Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.
Office: GHH 215
Hours M, W, F,  11:00 - 12:00
T:  2:00 - 3:00 and By Appointment
Phone:  (254) 3230
AMST 355  Class and Culture
M, W, F, 1:00-1:50
GHH 208
Roger Williams University
Fall Semester, 2012
INDEX
E-Mail: mswanson@rwu.edu
REad about Koreatown in Loss Angeles.
A blog dedicated to the multi-cultural world of Los Angeles





















For Monday, September 24

Read, in Shipler
Chapter 3, Importing the Third Worldpp. 77 - 95
For Wednesday, September 26

Internet Exercise
One of the “hot topics” politically speaking is “Immigration Reform”.  I’d like to have you do a little research on this topic. Here, I’m suggesting you use two sources, Google News for current news stories, and Yippy by vivissimo for broader-based stories.  The method will be the same as last timewe used for the Project Finance assignment. I'll make a new forum on immigration I want everyone to find one unique story from each search source (first come first served).

Place your sources there, and this time, add a paragraph or two summary for each.   Browse and read the entries and summaries of your classmates.   See if you can determine which segments of the American population are lining up on which sides of the debate.
Looking Ahead:

How are you coming with the novel, Samaritan?  The 28th cometh closer and closer. (Hint, hint, hint).--like 48 hours.
The United States has long been called a Nation of Immigrants, and many immigrant groups have begun their American saga in the working poor class.  Some students in this class may have parents, grandparents, or great grandparents who would fall into this category.  We will some of the life of an immigrant community in the film, Da Feast.

This chapter introduces us to immigrants more recent than the Italians enjoying the Dance of the Giglio, however:  immigrants from  third world countries in both  hemispheres. We’ll begin to investigate some of their stories.

The bit of poetry with which Shipler begins this chapter is from a sonnet by Emma Lazarus entitled The New Colossus.  Click on the Statue of Liberty to read more about it.  The other links connect to information about Emma Lazararus and to the hand-written manuscript version of the poem.  Below is a video of the song based on the poem. 
The composer himself was a Jewish immigrant from Russia.  His name was Israel Isidore Baline.  Naver heard of him?  Maybe the name Irving Berlin is a little more familiar. 
The New Colossus and the Poet who wrote about it.
In your blog,  I'd like to have you tell us a bit about your own family's immigration history.  For some of you, perhaps this will be the story of your generation's history, or you may know something about a community in the United States where persons from your own homeland have resettled, if you're visiting the United States for study purposes.  Don't feel you need to write an essay.  What will be interesting to us is the story of when/ what generation emigrated (Your parents, grandparents, great-great grandparents, etc.) about when, and to where.  Try to do this as soon as you can, and then return to compare our story with the story of others in the class.
For Friday,  September 28
I hope everyone in here can guess what we're going to begin discussing this day...If you guessed Buffy the Vampire Killer you need to review the class syllabi.  If you guessed The Samaritan, you guessed right.  We'll be discussing general themes today.  More discussion will happen next week, and before you know it, you'll be writing a bit about it.  You have finished it, haven't you?????
We'll start our work by examining the evironment(s) in which the story takes place--beginning with Rumsey.  Don't waste your time looking for it on a map--there isn't one there.  However, there is Jersey City upon which it is based.  We'll do some cyber-exploration of this locale in preparation for our discussion of the characters, all of whom were in some way or other shaped by their environments. City-Data.com will provide us many useful resources.
Click the map to reach the City-Data New Jersey Page.
As the table above shows, Jersey City is one of the most racially diverse cities in the United States.  Click on it to reach a page loaded with facts about Jersey City

One cannot assume that the racial groups intermingle on in a homogenous mixed culture.  The map below shows the location of Neighborhoods in Jersey City.  The blue lines indicate the neighboorhood boundaries (remember that these are colloquial areas, based on people's  self-identification, rather than legal definitions.  This means the boundaries are fluid, and there may be some overlapping.
Click the image above to reach the neighborhood map page.  Below it, you'll find a list of links to detailed information about the favarious neighboorhoods.  Here's what I'd like you to do.  Choose two neighboorhoods The first one should be closest to the initial of yourfirst name.  The second should be closest to the intial of your last name.  (Ignore the "The".  I would choose either Marion, Martin Luther King, or McGinley Square for my first neighborhood and Society Hill for my second.  Click on the link visit the neighborhood there, and look at the information  How would you describe it in terms of class and social conditions?   Write a  couple of paragraps about this in your Blog/Journal.  Note you can use the Street Finder to view the area at ground level