Seeking a recent PhD or ABD to teach an interdisciplinary course to freshmen on immigration to (and migration within) NYC.  “The People of NYC” is the second seminar for students in the Macaulay Honors College (MHC).

Below is the course description and objectives.  An instructor with an Humanities &Art American Studies approach would be ideal.  The course meets MW 2:00-3:15PM; the days/times can’t be changed.  The course limit is 20 students.

Seminar 2 Description and Objectives

Course Description
In this seminar, students investigate the role of immigration and migration in shaping the New York City’s identity, past, present, and future. Seminar topics include: the factors that have driven and drawn people to New York since the seventeenth century; the different ways that religion, race, gender, and ethnicity have shaped immigrant encounters with and within the city; the formation and social organization of immigrant communities in such neighborhoods as the Lower East Side, Harlem, Little Italy, Chinatown, Astoria, Flushing, and Stapleton; the impact of successive waves of newcomers on urban culture and politics; and the continuing debates over assimilation and Americanization. Extensive reading and writing assignments are enriched by visits to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Ellis Island, and other important sites. The culminating project of this seminar is the collaborative construction of neighborhood websites, which are then displayed on theMacaulay Encyclopedia site.

Students will:

• Demonstrate a comparative understanding of different populations through research and writing about one or more immigrant groups or about an area of the city and its shifting population across time.
• Use qualitative, quantitative, and experiential approaches to studying people in order to come to an understanding of the diversity of people’s experience in and of the city.
• Increase their understanding of past and present issues of migration, immigration, race, and ethnicity by analyzing current and historical primary and secondary sources and by engaging in debates about those issues.

If interested, please contact:

Geraldine Murphy
Professor of English,
Director of the Honors Center
NAC 4/150
City College, CUNY
New York, NY 10031
212-650-5109
gmurphy@ccny.cuny.edu