Just a quick post to let you know that your Analytical Research Papers are available on turnitin.com. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or want to discuss the paper.
Good luck with finals!!!
Professor Sylvor

“Migrants, Asylum Seekers, Refugees, and Immigrants: What’s the Difference” – This informative post on the website of the International Rescue Committee may clear up any lingering confusion about what all these terms mean. You may also find interesting information about the current conflict at the U.S.’s southern border on the IRC site.

 

As promised, I am posting information about a small extra-credit opportunity.  This Thursday, April 11th, the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences will be sponsoring its annual Art-A-Thon, an all-day program of artistic experiences of all kinds, including creative workshops, performances, and opportunities for instruction.  In order to receive extra-credit, you need to attend one session and share a blog post about your experience.  Your post must be between 350 and 500 words and must include photographic evidence of your attendance at the session.  If you look at the schedule I’ve attached, you will see that there are amazing things happening at the Art-A-Thon. I really hope that you will find time to enjoy the day and can’t wait to hear about your experiences!

As I mentioned on Wednesday, we will be holding Monday’s class in the English Department’s Computer Lab, room 7-205 in the VC. Please remember to bring a hard copy of your Research Proposal with you to class.

See you then!!!
Professor Sylvor

Here is a list that I created of possible broad subjects that are related to displacement and could be a starting point for developing a research paper topic.  This is not an exhaustive list – just some random ideas that I generated quickly.  Hopefully, it will be helpful in stimulating your own ideas!

 

Anything related to immigration:

Trump’s immigration policy

Immigration from a particular place at a particular time

A particular aspect of the immigrant experience – immigration during childhood, for example.

Immigrant labor

Experience of being an illegal immigrant

Immigrant neighborhoods in NYC

Anything related to topic of refugees:

Experience of Jewish refugees in WWII

Life in contemporary refugee camps

America’s role in current refugee crisis

Refugees adjusting to life in Europe

Moral/ethical dilemmas raised by issue

Adoption

Experiences of moving that aren’t related to immigration – what does it mean to start somewhere new?

Migrant workers

Gender and Displacement – Is being transgender a form of displacement?

Language and Displacement – bilingualism, language and education

Nursing Homes (the elderly and displacement)

Amish practice of Rumschpringen

Space exploration

Experience of field anthropologists

School integration

Eviction

Convents, Monasteries, and other forms of escaping the secular world

Siblings and psychological displacement

Adjustment to the armed forces

Homelessness

Gentrification

Today in class, we watched two short clips from Superman  and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  Both clips followed roughly the same basic structure.  In each, the son is sent away from home by his parents and finds himself in a new and unfamiliar place.  In both narratives, the protagonist has to figure out how to manage in a place where he does not fit in.  Your homework for Monday is to find a piece of popular culture that follows this basic “fish out of water” structure.  It could be a tv show, movie, song, video, cartoon, etc….   All that the designation “popular culture” means is that is it designed for a mass audience.  Once you’ve chosen your “text,” post a short, representative clip from it or a link to it here on the blog, together with a description of the text and an explanation of how you see it conforming to the model we saw in Superman and The Fresh Prince.  To receive credit, your assignment must be posted to our blog by 9:30 am on Monday morning.  If you have any questions about this assignment, please contact me.

As we get ready to begin our research projects this semester, it’s time to turn our attention to real-world examples of displacement.  In order to begin to develop a sense of some of the possible subjects that might fall under our broad category of “DISPLACEMENT,”  please come to class on Monday with a news article, editorial, magazine story, or some other document that relates to the subject of displacement.  It can be something very contemporary, or it can be something that happened in the past.  This is not a commitment to a research topic; this is just an opportunity to start looking around for possibilities and to share our ideas.

Make sure you have a hard copy of your text with you in class!

Read Jhumpa Lahiri, “Interpreter of Maladies.” Post a short (200-250 word) response to the story on the blog no later than midnight on Sunday night.

Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder that beginning on Monday, February 4th, we will be meeting in 17 Lex, Room 709.  I know that many of you are sad to be leaving behind the convenience of the VC, but I think we will be glad to have the flexibility to move around in our new space.

See you there!

Professor Sylvor

Hi Guys,

I am having a lot of technical difficulties today!  When you click on the link to access “Shadow Cities,”  you will need to click again where it says “Doc 1660.”  That should take you to the text. “Shadow Cities” is one chapter of a book called Letters of Transit.

See you on Monday!

Professor Sylvor