This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the layers of the immigrant city, with emphasis on unpacking the structural forces that create and shape human mobility, and how these forces intersect with global urbanism. We will consider how both internal and transnational migration continues to shape cities in and outside the U.S. Among other topics, the works we read analyze the following: urban politics built around immigrant identity, the role of migrants in shaping local economies, the trans-urban and trans-national networks that sustain migrating communities, settler colonization, racism, and xenophobia, the role of diasporas in both place-making and urban social justice, and the relationship between national and local immigration policies. (1-4 credits based on community engagement hours)
Community Engagement/Accompaniment: This class will be partnering with the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (IM4HI) to offer a direct experience accompanying immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area.
People line up to go through security at 630 Sansome St. in San Francisco on Dec. 15, 2021, where the Executive Office for Immigration Review holds hearings for immigrants held in detention.
The site of the Concord Immigration Court is located at 1855 Gateway Boulevard in Concord, California