically stable? |
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Unit 1 International Migration: the USA Unit 'provocation' reading: Shelley Fishkin, ‘Crossroads of Cultures: The Transnational Turn in American Studies--Presidential Address to the American Studies Association, November 12, 2004’, American Quarterly, vol. 57 no. 1, 2005, pp. 17-57. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/aq.2005.0004 – not a conventional research essay, but a call to arms for American Studies to become broader, more inclusive and less insular. Includes discussions of a wide range of topics and approaches, and a really interesting bibliography. For more useful US sources, see here! |
2 |
Making ‘immigrants’: immigration law and national citizenship |
For discussion: what forces were at work in the shaping of national boundaries and identities in 19th century USA? |
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3 |
How and why do nations develop 'myths' about migration and migrants? |
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4 |
Arrival: The Island Immigration Stations Ellis ppt (produced by past students!) |
What do we gain from comparing Ellis and Angel Islands? How has the historiography of US immigration changed in relation to 'arrival' since the 1990s, and why? |
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5 |
How did migrants to the US settle in their new homes? What barriers did they face, and what tools (ideological, cultural, legal and material) did migrants used to cross or challenge such obstacles? |
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6 READING WEEK |
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7 |
From ‘Braceros’ to ‘illegals’: (re) making Mexican ‘migrants’ |
When the border crosses individuals, are they 'immigrants' when they cross back? What if they are invited to cross, as a vital source of labour? |
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PUBLIC HISTORY TRAINING WORKSHOP |
8 |
The Applied Project: How do we make the history of migration public? |
This week we will meet in the Modern Records Centre to develop the skills and techniques required for the Applied Assignment. Please bring your applied assignment topics and your questions or concerns about this assignment! |
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Unit 2 Imperial Migration: Britain and its empire Unit 'provocation' reading: Brook Thomas, 'Civic Multiculturalism and the Myth of Liberal Consent: A Comparative Analysis', CR: The New Cenennial Review, 1:3 (2001)1-35 [Project Muse] Again, this essay offers a challenge to assumptions both in migration studies and in society. You might also try this one, on historiography: Rob Waters, 'Thinking Black: Peter Fryer’s Staying Power and the Politics of Writing Black British History in the 1980s', History Workshop Journal, vol. 82 no. 1, 2016, pp. 104-120. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/638767. For a timeline of UK immigration laws, see here. |
9 |
If the USA was 'a nation of immigrants', was Britain then a 'nation of emmigrants'? |
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10 |
What counts as 'migration' in the Australian context? How did Australian identity become 'White'? |
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Winter Break |
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Term 2 |
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Unit 2 (Continued) Imperial Migration: Britain and its empire |
1 |
British Migrants in the 20thCentury: ‘£10 poms’ and ‘Home Children’ | Did the nature or meaning of British emigration change with the end of empire? |
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2 |
'We are here because you were there': migration and the metropole |
Britain has a long history as a migrant-receiving nation, but how does this history relate to the history of empire -- and why has inward migration from empire been so controversial? |
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3 |
When and why did migration restriction become a key aspect of policy and public debate? Has post-war Britain been an open or a closed nation in relation to migration? |
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4 |
British responses to migration and settlement in the post-war era have often drawn upon medical data, claims and discourses. Why? |
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Unit 3 Global Migration: Africa’s Diaspora |
5 |
How do histories and historiographies of slavery relate to those of migration from Africa? |
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6 |
READING WEEK |
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7 |
Imperial pasts and migrant presence: Africa in the metropole |
How did empire help to shape and define the experiences of African travellers and migrants to Europe? |
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8 |
‘Money has no smell’: travellers, traders and ‘economic migrants’ |
What roles do class and race play in mediating responses to and the experiences of African travellers and migrants? |
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9 |
Homelands and Hostlands: hybrid homes or multiple identities |
How do and how should migrants manage their multiple, intersectional identities? Do plural identities dilute or multiply 'belonging'? All your feedback is welcome, whether positive or negative! I am especially keen to hear your thoughts on the range and depth of the topics covered. Would you have liked to cover fewer topics in more depth, or to have sampled more topics in this expansive field? Do please also share your thoughts on individual weeks and readings, seminar practices, and the media archive. |
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10 |
Long Essay Writing Workshop |
This week, in response to student feedback from last year, we will spend time discussing the final assessment, the long essay. We will work on how to generate a good question, and explore research strategies and essay structures. Please bring your ideas, no matter how nebulous! |
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Term 3 |
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Unit 4 (mis)Representing the Migrant |
1 (Week 2, T3) |
Naming to control: 'Coolies', 'Yids', 'Yanks', and 'Dagos'; 'Wogs', 'Pakis', 'Towelheads', and 'Negros' |
NOTE: this week will specifically address offensive and dangerous historical stereotypes, language and imagery. Please consult me if you have any concerns about or during our discussions of this sensitive material, or if the content of these weeks causes you distress. |
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2 |
Conclusion and Showcase: Ethnicity, exoticism and ‘multiculturalism’ | Looking at our three case studies, how can we understand the continuities/discontinuities in both the experience of migration and in responses to it? |