Political Research Seminar (395-0-20)

Topic

The American Border

Instructors

Elizabeth S Hurd
Scott, #209

Meeting Info

Scott Hall 107 Burdick Room: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

This research seminar is for advanced undergraduates interested in studying U.S. American borders. We read widely in politics, history, religious studies, anthropology, and border studies, paying close attention to the history of U.S. borders, dissent on and around these borders, indigenous communities and borders, legal aspects of border sovereignty and exceptionalism, the history of the passport, and the environmental politics of the borderlands. We evaluate border issues from multiple perspectives, including but also going well beyond questions of surveillance and enforcement. Students will each complete a research paper on a topic of their choice involving border studies.

Registration Requirements

Juniors/seniors only

Learning Objectives

Summarize and critically evaluate arguments;

Formulate persuasive arguments, orally and in writing, based on careful analysis of evidence;

Cite sources appropriately and write competently and clearly.

Teaching Method

Seminar

Evaluation Method

There will be 4 written assignments: two 2-page reader's response pieces, one final paper outline, and one 8-10 page final research paper. Students are expected to actively participate in seminar discussions.

Class Materials (Required)

Valeria Luiselli, Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions (Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 2017).

Todd Miller, Empire of Borders: The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World (New York: Verso, 2019).

Rachel St. John, Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2012).

Greg Grandin, The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2019).

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Political Science students who are Juniors or Seniors