American Literature: Stories of Immigration
LIT-40022
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 Information
Course sessions
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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.
Textbooks:
All course materials are included unless otherwise stated.
Policies:
- No refunds after: 10/3/2025
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Instructor: christina burress, MFA
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 is a poet and teacher. 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 over the past four years.
