City College of Newyorkjennifer C. Lutton,Instructor Macaulay Honorscollege Office: NAC4/150

City College of NewYorkJennifer C. Lutton,Instructor Macaulay HonorsCollege Office: NAC4/150

Spring 2015(212) 650-6917

Chris Brandon, Instructional TechnologyFellow

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 10am-3pm, NAC 4/150

CHC 10201

Seminar2: The Peopling of New York City

Overview: This course examines the role of immigration in the historical, cultural, political, and economic development of New York City. We will focus on the experiences and contributions of Caribbean migrants, with particular emphasis on those from the Anglophone Caribbean and Haiti. The Caribbean has been marked by centuries of regional and global migration, which has had lasting and complex effects on the region and its people. Caribbean migrants create and sustain transnational networks and identities, which have cultural, political and economic implications in the Caribbean and New York City. We will also be concerned with how issues of race, ethnicity, gender and class inform everyday experiences of Caribbean people in New York. Course readings give students a multidisciplinary perspective on Caribbean migration experiences, drawing from research and writing in history, anthropology, sociology, geography and literature.

Objectives: “The Peopling of New York City” is the second of four seminars on New York City required by the Macaulay Honors College. In this seminar, students investigate the role of immigration and migration in shaping New York City's identity—past, present, and future.

Students will learn theoretical perspectives of migration through a multidisciplinary lens in order to carry out research on topics of relevance and interest. The culminating project of this seminar is a multimedia project where students synthesize and present research. This provides an opportunity for students to present their research findings in ways that other students and faculty can learn from.

Requirements and Expectations: This is a reading and writing intensive course with an instructional technology component in which students create a multimedia project for the purposes of learning and presenting their research. Students are expected to keep up with reading and writing assignments, to adhere to deadlines, and to contribute class discussions.

No more than three absences are allowed.

Academic Integrity: Students should be knowledgeable about City College’s policies on academic integrity. Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated. If you have any questions about when and how to cite sources, consult me or visit the Writing Center.

The CCNY Academic Integrity Policy can be accessed here:

In addition, students are expected to conduct themselves in and out of class according to the standards outlined in the Macaulay Honors College Integrity Pledge. Details can be reviewed here:

Required Texts:

Danticat, Edwidge. 2004. Dew Breaker. Vintage Books: New York.

Marshall, Paule. 1981 (1959).Brown Girl, Brownstones. New York: Feminist Press.

Watkins-Owens, Irma. 1996. Blood Relations: Caribbean Immigrants and the Harlem Community, 1900-1930. University of Indiana Press: Bloomington.

Additional readings are available through CUNY library databases or as PDFs on the class website. Substitutions may be made to the reading list during the course of the semester as the need/interest arises.

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Reading and Class schedule

Week 1

Jan. 29

Introduction to course

Week 2

Feb. 3

Vecoli, Rudolph. 1996. “The Significance of Immigration in the Formation of an American Identity”.The History Teacher.Vol. 30, no. 1: 9-27.

Stable URL:

Feb. 5

Readings :Kasinitz, Philip, et. al. 2013.“The Next Generation Emerges” in Foner, N. ed., One of Three Immigrant New York in the 21st Century. (PDF on course blog)

Readings: Foner, Nancy. 2013. “One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the 21st Century”. New Haven: Yale University Press. (Introduction). (PDF on course blog).

Week 3

Feb. 10

Readings: Watkins-Owens, Irma. 1996. Blood Relations: Caribbean Immigrants and the Harlem Community, 1900-1930

Feb. 12—No Class

Week 4

Feb. 17 and 19

Readings: Blood Relations

Foner, Nancy, ed. 2001.Islands in the City: West Indian Migration to New York. New York: Columbia University Press (Introduction. PDF on course blog).

****Saturday, Feb. 21 Walking tour, Flatbush Brooklyn (tentative)

Week 5

Feb. 19

Readings: Parker, J. (2004). "Capital Of The Caribbean": The African American-West Indian "Harlem Nexus" And The Transitional Drive For Black Freedom, 1940-1948. Journal Of African American History, 89(2), 98-117.

Feb. 24& Feb. 26

Marshall, Paule. Brown Girl, Brownstones.

Week 5

Feb. 24

Feb. Feb. 26

Marshall, Paule. Brown Girl, Brownstones.

Week 6

March 4

Marshall, Paule. Brown Girl, Brownstones

March 6

Readings: Glick Schiller, Nina; Linda Basch; Cristina Szanton Blanc. 1995. “From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration”. Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 68, No. 1: 48-63. (PDF

Readings on diaspora (TBD)

Week 7

March 10&12

Readings: Foner, Nancy, ed. 2001. Islands in the City: West Indian Migration to New York. New York: Columbia University Press (Introduction)

Fog Olwig, Karen.“New York as a Locality in a Global Family Network”.(Ch.5 in Islands in the City).

Tilly, Charles. 2007. “Trust Networks in Transnational Migration” Sociological Forum. Vol. 22, No. 1: pp. 3-24. Stable URL:

Olwig, Karen Fog. 2012. “The Care Chain, Children’s Mobility and the Caribbean Migration Tradition”.Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.Vo. 38, No. 6: 933-952

In class exercise: Caribbean diasporic news media

****Saturday, March 14 Walking tour, Flatbush Brooklyn

Week 8

March 17&19

Readings: Rogers, Ruel. “‘Black Like Who?’ Afro Caribbean Immigrants, African Americans and the Politics of Group Identity. (Ch. 6 in Islands in the City)

Waters, Mary. “Growing Up West Indian and African American”. (Ch. 7 in Islands in the City).

Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn. 2011. “Migration and Trans-Racial/National Identity Re-Formation: Becoming African Diaspora Women”. Black Women, Gender, &Families.Vol. 5, No. 2: pp. 4-24

***Research proposals due

Week 9

March 24&26

Mandle, Jay. 2011. “The Role of Migration in Caribbean Integration and Development”.Social and Economic Studies.Vol. 60, No.: pp. 3-19.

Pellerin, Helene and Mullings, Beverley. 2013. “The ‘Diaspora Option’, Migration, and the Changing Political Economy of Development”.Review of Internaional Political Economy.Vol. 20, No. 1: pp 89-120.

***Media assignment due

Week 10

March 31& April 2

Readings: Danticat, Edwidge. 2010. Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work. (Ch. 1).

The Dew Breaker. Vintage Books: New York.

Week 11—April 3-12 Spring Break

Week 12

April 14&16

Readings: Dew Breaker

Lundy, Garvey. 2011. “Transnationalism in the Aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake: Reinforcing Ties and Second-Generation Identity”. Journal of Black Studies. Vol. 42, No. 2: p. 203-224.

******Draft of research paper due April 14

Week 13

April 21& 23

Readings:

Marshall, Wayne. 2006. “Bling-Bling for Rastafari: How Jamaicans Deal with Hip-Hop”. Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 55, No. 1&2: 49-74.

Allen, Ray. 1999. “J'ouvert in Brooklyn Carnival: Revitalizing Steel Pan and Ole Mas Traditions”. Western Folklore, Vol. 58, No. 3/4:. 255-277.

***Peer review due April 21

Week 14

April 28&30

Film: The Other Side of the Water

Wilcken, Lois. 2005. “The Sacred Music and Dance of Haitian Vodou from Temple to Stage and the Ethics of Representation”.Latin American Perspectives. Issue 40, Vol. 32, #1.

***Drafts of group projects due

Week 14

May 5&7

Johnson, Paul Christopher. 2007. “On Leaving and Joining Africaness Through Religion: The ‘Black Caribs’ Across Multiple Diasporic Horizons”. Journal of Religion in Africa.

Vol. 37, Issue 2: pp. 174-211.

proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url= &AN=25425644&site=ehost-live

Sutton, Constance R. “Celebrating Ourselves: The Family Reunion Rituals of African-Caribbean Transnational Families”. Global Networks; Jul2004, Vol. 4 Issue 3: 243-257.

h&AN=13506448&site=ehost-live

***Research papers due

Week 15

May 12&14 Last class

Miller, O. Alexander. 2008. “Colonial Capital: Advances in Understanding Caribbean Migration Experiences”. Social and Economic Studies.Vol. 57, #3&4: 157-180.

***Group projects due

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Assignments

Grading

Reading journal: 20% Media research project: 20%

Peer review research paper drafts: 15%

Final Project—Research paper and group multimedia project: 30% Class discussion group: 15%

All assignment details and guidelines will be posted on the course blog.

Reading Journal (10 total)

After the first week, you will submit a weekly reading journal to the course blog. This will help you not only to stay on track with readings, but to understand and to engage with them more fully. These will be due Thursdays by class time.

Class Discussion Groups

After the second week, small student groups will be responsible for leading class discussions once a week. The purpose of student-led discussions is to help you become better readers and become more skilled at presenting and discussion in class, but also to allow students to shape the direction and flow of ideas.

Media and the diaspora

Due date: March 26

Using online and/or radio sources, discuss an issue of importance to the Caribbean diaspora. You might follow an issue affecting a particular Caribbean nation or you might explore an issue or debate involving the broader diaspora. Consider whether these issues affect other migrant populations in the U.S. and elsewhere.

This assignment is an opportunity to learn about the role media plays in shaping Caribbean migrants’ relationships—political, economic, social, cultural, etc.—to and in New York City, the

U.S. and their countries of origin. You can consider news articles, opinions, comment boards, call-in radio shows, music broadcasts, and/or advertising. Begin researching early in the semester, to develop greater understanding of the issues and to be able to examine them as they play out over a period of time.

Sources for this assignment will be listed on the blog. If you are interested in examining online media from specific countries, I can provide sources. We will spend part of one class session exploring some sites together.

Research Projects and Class Multimedia Project

Students will explore major themes and concepts in group research projects centered on West Indian migrants in New York. These projects will result in individual research papers, as well as a class multimedia project—e.g., blog, video, timeline, website—that will be available on the Macaulay Honors College website.

Chris Brandon, Instructional Technology Fellow, will work with us to plan and create the project, and will be available throughout the semester to help with learning and using technology in the course.

Chrisis a PhD candidate in French literature at the CUNY Graduate Center and holds degrees from Tulane University (MA) and Illinois State University (BA). His research focuses upon links between experimental poetry from 19th century and contemporary new media poetry. He previously worked with Writing Across the Curriculum and has taught French language and literature at multiple schools.

--Research Proposal, Due March 19

After the neighborhood walking tour, students will form project groups based on shared research interests. These can come from a list provided by me or can be generated by the groups themselves. Groups will submit a research proposal that identifies the issues they intend to focus on and the sources they plan to consult. Individual research papers (8-10 pages) will generate from these group projects. We will discuss the details of this in depth.

--Individual Research Paper (1st draft), due April 14; Peer review due: April 21

A first draft is required. Drafts do not need to be completed papers, but should be well developed and should include a bibliography. Students will exchange drafts and review each other’s writing, providing constructive feedback and sharing relevant sources.

Group Research Project (draft), due April 23

Each group’s contribution to the class project to be submitted by this date in order to assess what content needs further development and technology issues need attention.

Research Paper Due Date: May 5

Final versions of individual research papers are due, but may be submitted earlier.

Class Project

Due Date: May 14

The final project should be ready by the last class in order for us to address any minor technology issues before it is made available on the Macaulay website.