Office: Holzapfel Hall
Office Hours: By Appointment
Email: mpoinson (at) umd (dot) edu
Telephone: 301-405-3415
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will focus on Caribbean migration, at the same time using the
specific experiences of Haitian immigrants. Womens experiences will be
covered in most detail throughout the course. The issues of
transnationalism identity formation are most pertinent to the experience
of Caribbean peoples. This course seeks to draw on a culturally specific
understanding of the issue of migration. I am conscious about ensuring
that the voices of migrants themselves are placed at the center of our
study. With a grounding in feminist theory, this course will help students
to think critically about womens experiences.
My vision for this seminar is that students would come to understand the implications for migration in the lives of Caribbean women. Migration should be understood in its complexities rather than being limited to geographical movement. The results of these geographical movements are re-negotiations of identity and cultural displacement. Migration can be further complicated if we examine forced migration versus voluntary migration. What are the conditions that cause migration? What are the relationships between the migrants country of origin and the country of settlement? How do these relationships affect migration trends? How do immigrant writers conceptualize migration? What are some of the issues that writers uncover in their work? How do stereotypes affect group representation? Also, important is migrations' affect on identity formation. Carol Boyce Davies supports that The re-negotiating of identities is fundamental to migration as it is fundamental to Black womens writing in cross-cultural contexts. It is the convergence of multiple places and cultures that renegotiates the terms of Black womens experiences that in turn negotiates and renegotiates their identities (Davies, 1994). Identity is thus a changing and contested space. Some issues that are present in our discussion about migration are family and the conceptualization of nation.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Transnationalism is the process by which immigrants forge and sustain multi-strained social relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement. Transmigrants use the term home for their society of origin, even when they have clearly made a home in their country of settlementTransmigrants take actions, make decisions, and develop subjectivities and identities embedded in networks of relationships that connect them simultaneously to two or more nation-states (Basch, Schiller, Blanc, 1994).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The re-negotiating of identities is fundamental to migration as it is fundamental to Black womens writing in cross-cultural contexts. It is the convergence of multiple places and cultures that renegotiates the terms of Black womens experience that in turn negotiates and renegotiates their identities (Davies 1994)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Caribbean identities then are products of numerous processes of migration. As a result, many conclude that the Caribbean is not so much a geographical location but a cultural construction based on a series of mixtures, languages, communities of people (Davies 1994)
REQUIRED TEXTS
* Laguerre, Michel S. Diasporic Citizenship: Haitian
Americans
in Transnational America (St. Martins Press, 1998)
* Glick-Schiller, Nina and G. Fouron. Long-Distance Nationalism & The Search For Home (Duke Un. Press, 2001)
* Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks (Grove Press, 1967)
* Catanese, Anthony V. Haitians: Migration and Diaspora. (Westview Press, 199)
* Dolores Hayden, The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History (MIT Press, 1995)
* Waters, Mary. Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities (Russell Sage, 1999)
* Chancy, Myriam J.A. Framing Silence: Revolutionary Novels by Haitian Women. (Rutgers University Press, 1997)
* Danticat, Edwidge. Breath, Eyes, Memory. (Vintage Books, 1994)
* Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 1994)
* Foster, Charles R. and Albert Valdman. Haiti-Today And Tomorrow. (Univ. of America Press, 1984)
COURSE STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS
Reading and Discussion
Students are expected to come to class having completed the required readings for each class. Students should also allot time to reflect on the readings and their significance to the class. I expect that students will contribute to the class discussions with a variety of questions and comments. It is my hope that class discussions cover the major arguments of the days readings.Framing Discussion
After looking over the syllabus, pick a week that is of particular interest to you and prepare to present what you think were the most important arguments of the readings. Every student will sign up to frame the discussion beginning on the second week of classes. Also, it is expected that students will prepare a handout to be distributed to the class. Summaries of text should be strongly avoided. I am looking for a critical analysis of some aspect of the reading. Discussion framers are not expected to master the readings, so feel free to come in with your questions of clarification of text .Supplimenting the Syllabus
On the first day of classes students will be able to sign up to supplement the syllabus once during the course of the semester. Students should use this assignment as a way to spend time researching an area covered in the class that is of interest. Students should provide three abstracts of additional sources related to the weeks reading. Be prepared to share with the class the applicability of all sources. This assigment should be used to expand on the scope of readings covered in class.Reading Journal
Each student is required to keep a reading journal throughout the course of the semester. There are almost no restrictions on the journals because they are meant to serve the students purposes. Journals should be typed and handed in before class on the assigned due dates. Journals should not be mere streams of consciousness, but rather a clear and coherent document.Seminar Paper
This paper should exploresome aspect of the class by focusing on a particular theme or text used in the class. Students are expected to use this paper to explore migration as it relates to each students research area. It is encouraged that each student meet with the instructor to discuss their paper topic.Grading
Participation 20%Framing Discussion 10%
Reading Journal 30%
Seminar Paper 40%
Honor Pledge
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week One: Introductions
Week Two: Migration and Historical Legacies
Foster, Charles R. and Albert Valdman. Haiti-Today And Tomorrow. (Univ. of America Press, 1984) Part VI: Migration Pages 315-358Glick-Schiller, Nina. The Centrality of Ethnography in the Study of Transnational Migration: Seeing the Wetlands Instead of the Swamp
Pessar, Patricia R. 1999. "Engendering Migration Studies: The Case of New Immigrants In The United States". American Behaviorial Scientist. 42:577-600.
