This assignment gives students an opportunity to collaborate and cultivate team-oriented leadership practices. A group of four students will work on field research and/or library research. You can choose one or the other type of assignment (or blend aspects of both). Regardless of which option you choose, your project should examine a problem or challenge that relates to immigration and gender dynamics or, more specifically, to an issue of special concern for immigrant women. Each group must make an appointment with Dr. Choi or Dr. Kretsedemas to discuss their topic.
Your group presentation is worth a total of 20 points. All of the group presentations are scheduled to occur on the final day of class. Each group will have 30 minutes for their presentation, allowing for an additional 10 minutes for class discussion after each presentation. The groups for this assignment will be assembled when the project is introduced during session #4 but students may form groups earlier if they choose. The topic statement for your group project is due on session #6. Your topic statement can be organized around one of the two kinds of projects, described as follows:
Option 1:
- Choose one non-profit organization or religious community whose outreach work is relevant to the gendered dynamics we’ve reviewed in class, or is specifically focused on immigrant women’s issues.
- Investigate the goals, structure, activities and leadership of the organization, and analyze how these organizational features engage aspects of gender, race, sexuality, class, and/or the (post)colonial context. For example, describe how the non-profit organization understands immigrants and immigrant policies and how they provide services to immigrant women in relation to faith community leaders by doing interviews, worship participation-observation, programs participation-observation, research on non-profit organization curriculum/program, or evaluating written materials from the church.
- Explain how the practices of these organizations relate to the sociopolitical, theological and feminist perspectives on ethics and immigration that we’ve reviewed in class. Which perspectives are they most similar or dissimilar to? Are these organizations innovating novel moral-ethical perspectives, or blending/transforming pre-existing moral-ethical perspectives in innovative ways?
- Reflect on how you understand the service and ethical and/or theological standpoint of these organizations, and create strategies about how you want to change or implement your own styles of service as a team (e.g. developing new service programs, building a connection between faith communities and immigrant agencies, educational programs, social service/community programs).
- Reflect upon how this experience challenges or changes you and your group’s understanding of the ethical and/or theological framework for immigration service work in your conclusion.
Option 2:
- Choose an immigration policy issue or policy debate that is relevant to any of the gendered dynamics we’ve reviewed in class, or which carries a special relevance for immigrant women.
- Provide a brief overview of the history of this policy issue and main contending perspectives and points of contention that have defined it.
- Review the most influential sociopolitical, ethical and/or theological perspectives that have defined this debate, and explain what a feminist perspective adds to this debate.
- Gather data (from policy reports/public databases and library research) and produce a case study of how this policy debate has impacted a specific migrant or refugee group (and examine the practical implications of different value orientations for practical policy outcomes for this population).
- Reflect on how your learning experience challenges or changes you and your group’s understanding of the ethical and/or theological framework for immigration or refugee policy in your conclusion—and summarize the value orientation that you think should guide the future implementation of this policy.
