HST 126 - Coming to America

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement HU.
It is a cliché, but also true, that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants. In this course, we will use the words of immigrants themselves, alongside the voices of scholars, to consider the ways that immigrants’ choices and experiences were shaped by, and in turn shaped, the social, cultural, political, and legal climate of American life from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Central questions for the semester will include: what drew immigrants to America? How did their ideas of the U.S. measure up against the reality of their experiences? How have immigrants been received in American life? What has motivated the major political and legal debates about immigration, and how have those debates changed (or not) over time?