Smith, Jennie M. "Persistent Legacies" in When The Hands Are Many:Community Organization and Social Change in Rural Haiti. (Cornell Univ. Press, 2001.
Week Three: Post-Colonial Studies
Davies, Carole Boyce, "From 'Post-Coloniality' to Uprising Textualities: Black Women Writing the Critique of Empire." Black Women, Writing and Identity (Routledge, 1994) 80-112.Frances R. Aparicio and Susana Chavez-Silverman, "Introduction" Tropicalizations: Transcultural Representations of Latinidad (Unive. Press of New England, 1997)
Gayatri Spivak "Can the Subaltern Speak?" in Nelson and Grossberg, eds., Marxism and teh Interpretation of Culture (Univ. of Illinios Press, 1988)
Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks (Grove Press, 1967)
Kaplan, Amy. "Left Alone With America": The Absense of Empire in the Study of American Culture" in Amy Kaplan and Donald Pease, eds., Cultures of United States Imperialism (Duke, 1993)
Week Four: Transnational Perspectives
Glick-Schiller, Nina and G. Fouron. Long-Distance Nationalism & The Search For Home. Duke University Press: Durham, 2001.Ho, Christine G.T. 1999. "Caribbean Transnationalism As A Gendered Process" Latin American Perspectives. 26:5. pg 34-54
Linda Basch, Nina Glick Schiller, and Cristina Szanton Blanc, Nations Unbound: Transnational Politics, Postcolonial Predicaments, and Deterritorialized Nation-States (New York: Gordon & Breach, 1994), chapters 1-2.
Glick-Schiller, Nina and G. Fouron. 1999. "Terrains of blood and nation: Haitian transnational social fields". Ethnic and Racial Studies: 22, pg 340.
Levitt, Peggy and Rafael de la Dehesa. 2003."Transnational Migration and the Redefinition of the State: Variations and Explanations" Ethnic and Racial Studies:v.26 n.4 pp587-611
Week Five: Borderlands
Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands: La Frontera. (Aunt Lute Books, 1999)Chancy, Myriam. Productive Contradictions: Afro-Caribbean Diasporic Feminism and the Question of Exile Searching for Safe Spaces: Afro-Caribbean Women Writers in Exile. Temple University Press: Philadelphia, 1997.
Ferguson, James. "Migration in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Beyond"
Weel Six: Theories of Racial Formations
JOURNALS DUEGilroy, Paul. Diaspora and the Detours of Identity in Woodward, Kathryn (ed.) (1997) Identity and Difference London: Sage
Hall, Stuart. "Negotiating Caribbean Identities" in Brian Meek's New Caribbean Thought. (Univ of West Indies Press, 2001)
Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 1994)
Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturualism and the Media (Routledge, 1994), Introduction and Chapter 1.
Week Seven: US Stereotypes
Dash, J. Michael. Haiti and the United States: National Stereotypes and the Literary Imagination (St.Martin's Press, 1997)Pickering, Michael. Stereotyping: The Politics of Representation. (Palgrave, 2001)
Dubois L. "A Spoonful of Blood: Haitians, Racism and AIDS". Science as Culture 1996.
Week Eight: Reading Citizenship
Laguerre, Michel S. Diasporic Citizenship: Haitian Americans in Transnational America (St. Martins Press, 1998)Labelle, Michelle and Franklin Midy. 1999 Re-reading Citizenship and the Transnational Practices of Immigrants Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol 25 No2: 213-232
Stepick, Alex and Carol Dutton Stepick. "Becoming American: Immigration, Identity, Intergenerational Relations, and Academic Orientation" in Nancy Foner's American Arrivals(School of American Research, 2003)
Week Nine: Gender and Sexuality in Caribbean Development
Espin, Olivia. Womens Experience of Migration in Women Crossing Boundaries: A Psychology of Immigration and transformations of Sexuality. Routledge: New York, 1999."Forward", "Preface: Beat Back the Darkness", "Introduction: The Women of Millet Mountain"; "Resistane for Political and Economic Change", "Resistance for Gender Justice", Lise-Marie DeJean "Minister of the Status and Rights of Women", and " Olga Benoit's "Assuming the Title "Feminist"" in Bell, Beverly's Walking on Fire: Haitian Women's Stories of Survival and Resistance. (Cornell Univ. Press, 2001.
