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From Immigration to Multiculturalism:
Assimilation in the U.S.

(A bevándorlástól a multikulturális társadalomig:
asszimiláció Amerikában)

 

M.A. seminar, 2 hrs/wk, 4 credits
Instructor: Tibor Frank, Ph.D., D.Litt., Professor

The seminar discusses the rise of a multicultural society in the U.S. From a nation of immigrants the United States was increasingly willing and able to embrace a new type of society through appreciating the values and contributions of very different societies. This process took several centuries and a lot of conflict, often resulting in bloodshed. Throughout, the seminar takes a special interest in the relationship of culture and ethnicity.

 

Seminar Topics

• Changing Patterns of U.S. Immigration Policies
• Affirmative Action
• Fighting for Equality: From the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement
• Visa Policies in the 20th Century
• The Quota Laws and their Effect on American Society
• Architects of Multiculturalism
• Hyphenated Americans
• Ethnicity and Culture
• Is there an official language in the U.S.?

 

Recommended Readings

• Archdeacon, Thomas J. Becoming American. An Ethnic History.
  New York: The Free Press, 1983.
• Dinnerstein, Leonard and Reimers, David M. Ethnic Americans. A History of Immigration.
  Third Edition. New York: HarperCollins, 1988.
• Gitlin, Todd. The Twilight of Common Dreams. New York: Metropolitan Books, 1995.
• Glazer, Nathan. We Are All Multiculturalists Now. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.
• Glazer, Nathan and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Beyond the Melting Pot.
  Cambridge Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1963.
• Greer, Colin, ed. Divided Society. The Ethnic Experience in America. New York: Basic Books, 1974.
• Hacker, Andrew. Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal.
  New York: Scribner, 1992.
• Lieberson, Stanley and Mary C. Waters. From Many Strands: Ethnic and Racial Groups in Contemporary America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1988.
• Moynihan, Daniel Patrick. Pandaemonium. Ethnicity in International Politics.
  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
• Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society.
  New York—London: W. W. Norton, 1992.
• Sowell, Thomas. Ethnic America: A History. New York: BasicBooks, 1981.

 

Requirements

Mandatory attendance and active participation, oral presentation, research paper

 

Grading

Attendance and participation 25%, presentation 25%, paper 50%

 

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