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Launching New Courses on the Mexico-U.S. Connection
JAIME R. AGUILA
THE OPPORTUNITY TO contribute to the Forum titled "Teaching Immigration and Ethnic History" for the Journal of American Ethnic History could not have availed itself at a more opportune moment. The curriculum committee at Arizona State University (ASU) has just approved the courses "Mexican Immigration to the United States" and the "Mexican/U.S. Border." Following is the course description for my "Mexican Immigration" course:
Mexican immigration to the United States is one of the most controversial political issues facing contemporary U.S. and Mexican society. Yet it is also constantly misunderstood and misrepresented by politicians and nativist movements. The modern Mexican immigration stream has its roots in the late nineteenth century development of the Mexican-U.S. border. Since then immigrants have found themselves caught between the demands of a labor-dependent U.S. economy and a frail Mexican economy. The course will assess the evolution of immigration and emigration public policy for both the United States and Mexico and seek to contextualize the relationship between immigration and other elemental issues such as the economy, education, identity, and civil rights.
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Course Objectives and Learning Goals | |
The course has specific objectives and learning goals. There are four objectives:
- Understand the role of immigration within the global community.
- Understand the place of immigration within the evolution of the United States and Mexico.
- Understand the complex nature of immigration.
- Understand the relationship between migration and the economy as essential symbiotic components that influence the health of North America.
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There are also four learning goals:
- Continue developing critical thinking skills.
- Communicate effectively.
- Access historical information and process it efficiently.
- Comprehend the influences, legacies, and multicultural nature of borderland societies.
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Each course still requires a General Studies designation from the university's General Studies Council. I have to merge my pedagogical and historical objectives with the university's standards to ensure the necessary enrollment for the courses to "make." Certain designations are easy, such as Literacy and Critical Inquiry. ASU defines literacy as the development of communicative competence in written and oral discourse. Critical inquiry encompasses the gathering, interpretation, and evaluation of evidence and arguments.1 I also want my students to communicate effectively and think for themselves as stated in my course learning goals. Course objectives are different because they are content-specific rather than pedagogical. Both courses fulfill the requirements for global awareness because they are in-depth area studies that examine culture-specific elements of the world, country, or culture group. Furthermore, I compare the Mexican immigration process and Mexican-U.S. borderlands with other peoples and regions. Without the General Studies designation, students who are nonhistory majors would receive only elective credit for my courses and history majors would also be less likely to enroll in them because the courses would not be assigned to one or more of the history major tracks. |
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