Bolles, A. Lynn 1988. "Theories of women in development in the Caribbean: the ongoing debate." Gender in Caribbean development: papers presented at the inaugural seminar of the University of the West Indies, Women and Development Studies Project. Edited by Patricia Mohammed and Catherine Shepherd. Mona, Jamaica: Univ. of the West Indies, Women and Development Studies Project, p. 21-34.
Joyce, Joyce Ann. "African-Centered Womanism: Connecting Africa to the Diaspora" in The African Diaspora. (Indiana University, 1999)
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. Cartographies of Struggle: Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism in Mohanty, Feminism without Borders (Duke 2003) 43-84
Mohammed, Patricia. "Rethinking Caribbean Difference" Feminist Review: 59.
Week Ten: The Prison Industry
JOURNALS DUEBates, Eric. "Private Prisons" The Nation (Jan 5, 1998)
Davis, Angela "Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex in Color Lines.
Davis, Angela. "Race and Criminalization: Black Americans and the Punishment Industry". in Wahneema Lubiano's The House That Race Built. (Vintage, 1997)
Marable, Manning. "Beyond Racial Identity Politics: Toward a Liberation Theory for Multicultural Democracy" in Beyond Black and White (Verson, 1995)
Week Eleven: Migration Revisited
Catanese, Anthony V. Haitians: Migration and Diaspora. (Westview Press, 199)Charles, Carole. "Haitian life in New York and the Haitian-American left" in Paul Buhle and Dan Georgakas' The Immigrant Left in the United States (SUNY Albany, 1996) Kaplan, Caren et al. Between Woman and Nation: Nationalisms, Transnational Feminisms and the State. (Duke University, 1999)
Lashley, Myrna. 2001.The Unrecognized Social Stressors of Migration and Reunification in Caribbean Families Transcultural Psychiatry. 37:201-215.
Schiller, Nina Glick and Linda Basch. 1995. "From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration". Anthropological Quaterly. Vol 68.
Week Twelve: Memory, Home and Recollection
Davies, Carol Boyce. "Writing Home: Gender, Heritage and Identity in Afro-Caribbean Women's Writing in the US" in Black Women, Writing and Identity (Routledge, 1994) Foster, Charles R. and Albert Valdman. Haiti-Today And Tomorrow. (Univ. of America Press, 1984)Glick Schiller, Nina and Georges Fouron. 2001. All In The Family: Gender, Transnational Migration, And The Nation-State. Identity. 7: 539-582.
Dolores Hayden, The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History (MIT Press, 1995): Part I, select two chapters from Part II.
Week Thirteen: Migration of the Subject
JOURNALS DUEDavies, Carole Boyce. "Migrations of the Subject" in Davies' Black Women, Writing and Identity (Routledge, 1994)
Malena, Anne. "The Passage of the Caribbean Self in the Diaspora", "Haitian Exile", "Nation to Narration", "The Diasporic Self" in The Negotiated Self:The Dynamics of Identity in Francophone Caribbean Narrative. (Peter Lang, 1999)
Springfield, Consuelo L. "Revisiting Caliban: Implications for Caribbean Feminisms." Daughters of Caliban: Caribbean Women in the Twentieth Century. Indiana University press: Indiana, 1997. pp: xi-xxi
Waters, Mary. Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities (Russell Sage, 1999)
Week Fourteen: Feminist Narratives of Transnational Belonging
Chancy, Myriam J.A. Framing Silence: Revolutionary Novels by Haitian Women. Rutgers University Press: NJ, 1997.Danticat, Edwidge. Breath, Eyes, Memory. (Vintage Books, 1994)
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. Under Western Eyes Revisited in Mohanty, Feminism without Borders (Duke 2003)
Reddock, Rhoda. "Conceptualizing Difference in Caribbean Feminist Theory" Chapter 8 in New Caribbean Thought
Final Week: Conference Simulation Papers
Dash, Julie. "Daughters of the Dust", 1991 (film)RESOURCES:
AMST 603 Main PageUniversity of Maryland Homepage
