HIST 6851 - Refugees

(crosslisted) LSP 6851

Fall. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Co-meets with AMST 4851/HIST 4851/LSP 4851.

M.C. Garcia.

Since World War II, over 4 million people have migrated to the United States as refugees. In this seminar we will examine some of these refugee migrations and the ways these migrations challenged our understanding of the United States as a “haven for the oppressed.” We will examine the crafting of refugee/asylum policy, the role of nongovernmental actors in influencing policy, and the ways policy reflected foreign-policy interests and security concerns. The last weeks of the course will pay particular attention to climate refugees and asylum-seekers, and our changing definitions of who ‘merits’ protection in the United States.