Program in Migration Studies (Minor)
Faculty:
Frances Sullivan, Program Director, Assistant Professor of History
Jyoti Puri, Professor of Sociology; Hazel Dick Leonard Chair
Abel Amado, Assistant Professor of Political Science & International Relations
Audrey Golden, Assistant Professor of English
Marda Messay, Assistant Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures
Overview:
The Colleges of the Fenway Shared Minor in Migration Studies is offered through Simmons University and Emmanuel College. Students across the COF may participate in the minor through cross-registration. The minor prepares undergraduate students for professional and civic lives in a world increasingly marked by diversity. The program enhances student understandings of migration, emigration, and immigration through strong scholarly foundations, interdisciplinary case studies, and engagement with the Boston community. By adding interdisciplinary courses specifically addressing immigration, students will be well positioned to bring a comprehensive understanding of migration and immigration to their professional and civic lives.
Learning Outcomes:
The Minor in Migration Studies has three main learning and professional outcomes:
- Thanks to the required “Introduction to Migration Studies” course and to the range of electives, we expect all students to walk away from the Minor with a solid foundation in the growing interdisciplinary field of migration studies. In addition to enhancing their global awareness, this program will cover key disciplinary and methodological approaches to migration and immigration.
- Because students will largely craft their own program of study, drawing from a rich and interdisciplinary array of courses, students will develop deep content knowledge in areas of interest to them. While one student may concentrate heavily on questions related to law, policy, and international relations, another student may graduate with insights about representations of the migratory experience in art and literature, as well as the ways local groups use the arts to elaborate upon their identities and strengthen communities.
- Finally, by formalizing experiential learning in partnership with our local communities, the Migration Minor will help prepare students for a variety of professions. Students will gain essential hands-on experience for future careers in nongovernmental organizations, legal services, ESL programs, healthcare service, cultural centers, community organizations, workers collectives, and more.
Program Requirements
Migration Studies minors will be required to take:
One Required Course:
COF Introduction to Migration Studies: [Offered annually in Spring,
rotating instructors, rotating campuses] All students must take “Introduction to Migration Studies,” an introductory-level course (1000-level at Emmanuel, 100-level at Simmons, etc.) familiarizing students with the major issues, methods, and frameworks of migration and immigration studies.
One Required Experiential Learning Component:
We are very much interested in connecting students to the wider Boston community, and all students are required to engage in experiential learning. This could take the shape of a service-learning class (eg; SOC101) or a supervised internship (eg; HU370), and will be worked out in consultation with the student’s Migration Studies home-campus advisor according to guidelines developed by the Migration Studies faculty. Students may “double dip” experiential learning courses taken towards their majors if the service/internship entails significant work with an immigrant community or with an organization primarily focused on issues related to migration, immigration, or immigrant communities.
Three electives from the list of approved classes:
Electives are subject to the following requirements:
- At least one course must be taken away from the student’s home institution within the COF.
- Students must take at least one advanced seminar (3000-level at Emmanuel, 300-level at Simmons, etc.), selected from the list of approved courses.
- Students must take one elective not in her/their declared major’s discipline.
| LTWR 161 | The Making of America: Literature to 1865 | 4 |
| LTWR 179 | Human Rights and Global Literature | 4 |
| HIST 213 | Race and Ethnicity in U.S. History | 4 |
| HIST 214 | African Diaspora | 4 |
| HIST 217 | Caribbean History | 4 |
| HIST 240 | The Atlantic World 1500-1800 | 4 |
| FREN 265 | Francophone Short Stories | 4 |
| FREN 316 | Outside France: Perspectives from the French Speaking World | 4 |
| POLS 215 | The Politics of Exclusion | 4 |
| SOCI 330 | Transnational Studies | 4 |
| WGST 210 | Black Women, Gender, and Feminism(s) | 4 |