Immigrants and Refugees

This interdisciplinary course introduces the field of Asian American Studies and the multiple cultural and historical productions of Asia and America, from art and film to food and lifestyles. Critical analysis of topics such as ethnic/cultural identities, stereotypes, citizenship, media/pop cultures, body images, sexuality, practices of different Asian communities, and various contemporary issues are explored through interactive in-class activities, films, presentations, and more.  As part of the civic engagement component in 2014, students experienced a taste of ethnographic research through several field trips to Asian-American communities in Minnesota.  For their final project, students gave presentations about Asian/Asian American issues to middle and high school students at Arcadia Charter School.  In preparation for these presentations, St. Olaf students interacted with a subset of Arcadia School students to discuss what aspect of the larger theme they were interested in and why in order to engage the students in meaningful conversations and to determine the presentation topics.  The final talks took place in Arcadia School and all students were invited.  The Arcadia students provided their feedback by voting for the “best” presentation overall.

Part of a multi-year project, the civic engagement component of this course built upon past work by St. Olaf students regarding immigration issues.  The Rural Immigration Network project aims to create a useful and well-used online network of national scope, which will share practical information and cultural knowledge.  It seeks to reach rural communities diversifying through immigration across the United States.  Students in this course conducted research to translate social science findings pertinent to community leaders in rural communities into a standardized format suitable for sharing online.  These findings will help to identify innovative, positive responses to immigration in rural communities.  Students also participated in a hands-on workshop with immigration scholars and leaders from around the country to help shape the next steps for this project.

Students will be asked to take part in a number of after school activities at Greenvale Community School with elementary students who are primarily from Spanish-speaking families.

Students explore the processes involved in the acquisition of Spanish as a first and second language and the variation present in the language of both native and non-native speakers of Spanish from Spain, Latin America, and the U.S. Hispanic linguistics are studied with special attention paid to the socio-cultural as well as structural aspects. The course includes the study of at least one substantive literary work. Includes pronunciation lab.

ACE Component: Students will create clubs to facilitate at the Greenvale Park Community School.

When civil war broke out in Somalia in 1991, thousands of refugees fled to camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, and some were eventually resettled in the US and Canada. Many Somali refugees ended up in Minnesota not by choice, but because resettlement agencies in Minnesota worked with the US government to support new arrivals. As extended family members joined their relatives, Somali diasporic culture became an important visible, and audible, part of the cultural landscape of Minnesota. As part of this course, students will go beyond studying Somali history, culture, literature, and performance. As a class, we will pursue a community engaged model of learning, connecting with community partners in order to begin building relationships. Students will reflect on and seek out connections between the skills and interests they bring to the course and the needs and desires of Somali community partners in Minnesota.

ACE Component: Students will work on developing relationships with culture bearers, artists, and musicians from Waano and the Somali community in the Twin Cities and Faribault.

What is the role of language in our society? What is the impact of bilingualism in the U.S.? Students explore such questions from current Spanish socio-linguistics research. Through analysis of data, students examine issues of language contact, variation and change, language and gender, language and power, and/or language planning. May be repeated if topic is different. This course includes the study of at least one substantive literary work.