We often hear that America is a “nation of immigrants.” What does this mean, and how did the tradition start? This course will start by introducing the idea of immigration and citizenship, the origin of U.S. Federal Immigration law, and important concepts and terms within the field.

Then we will shift our focus to race, specifically Asian Americans. We introduce the definition of race and ethnic studies, discuss important race theories, and ask ourselves the following questions: Why did Asian Americans become the first exclusion target of immigration law? How were they treated in the early years? What were their resistance efforts?