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Course Schedule

COURSE SCHEDULE

TOPIC AND READINGS. ASSIGNMENTS /NOTES

WEEK 1 – Introductions (1/26 – 1/30)

COURSE AND CLASS INTRODUCTIONS

We begin! During the first week of the course, we aim to first become familiarized with the course and course requirements. This (short) week, you will also complete your first Discussion Question. Your first post will be an introduction.

Complete Discussion Question 1 – Replies and responses due on or before Feb. 6th by 11:59pm.

WEEK 2 – Introducing the concepts (2/2 – 2/6)

During week 2, we will delve into the two major concepts used in this class. The first, is the Caribbean, and the second is transnational migration. We must gain an understanding of these first, before moving on to the processes of Caribbeanization. 

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • Discuss the Caribbean it’s history and meanings, and particularly the Caribbean region as El Gran Caribe.
  • Define the concept of transnational migration

Recommended Reading: Framing the Caribbean

  • Norman Girvan. 2001. “Re-interpreting the Caribbean.” In New Caribbean Thought. A Reader, edited by Brian Meeks and Folke Lindahl. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press. 3-23. https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/44125/files/2026/05/Norman-Girvan-Reinterpreting-the-Caribbean-2001.pdf

Readings:  Understanding Transnational Migration

Complete Response Paper – Due on or before Feb. 13th by 11:59 pm

WEEK 3 – Ancestors from the West Indies: An Overview (2/9 – 2/13)

This week, we will look at the history of Caribbean immigration to the United States.  We will begin to understand that Caribbean migration to North America occured in waves, beginning in the colonial period. We will read the first few pages of Nancy Foner’s Islands in the City, where we will be introduced to two new concepts – migrating machines and transnational practices. Then Davis’ piece  provides a fascinating look at how archives tell the story of the history of West Indian and in particular Afro-West Indian  migration to North America.

This will be followed by a review of one such Caribbean migration to North America – migration from present day Haiti, then the French colony of St. Domingue to New Orleans, as a result of the Haitian Revolution. 

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • Understand and describe the  waves of Caribbean migration to North America
  • Define terms such migrating machines  and transnational practices
  • Discuss the impacts of the Haitian Revolution on the United States

Readings:

Haiti and the United States: Readings:

Discussion 2 posted – Replies and responses due on or before Feb 20th  by 11:59pm.

2/12 – College closed

WEEK 4 – Other Migrations: The Case of Puerto Rico (2/16 – 2/20)

This week, we will look at the case of Puerto Rico, and the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. So before we begin, we must remember that Puerto Ricans are US citizens. So why has the term “immigrant” been used to describe Puerto Ricans who move to the continental United States? We will answer this question as well as examine Puerto Rico’s long relationship with the United States and the waves of Puerto Rican migration to the US.  

We will then look at what spurred the third wave of West Indian immigration to the US – the passage of the Hart-Celler Act of 1965, also known as the Immigration and Nationality Act. This Act would change the face of the United States of America. Then we look at how this impacted Caribbean immigration to the US. 

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • Define and discuss the three waves of Puerto Rican migration to the United States
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the contexts which gave rise the passage of the Hart Celler Act of 1965

 Puerto Rico Readings:

1965 – Immigration and the Law Readings:

Watch:

Article/Artifact Search 1 – Due on or before Feb. 27th by 11:59pm.

2/16 – College closed  

2/17 – No Classes

Week 5 – The Caribbean come to Harlem: A Look at the Harlem Renaissance (2/23-2/27)

The Harlem Renaissance was the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City as a black cultural mecca in the early 20th Century and the subsequent social and artistic explosion that resulted. This week, we also learn of the great contributions of Caribbean immigrants to the Harlem Renaissance. 

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • Discuss the history of Harlem and the conditions which gave rise to the Harlem Renaissance 
  • Discuss the contributions that Afro-Caribbean immigrants made to the Harlem Renaissance, as well as the tensions experienced in Harlem during this time
  • Discuss the lives and contributions of Arturo Schomburg and Claude McKay to the Harlem Renaissance

Selected readings on Claude McKay and Arthur Schomburg:

Watch:

Discussion 3 posted – Replies and responses due on or before March 6th by 11:59 pm.

Week 6 – Immigration, Gender and Work (3/2 – 3/6)

Have you ever noticed that for some Caribbean woman immigrants in  New York city especially, they find theselves seeking and find employment in the field of care work, be they nurses (a trip to Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, or any hospital in NYC for that matter will find you among a sea of Caribbean accents), and in particular, as nannies and babysitters? This of course speaks to the gendered nature of work, but also brings to the forefront the lives of Caribbean nannies who care for the children of other people who are often of a different racialized ethnicity and income bracket, and how these nannies who work long hours in the home of their employers, are able to hold on to their Caribbean identities and form community with other Caribbean nannies. 

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • Discuss how Caribbean nannies and childcare providers use public spaces to reconstruct their identities as Caribbean in these spaces
  • Discuss the issues that gentrification raises for Caribbean nannies and childcare providers

Readings:

View:

Week 7 – The Politics of Race, Identity and Blackness (3/9 – 3/13)

How do Afro-Caribbean immigrants (that is, Caribbean immigrants of African descent) understand self in a racialized US; how do they identify and how are they identified by American society? Do you they choose their immigrant identities or do they choose to identify with African Americans? In our reading for this week, Reuel Rogers (2015, 165) states:

“Although black immigrants share a racial group classification with African Americans, they also have claim to a distinct ethnic identity separate from the racial status they share with native born blacks. While they share racial minority status with African Americans, they have the option of identifying as voluntary immigrants with a distinct ethnic identity.”

