POLT 32000-01, ST: US Politics: Politics of U.S. Citizenship (Legal Studies, Politics, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts)
3 Credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course explores the following question: "What does it mean to be an American?" from many perspectives (historical, theoretical, critical, and global) by examining how citizenship is conceptualized, lived, and experienced in the United States by different people under various circumstances.
We pay close attention to the articulation of citizenship at the confluence of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and religion as so-called "categories of difference" that often inform, if not structure, who can become an "American" and when certain political, social, and civic rights ought to be recognized and protected. We consider how these "categories of difference" generally relate to the politics over immigration, migration, international travel, and the U.S. border.
Throughout the semester, we explore how national (and international) institutions – Congress, presidency, Supreme Court, the Census Bureau, United Nations, U.S. State Department, and even local governments – shape debates over civic status, political community, and national identity.
Last, we look at the impact that developing technologies, transnationalism, multiculturalism, globalization, and capitalism have on the meanings of U.S. citizenship while illuminating the shifting civic dimensions of political membership today and into the future.
PREREQUISITES: Sophomore Standing (or instructor permission).
If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Carlos Figueroa, cfigueroa@ithaca.edu