The Colleges of the Fenway Shared Minor in Migration Studies is offered through Emmanuel College and Simmons University. Students across the COF may participate in the minor through cross-registration. The minor addresses an urgent need to prepare undergraduate students for professional and civic lives in a world increasingly marked by diversity. The program enhances student understandings of migration, emigration, and immigration through strong scholarly foundations, interdisciplinary case studies, and engagement with the Boston community. Students minoring in migration studies will grapple with important questions about diversity and what it means to live in a “country of immigrants,” while enhancing their global awareness.
Students planning careers in business, education, social work, health care, the arts, policy and government, law, nongovernmental organizations, and nonprofit administration (to name just a few fields) likely will come from, work with, and/or serve immigrant communities. By adding an interdisciplinary repertoire of courses specifically addressing immigration to their undergraduate careers, students will be well positioned to succeed in these fields and to bring a comprehensive understanding of migration and immigration to their professional and civic lives.
Requirements
Migration Studies minors will be required to take:
One Required Course: Introduction to Migration Studies: [Offered annually in Spring, rotating instructors, rotating campuses] All students must take “Introduction to Migration Studies,” an introductory-level course (1000-level at Emmanuel, 100-level at Simmons, etc.) familiarizing students with the major issues, methods, and frameworks of migration and immigration studies. This is the only new course we are proposing as part of the Migration Studies minor.
Total number of courses required: Five including one service learning/community partnership course.
I. Coursework
- Introduction to Migration Studies: [Offered annually in Spring, rotating instructors, rotating campuses] All students must take “Introduction to Migration Studies,” an introductory-level course (1000-level at Emmanuel, 100-level at Simmons, etc) familiarizing students with the major issues, methods, and frameworks of migration and immigration studies. Case studies and overall emphasis will vary according to individual professors’ areas of specialty, but this class always ends with a public event showcasing student work to the wider COF community.
II) 3 Electives: All Migration Studies Minor students must select three electives from the list of approved classes, bearing in mind the following requirements:
- It is highly recommended that at least one course be taken away from the student’s home institution within the COF.
- Students must take at least one advanced seminar (3000-level at Emmanuel, 300-level at Simmons, etc), selected from the list of approved courses.
- Students must take one course not in their declared major’s discipline
- (Total 4 classroom-based courses)
III) Service Learning or Community Partnership Course
All Migration Studies minors are required to take a class on immigration issues with a Service Learning/Community Partnership component. The service experiences are arranged through organizations that cater to the needs of local communities in the Boston area. Students will be required to complete a mid-semester reflection report and a final report summarizing their service engagement. Service learning class examples include HIST3404 (EC) or SOC101 (Simmons).
Contact Information:
· Violetta Ravagnoli and Jeff Fortin (Emmanuel College)
· Franny Sullivan (Simmons University)
· Lisong Liu, (MassArt)