CoursesA Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered (NEW)
HIST 1166/ASAM 1166/LALS 1166, AFRC1166, section 401

A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered (NEW)

Many Americans widely accept the notion that the United States is a nation of immigrants despite the fact that immigration and border control has been a central feature of this nation’s past. This course explores the United States’ development of immigration and border enforcement during the twentieth century through an intersectional lens. It roots the structures of modern immigration and border enforcement in Native dispossession and histories of slavery, and interrogates how Asian, Black, and Latinx immigration has shaped and expanded immigration controls on, within, and beyond US territorial borders. In addition to historicizing the rise and expansion of major institutions of immigration control such as the US Border Patrol and Bureau of Naturalization, we explore how immigration controls were enforced on the ground and impacted the lives of everyday people.

Instructor(s)
  • Hardeep Dhillon
Semester

Spring 2026

Register
MW 10:15am-11:44am

This course examines the historical foundations of immigration and border control to illuminate the policies, debates, and practices that shape the contemporary United States. Through a “history of the present” approach, we analyze how past systems of governance and politics continue to influence modern immigration policies and societal challenges. From the creation of the U.S. Border Patrol to the introduction of immigration quotas, we trace the historical origins of today’s enforcement apparatus and connect them to pressing issues in the present. Along the way, we explore how historical narratives have been deployed to justify current policies and examine their enduring impacts on individuals, communities, and the nation in the 21st century. Students from all areas and disciplines are welcome and encouraged to enroll. No prior knowledge of course content is required.

Related Content

Other Courses of Interest

COML 0523.301

Life Writing as Dialogue: Autobiography, Memoir, Auto Fiction and the Diary (NEW)

Instructor(s)

  • Batsheva Ben-Amos

Semester

Spring 2027

When we read autobiographies, diaries or memoirs we expect the writing to be all about the individual writer. This Life Writing as a Dialogue course will use several autobiographical genres (autobiography, memoir, diary and auto fiction), to support students’ understanding of how relational dialogic processes are used in such genres to construct self and group identity.

Learn More
LAWM 538

Engineering Law and the State (New)

Instructor(s)

  • Justin (Gus) Hurwitz

Semester

Spring 2026

This course explores the relationship between engineering, law, and the state to develop an understanding, on the one hand, of the mechanisms by which technology affects political processes and, on the other hand, how political processes regulate technological designs. It does so by using engineering principles as a lens to introduce and discuss foundational concepts from political philosophy, jurisprudence (legal theory), positive political theory, and economics. The course has the express goal of bringing engineering fields into dialogue with the humanities and social sciences and facilitating dialogue between those disciplines.

 

Learn More