Academic Innovation

Below are descriptions of new academic courses and programs developed by the “Latino Immigrants” project: These courses help to establish the inter-American approach to religion as a legitimate area of study in the humanities and social sciences, and also serve the outreach objectives of the project.

At the University of Florida:

New Course: "Religion and the American Immigrant Experience

During the Fall of 2007, Manuel Vásquez taught an undergraduate course entitled “Religion and the American Immigrant Experience” that was cross-listed in the religion and history departments as well as at the Center for Latin American studies. Thirty-three students enrolled in the course, which examined the centrality of mobility and inter-cultural encounter from the formation of the first nations (indigenous peoples in North America) through the great migrations at the turn of the Twentieth Century (with a special focus on Irish and Italian Catholics, Eastern European Jews, and Japanese and Chinese immigrants) to the present (in the recent debates about undocumented immigration). As part of the course assignments, students researched their own immigrant background.

Three New Students Admitted into Graduate Program on Religion in the Americas

In 2007, three new students were admitted into the graduate program on Religion in the Americas at the University of Florida, two at the Master's level and one at the doctoral level. One of these new students is focusing on Islam in America, with a particular interest in Muslim immigrant communities. Manuel Vásquez is now chairing two Ph.D. dissertation committees focusing on the interplay between religion and immigration, one dealing with convergent Christianities (how Evangelical Protestant congregations are transformed as they minister to Latino immigrants) and another on popular religiosity in the U.S.-Mexico border. Finally, Ms. Shreena Gandhi, an advanced student in the program working on the Hindu diaspora, was hired for a tenure-track job at Kalamazoo College.

“Latino Immigrants” project co-directors offer interdisciplinary seminar on “Immigration, Politics, and Religion in a Hemispheric Perspective”

An advanced seminar entitled “Immigration, Politics, and Religion in a Hemispheric Perspective” was offered in Spring 2005 by “Latino Immigrants” project co-directors Dr. Philip J. Williams and Dr. Manuel A. Vásquez . This advanced seminar explores the interplay among immigration, religion, and politics from an interdisciplinary and hemispheric perspective, comparing and contrasting historical and current patterns in the United States and Latin America, particularly in the Caribbean and Brazil. Topics included:

the tension between assimilation and multiculturalism,
the role of religion and other cultural institutions and practices in both classical and transnational migrations,
gender and family networks,
second generation dynamics,
the evolution of U.S. migration policy,
the increasing militarization and commodification of life at the U.S.-Mexican border, and
the impact on Florida of migration from Latin America.

Since the course was coordinated with the Center for Latin American Studies “Latino Immigrants in Florida” Project and the Bacardi distinguished speaker series, students had the opportunity to interact with leading scholars in the field. Students were expected to conduct and present their own research on topics connected with the course.
Click here for course syllabus.

The lecture series ended with two roundtable discussions that featured Latino immigrant activists. The first roundtable, entitled “Miami is not the Whole Story: The Situation of Latino Migrants in Florida,” focused on outreach to the Gainesville community and also covered national immigration themes. It was held April 4, 2005 at the Civic Media Center, a traditional local sponsor of discussion on political and social issues. The activist participants were: Jeronimo Camposeco of Corn Maya, Inc. of Jupiter Florida; Jose Oliva of Interfaith Worker Justice of Chicago, and Sean Sellers, representing the Student/Farmworker Alliance, which works with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Immokalee, Florida. (See ”Resources and Links” for more information on these organizations.) These three activists participated in the second roundtable on April 5 at the already mentioned advanced disciplinary seminar.
Click here for two photos of the seminar roundtable.

Invited speakers/lecturers in lecture order:

Nina Glick-Schiller, Anthropology, University of New Hampshire
Paul Christopher Johnson, African & Afroamerican Studies, University of Michigan
Jorge Durand, Social Anthropology, University of Guadalajara, Mexico
Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Sociology, University of Southern California
David Kyle, Sociology, University of California
Jeffrey Lesser, History, Emory University

Sample of the Readings:

Peggy Levitt. 2001. Transnational Villagers. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo. 2003. Gender and U.S. Immigration: Contemporary Trends. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Douglas Massey et al. 2003. Beyond Smoke and Mirror: Mexican Immigration in an Era of Economic Integration. New York: Russell Sage.
Pablo Vila. 2000. Crossing Borders, Reinforcing Borders. University of Texas Press.
Jeffrey Lesser. 1990. Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil. Durham: Duke University Press.
Alex Stepick et al. 2003. This Land is your Land: Immigrants and Power in Miami.
Berkeley: University of California Press.

Ph.D. program in Religion

A new Ph.D. program in Religion was established at the University of Florida in Fall 2003. The Ph.D. program offers a specialization in Religion in the Americas. Two students are so far enrolled, one studying the Church of Latter Day Saints in Latin America and among U.S. Latinos; the other focusing on the Hindu diaspora in the context of post-1965 immigration to the U.S. In Fall 2003, both students enrolled in a new interdisciplinary graduate seminar entitled “Religion in North America.” In Spring 2004, they enrolled in “Religion in Latin America,” a graduate interdisciplinary seminar that has been redesigned to fulfill the goal of the new Ph.D. track: to train students in qualitative and quantitative methods employed in the comparative study of religious diversity across the hemisphere.
Program information is available at http://web.religion.ufl.edu/gradprog/field-americas.html

At Florida Atlantic University:

An interdisciplinary critical inquiry seminar that developed from the “Latino Immigrants” project was introduced in Spring Term 2004 at the Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter. The seminar was taught by Dr. Timothy J. Steigenga, a political scientist who is a project co-principal investigator; and Dr. Rachel Corr, an anthropologist. This seminar was prepeated in Fall Term 2006.

Seminar course description:
Themes and issues examined in the course include: the role of religion in colonialism, indigenous culture and religion, syncretism, religion and political mobilization, liberation theology, identity politics, and religious transnationalism. Our goal is to introduce our students to the major religious, political, and social forces that have shaped indigenous culture and practice in Latin America.
See seminar syllabus here.
Additionally, Florida Atlantic University has incorporated student volunteer work with Guatemalan Mayan organizations into a service learning opportunity at Wilkes.

At Agnes College:

New course focuses on immigration to U.S. from Latin America, Asia, and Africa

Project researcher Marie Marquardt (taught a course entitled "Religion and Immigration" in Fall 2007 at Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA. The course explored the unprecedented rates of immigration from Latin America, Asia, and the African Diaspora. Using historical and social scientific lenses, students examined how immigration has changed the religious landscape of the United States over the past century. The course also focused on the role of religious practices and organizations in the lives of new immigrants, and the ways in which religious groups have entered into recent policy debates on the topic of immigration.