This week we will look at some of the myths that both link and constrain national visions of international migrants and potential citizens. Created both in regions and cultures of origin and in those of arrival and settlement, these myths have enduring power to shape national and personal identities.

We have two required readings and one short blog this week. If you run short of time, be sure to read the Spickard first, as it opens up important tools for Unit 1 and the rest of the year, but do try to read the Gualtieri chapter (CHAPTER 1 ONLY) as well: it is super interesting, and takes a very different perspective. The blog will also be a nice prompt for thinking about what this means for us, in this historical moment, with a hot war in Europe. This would also be a great week to look at our Unit One 'provocation' article on the 'transnational turn' in American studies by Shelley Fisher Fishkind, as listed on the seminar guide.

Class Discussion Powerpoint

Required Readings

Paul R. Spickard, 'Chapter 1' in Almost all aliens: immigration, race and colonialism in American history (Routledge, 2007) e-Book)

Sarah Gualtieri, 'Chapter 1' in Between Arab and White: Race and ethnicity in the early Syrian American diaspora (University of California Press, 2009) e-book (and have a look here for a British response to similar visions: Out of the East and into the West )

Becky Taylor, 'Where should we look to find Britain's 'tradition of welcome' of refugees?' Blog for Refugee History, 2017.