Immigration to the United States has always been an important and controversial part of our history. The purpose of this course will be to introduce faculty and staff members to the political, economic, and social context of immigration. The course will help educators develop familiarity with the history of American immigration, empowering them to address it in the classroom setting. The course will begin with a historical survey of immigration and culminate in an exploration of how immigration is impacting our nation today. A primary goal of this course is to depoliticize immigration and to discuss it through an objective lens. In the process of doing so, the course will examine factors that have and are continuing to contribute to different stances on immigration today. Finally, the course will provide educators the opportunity to study a personal immigration story and the implications this has for their experience in the classroom.
About the Instructors
Sally Noble is entering her 12th year teaching Social Studies at Westwood High School. She traces her family’s immigration history back to Ireland, England, and Germany, and will be traveling to Ireland this summer to visit the village her family left in the 18th century.
Martin LaVigne is entering his 9th year teaching Social Studies at Westwood High School. Prior to teaching at Westwood, he taught United States History at Lexington High School. Marty traces his family’s history to Poland but has a deep affinity for German culture.
Marty and Sally have worked as a co-teaching team for the past five years, offering a series of adult education courses for other Westwood Public School educators.