Selected UW Seattle Courses on Immigration
and Immigration Policy
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ANTH 416 Comparative Social Movements: Mexico and the United States (5)
I&S
Historical, ethnographic, and theoretical perspectives in the study of Mexican-origin
communities in social movements in Mexico and the United States with a focus on workers,
immigrants, peasants, women, indigenous peoples, and students as forces of collective
mobilization and social, cultural, and political change. Offered: jointly with CHSTU 416.
Instructor: Devon Peña
AAS 385 Asian Americans: The Law and Immigration (5) I&S
Traces the evolution of United States immigration law and policy from the nineteenth
century to modern day, from free immigration to immigration restriction, through the
elimination of race as a criterion, and culmination in the passage of the Simpson-Mezzoli
bill. Instructors: Gail M. Nomura, Enrique C. Bonus
C LIT 240 Writing in Comparative Literature
This is an introductory writing course that will teach you strategies for doing close readings of literary texts and for writing about them. Our readings will focus on the concept of the frontier or border, and specifically of the U.S.-Mexican border, as a determining factor in American culture, through a close reading and written analysis of short stories, novels, poetry, performance pieces, film and political comics about cross-cultural encounters. Authors to be read will include Gloria Anzaldúa, Sandra Cisneros, Américo Paredes, Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Lalo Alcaraz. Instructor: Cuauhtemoc T. Mexica
CHSTU 352 Mexican Immigration: A Comparative Analysis (5)
I&S
Examines and compares constant Mexican immigration with that of other immigrants to the
United States as one of the most important issues confronting Chicanos and other
Americans in the United States. Intructors: Erasmo Gamboa, Elizabeth Salas, Gabriel
Gallardo
Course Bibliography (Gallardo)
GEOG 123 Introduction to Globalization (5) I&S
Provides an introduction to the debates over globalization. Focuses on the growth and intensification of global ties. Addresses the resulting inequalities and tensions, as well as the new opportunities for cultural and political exchange. Topics include the impacts on government, finance, labor, culture, the environment, health, and activism. Special freshmen sections include study of The Devil’s Highway. Instructor: Matthew Sparke
CHSTU 352 Mexican Immigration: A Comparative Analysis (5)
I&S
Examines and compares constant Mexican immigration with that of other immigrants to the
United States as one of the most important issues confronting Chicanos and other
Americans in the United States. Intructors: Erasmo Gamboa, Elizabeth Salas, Gabriel
Gallardo
Examines U.S. immigration trends and policies from a geographic perspective. Topics include where immigrants come from, where they settle in the United States , immigrant employment enclaves, the effects of U.S. immigration policy on immigrant settlement and employment patterns, illegal immigration, citizenship, and barriers to immigrant success in the United States . Instructor: Mark Ellis
GEOG 344 Migration in the Global Economy (5) I&S
Analyzes the relationship between human mobility in the late 20th century and changes in
the global economy. Allows the students to gain familiarity with scholarly research on
international migration from a diversity of approaches and methods. Offered: jointly with
SIS 344; W. Instructor: Katharyne Mitchell
GEOG 474 Geography and the Law (5) I&S
Examines the relationship between geography, law, and socio-legal analysis; reviews
significant instances where law and geography intersect, such as the regulation of public
space, the regulation of borders and mobility, and disputes over property and land use.
Offered: jointly with LSJ 474. Instructor: Steven Herbert
GEOG 543 Research Seminar: Topics in Immigration,
Ethnicity, and Race (5)
Employment patterns and outcomes for immigrants and ethnic minorities. Emphasis is on the
U.S. experience and topics covered include labor market segmentation, theories of
discrimination, job/labor queues, networks, ethnic niches and enclaves, skills and
spatial mismatches. Specific focus changes annually. Instructor: Mark Ellis
SIS 325 Immigration (5) I&S
Introduces key theoretical debates in international migration. Examines immigrants'
political, economic, religious, and social integration into host societies, and continued
ties to homelands. Experiences of voluntary and involuntary immigrants, of the second
generation, and of incorporation into America and Europe. Designed around
interdisciplinary texts and fieldwork in Seattle. Instructor: Kathie Friedman
SIS 438 Forced Migrations (5) I&S
Provides an interdisciplinary understanding of the causes, characteristics, and
consequences of forced migration experiences across the global system. Explores how
international policy makers, humanitarian workers, and scholars have constructed forced
migration as a problem for analysis and action, including some of the ethical dilemmas
involved. Instructor: Kathie Friedman
LSJ 425 Domesticating International Human Rights:
Perspectives on U.S. Asylum and Refugee Law (5)
I&S
Examines the creation, production, and proliferation of law and legal categories relating
to the status of refugees and asylum-seekers in the United States . Integrates
anthropological perspectives of law's ability to create meaning in the examination of
deeper implications of asylum and refugee law in American society. Offered: jointly with
ANTH 497. Instructor: Arzoo Osanloo
SISLA 489 The Mexico-U.S. Border in Literature and Film (5)
I&S/VLPA
Analysis of the Mexico-U.S. Border region in literature and film of the 1990s and early
2000s. Includes migration, tourism, NGOs, globalization, transnational commerce,
multiculturalism, and politics of gender, sexuality and race. Prerequisite: either SPAN
303 or SPAN 316; either SPAN 321 or SPAN 322; one additional 300-level course above SPAN
303. Offered: jointly with SPAN 489. Instructor: Cynthia Steele