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Overview

The MacArthur Foundation calls transnational immigration “the defining characteristic of the twenty-first-century.” Worldwide, the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs reports that 280 million people live outside their nations of birth, a number that continues to grow with climate change, an increasingly number of global conflict zones, and advances in transportation and technology. And the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees counts 120 million people as forcibly displaced, the highest number ever recorded.​

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While the institute features examples from the California context, we encourage

Summer Scholars to bring texts (including historical documents, videos, or literature from their home regions of the country for consideration and discussion at the institute.

 

We will also introduce NEH funded Summer Scholars to a number of active, “on your feet” engagement techniques for exploring literary and humanities-related topics in theclassroom.

 

Among the highlights of the institute are discussions with leading scholars and artists in the broad field of immigration studies. Some of these discussions will take the form of workshop colloquia in which faculty will introduce Summer Scholars to the techniques they use in teaching and creating work on the theme of immigration. At the end of the institute, Summer Scholars will have the opportunity to make and present their own historical, literary, or theatrical work on immigration. Summer Scholars will also create a lesson plan that could be used in a classroom setting in the future.

The institute consists of the following activities:

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  • Discussions of historical, literary, and theatrical texts that pertain to the migrant experiences under consideration, which are some of the most historically prominent immigrant communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and SiliconValley (Afghan, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Iranian, Mexican, Vietnamese);

  • Participation in theatre workshops and colloquia intended to deepen our understanding and appreciation of the texts and topics of the institute;

  • The creation of a classroom lesson plan and a literary or historical piece related to the topics of our institute, made in consultation with Institute faculty and uploaded to this website three weeks after the conclusion of the Institute;

  • Field trips around the San Francisco Bay Area: Angel Island, San Juan Bautista, and walking tours of downtown San Francisco and San José. Note: some of these field trips involve some walking, though accommodations can be made for those who desire it.

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By the end of the institute, Summer Scholars will create implementation plans consisting of: (1) a classroom lesson plan on a topic related to immigration, and (2) an historical, literary, or otherwise creative work that could be shared in an educational or professional setting in the future. Scholars will create these implementation plans in consultation with institute faculty and will share them with each other on the last day of the institute. Scholars are asked to post their implementation plans on the institute website three weeks after the close of the institute.

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Primary reading that will be mailed to NEH Summer Scholars at no cost

to themselves:

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  • Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner

  • Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior

  • Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit

  • Andrew Lam’s Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora

  • Francisco Jiménez’s The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child

  • Ping Chong’s Undesirable Elements: Real People, Real Lives, Real Theatre

  • Judy Yung’s Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940

  • Erika Lee’s The Making of Asian America

  • Matthew Spangler’s The Kite Runner (stage play, Bloomsbury/Methuen)

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NEH Summer Scholars are also be provided with the titles for supplementary reading, should they wish to pursue certain topics in more detail on their own. Additional readings, articles, and short stories will be distributed in electronic format.

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UNIVERSITY CREDITS

NEH Summer Scholars may earn up to 7 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from the Open University program offered through San José State University. Participation in this program is voluntary. Scholars could choose to have undergraduate or graduate level credit in Communication Studies. The cost is $90 per unit. Further details about signing up for this program will be available after acceptance into the summer institute. In addition, all NEH Summer Scholars may request a letter from the directors detailing the coursework and hours spent in discussion.

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