Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2017 - SA 345 J100

Race, Immigration and the Canadian State (SA) (4)

Class Number: 5671

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 8 – Aug 4, 2017: Wed, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
    Surrey

  • Prerequisites:

    SA 101 or 150 or 201W.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An introduction to critical perspectives on the social construction of race, nation building and transnational migration, with an emphasis on state policies and the experiences of immigrants. The course will cover a review of colonialism and the construction of racialized labour market. Core topics may include: racialization of space, anti-racist feminist thought, immigration policy, settlement services, multiculturalism, citizenship, racial profiling, diasporas, and refugees. Comparative material will be used to complement the Canadian focus.

COURSE DETAILS:

Politicians, journalists, pundits, artists, and advertising agencies often draw on a popular myth of Canada as a “nation of immigrants.” This myth upholds a myriad of immigration streams – French arrivals to New France, English Loyalists escaping the American Revolution, Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine, and central and eastern European refugees displaced by the Second World War – all feeding into the idea that what emerged from the amalgamation of such different identities is a nation where, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently put it, “[t]here is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada.”

Basking in the self-adulation of a warm, welcoming ethos of Canadian tolerance and goodwill, racism is often relegated to the past and considered as a rare abnormality in the present. This course aims to unsettle such myths by examining how race has been and continues to be constructed by the policies of the Canadian state. Tracing the racial underpinnings of the history of immigration policies and examining the contemporary interplay of globalization, multiculturalism, security fears, and border regulations, we will situate Canada as a settler colonial society whose capitalist, patriarchal, Western and Eurocentric culture informs the way in which state policies socially construct race today. 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

All graded assignments in this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned.

Grading

  • Attendance & Participation 10%
  • Presentation 10%
  • Weekly Reading Responses 10%
  • Test 1 20%
  • Test 2 20%
  • Term Paper 30%

NOTES:

Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct Policy
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology follows SFU policy in relation to grading practices, grade appeals (Policy T 20.01) and academic dishonesty and misconduct procedures (S10.01‐ S10.04). Unless otherwise informed by your instructor in writing, in graded written assignments you must cite the sources you rely on and include a bibliography/list of references, following an instructor-approved citation style.  It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of the content of SFU policies available on the SFU website: http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Summer 2017 Custom Courseware, “SA-345 Race, Immigration and the Canadian State” compiled by J. Burkowicz.   

Readings marked (Canvas) will be available on Canvas.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS