American Literature: Stories of Immigration

Explore this Unique Take on Immigration Stories

Immigration has once again taken center stage in the national spotlight, giving artists, writers and thinkers another opportunity to consider and help reimagine the complex possibilities and outcomes of intermingling human perspectives from a creative standpoint. It is often said that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, whose various cultural backgrounds have helped shape what America is.

This course centers thematically around the immigration stations of Ellis Island on the East Coast and Angel Island on the West Coast. We will explore the ways that acclaimed authors, including Maxine Hong Kingston and Piri Thomas, have used literature to express what it means to be an immigrant, or a child of immigrants, in America. We will read narratives now considered classics in the literature of immigration, as well as contemporary pieces, portraying immigrant experiences from China, Japan, Russian Poland, Africa and Latin America. Through these texts we will investigate the ways that immigrant identity influences both the lives of those who made the journey and the lives of their descendants.

Topics Covered:

• Diaspora
• The "Other"
• Assimilation
• Compliance and resistance to institutions
• Love
• Family
• The American Dream

Course Number: LIT-40022
Credit: 2.00 unit(s)
Related Certificate Programs: Creative Writing

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10/14/2024 - 11/24/2024

$315

Online

Add To Cart

• SECTION ID:

  184836

• CLASS TYPE:

  Online Asynchronous.
  
  This course is entirely web-based and to be completed asynchronously between the published course start and end dates. Synchronous attendance is NOT required.
  You will have access to your online course on the published start date OR 1 business day after your enrollment is confirmed if you enroll on or after the published start date.

• INSTRUCTOR:
  

  burress, christina, A poet and teacher whose work has appeared in publications such as San Diego Poetry Annual, Bombay Gin, Not Enough Night, The Alembic and Admit Two.

  Christina Burress is a poet and teacher. She teaches Forms of Poetry  for UC San Diego Extended Studies' Creative Writing Certificate Program  and  American Literature: Stories of Immigration . Her work has appeared in publications such as San Diego Poetry Annual, Bombay Gin, Not Enough Night, The Alembic, Admit Two and the Coe Review. She has taught a variety of poetry classes at UC San Diego Extension since 2010. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Naropa university and a bachelor's degree in rhetoric from UC Berkeley.

• TEXTBOOKS:

  No textbook required.

• POLICIES:

  No refunds after: 10/18/2024.
  1st no meeting date: 11/11/2024.
  Early Enrollment Discount: $290 ($315 if enrolled after 8/26/2024).
  

• NOTE:

  This is an online course; all class sessions are taught online. There are no face-to-face class sessions. You will have access to your online course on the published start date OR 1 business day after your enrollment is confirmed if you enroll on or after the published start date. To login to your course, go to your MyExtension account, select My Courses, select this course and then click the link that appears in the LOCATION section.

• DATE & LOCATION:

  10/14/2024 - 11/24/2024
  extensioncanvas.ucsd.edu
  You will have access to your course materials on the published start date OR 1 business day after your enrollment is confirmed if you enroll on or after the published start date.