take me home | seminar : american identities

message board

• february 4 : nicky's questions are on the bbs message board; and here are the lyrics he wants us to read.
• january 10 : here are the questions for the next session from laura and andy:

  1. how would you stage the plays? what aspects would you emphasize?
  2. what stereotypes are displayed? what is their relationship to the american society?
  (also, think about power relations)
  3. when and for what purpose is spanish used? what is the importance of it to the individual character?
  4. what is the relationship between fiction and the political reality?
  

• 2001, january 9 : today's chronicle of higher education reports that "THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BOARD OF REGENTS may consider, possibly as soon as March, overturning its 1995 policy that barred the use of affirmative action in university admissions. While the move is largely symbolic since a voter-approved statewide ban on racial preferences would remain in place, leaders of the effort said it could help the system attract more minority students."
• november 16 : mark sent detailed information on the diversity visa lottery program and found two useful links to the ins (u.s. immigration and naturalization service). link 1 gives access to u.s. immigration statistics from 1994 to 1999, link2 "provides you with information and directions necessary to apply for lawful permanent residence" in the u.s.
• november 15 : i've just added some lines to the topic presentations on the essentials page.
• november 14 : caroline's two statements for next friday
• november 11 : the bibliographic references for the three books i mentioned today are here.
• november 7 : here are lucie's questions for next friday (demographic changes) :
  • portes/min zhou: if slow integration within the ethnic group is suposed to be best for non-white immigrants, what about the mexicans with their chicano and cholo subculture?
  • howells: what colour do you imagine the french speaking man to be?
  • borjas: why aren't the u.s. regulating their immigration policy, if they are so afraid of a substantial change away from the white majority to non-white majority?
• november 6 : for those of you who speak german : bin soeben im netz über die kurzeinführung "wie studiere ich richtig" gestolpert. ist zwar weder auf basel noch auf unser seminar zugeschnitten, aber gleichwohl etwas vom besten, was mir je zu diesem thema unter die augen gekommen ist. nicht nur studienanfängern zu empfehlen.
• november 3 : let me add this to a point raised in today's discussion : "st. jean de crèvecoeur [...] born of a distinguished and ancient family near caen, was educated strictly but well [sic] in a jesuit school, and then visited england. at the age of nineteen he was in canada, a lieutenant in the french army under montcalm. in this service he surveyed and mapped large areas around the great lakes and in the ohio country. he was in new york by 1759; he later roamed, an observant pilgrim, through the frontiers of new york, pennsylvania, and the southern colonies. he became a citizen of new york in 1765, soon acquired a plantation in orange county some sixty miles from the city [...]" (bradley et al, the american tradition in literature. new york : random house, 1980. 220). so much for the "farmer".
• october 30 : here is your questionnaire.
• october 25 : some of you seem concerned about the reading load. this is an oberseminar, and i expect you to invest some time into reading and preparation. by the same token, it is not my intention to hold a gathering of speedreaders and lipmovers (william gass dixit). we will tackle this issue in the first meeting.
• october 19 : maier, garcía canclini and paz have finally arrived. since the core text collection is now complete and hunger of memory is here, too (you can get your copy in the first meeting for 15 francs) we shouldn't run out of reading material in the first weeks. muñoz is still not available, but anzaldúa should be here, soon. looking at the reading list and taking into account that some of the texts are not very easy to read, i get a hunch that we may not even need the muñoz novel. Let me know in the first session (or before, online) what you think of the reading load.
• september 20 : i will put a note here, as soon as borderlands has arrived at the labyrinth.
• august 31 : gloria anzaldúa's borderlands will be available at the labyrinth bookstore by the end of september. by then i also should have copies of hunger of memory, which you can buy in the first meeting. should you want the book beforehand, you can send me a message and i will send it to you.
• august 30 : brand new memory by elías miguel muñoz is temporarily not available.

ernst rudin ||| 25-05-2001