So, let’s examine Black New York!

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • Discuss the complexities of Afro-Caribbean identity choices as it pertains to Blackness in the United States
  • Develop an understanding of  the differences of Afro-Caribbean identity choices in the US as compared with African Americans

Readings:

Midterm Examination Posted – Due on or before March 27th by 11:59pm.

Week 8 – Immigrant Experiences – Case Studies (3/16 – 3/20)

This week, we will be looking at some Caribbean immigrant case studies. However, we will be doing this through the scope of race, identity and Blackness, as informed by the Rogers reading from last week. 

Students will choose 1 case study, but are free to examine all three.

  • Case Study 1: Panamanian Immigrants – Identity and Culture
  • Case Study 2: Jamaican Immigrants – ‘Guest’ workers/Black workers
  • Case Study 3: Dominican Immigrants – Identity and Politics

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • Discuss the history of Panamanian migration to the United States, especially to New York City. 
  • Develop an understanding of the US guest worker program, and the history of Jamaican “guest workers” to the US
  • Critically discuss how Jamaican immigrants who come to the US as “guest workers” have been viewed historically in terms of Blackness and otherness
  • Define and discuss  Gaga Pa’l Pueblo as a radical celebration of Dominican Blackness in the United States

Panamanian Immigrants – Identity and Culture Readings:

Watch:

OR   Jamaican Immigrants – ‘Guest’ workers/Black workers

Readings:

Watch:

OR   Dominican Immigrants – Identity and Politics Readings:

Watch:

3/20 – No classes

Week 9 – Caribbeanization and Caribbean Spaces 1: Flatbush (3/23 – 3/27)

This week, we will be exploring New York City and in particular Caribbeanization. Caribbeanization  speaks of  the increasing impact of Caribbean immigrants and citizens on the political scene of urban cities. We will therefore be looking at how Caribbean immigrants have transformed not just the city as a whole, but specific neighborhoods in the New York City. Usually, I have students visit these neighborhoods and take pictures of what they recognize as the visible symbols of Caribbeanization such as Caribbean restaurants, Western Union – yes! Western Union is a Caribbeanized space. Remember in that reading by Foner where she discusses transnational practices – Western Union facilitates transnational practices –  hair salons, grocery stores that sell Caribbean goods, parks (yes parks where Caribbean immigrants meet for religious ceremonies, or to play football (soccer in the US) or even where nannies in Manhattan get to mingle and share with each other when they take the kids in their care outdoors. This is what we will explore this week (and next week) – how Caribbean immigrants have Caribbeanized this place we call home. 

An important resource this week will be  The Newest New Yorkers: A Statistical Portrait of Foreign-born Residents and Their Role in Shaping the City’s Population (2026 edition), published by the City of New York and the Department of Planning.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • Define Caribbeanization and give concrete examples
  • Discuss identity as portable
  • Develop an understanding of how Caribbean immigrants have transformed spaces in New York City, such as Flatbush, Richmond Hill and Washington Heights. 

Readings:

Midterm Exam Due – March 27th by 11:59pm

Week 10 – Caribbeanization and Caribbean Spaces 2: Richmond Hill and Ozone Park: Indo-Caribbean Spaces (4/6 – 4/7)

This week, we explore two more Caribbeanized spaces – Richmond Hill/Ozone Park known as ‘Little Guyana,’ and Washington Heights, known as ‘Little Dominican Republic.’

An important resource this week will be  The Newest New Yorkers: A Statistical Portrait of Foreign-born Residents and Their Role in Shaping the City’s Population (2026 edition), published by the City of New York and the Department of Planning.

Readings:

Watch:

  • Little Guyana in Queens. New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/video/nyregion/100000002266992/little-guyana-in-queens.html

Washington Heights Readings:

Complete Reflection Paper – Due on or before April 24th by 11:59pm.

Week 11 – SPRING RECESS (4/1 – 4/9)

Week 12 – US Immigration Policies Case Study – Cuba and Haiti (4/13– 4/17

Now to look at specific US immigration policy towards other nation states.  Our case study will be US immigration policy toward Cuba and Haiti pre- 2016. Why pre-2016? Well, there were some changes in 2016 but prior to this, we see differing immigration polices towards these spaces; disparities which allowed immigrants from one space the ability to access residency in the US, and the other to be returned to their home country, in defiance of UN policy. 

By the end of the week, students will be able to: 

  • Describe US immigraton policy towards Haiti, more specifically, the Interdiction Agreement 
  • Define the following terms as they relate to immigration policy – refugee, asylum speaker, and refoulement  
  • Decribe US imigration towards Cuba pre-  and post-2016
  • Discuss and have a understanding of the Cuban Adjustment Act, and “wet foot dry foot”

Readings:

Week 13 – Caribbean Figures Shaping North American Thought: Marcus Garvey (4/20 – 4/24)

We now shift our focus to two prominent figures, be they of Caribbean descent or nationality who made a mark on the political and social landscape of the United States. These persons are Jamaican born Marcus Garvey, and Shirley Chisholm who was of Guyanese and Barbadian descent.

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • Discuss and describe the life of Marcus Garvey, from Jamaica to the US and his contributions and accomplishments. 
  • Discuss and describe the life of Shirley Chisholm, and her contributions amd accomplishments. 

Marcus Garvey Readings:

Shirley Chisholm Readings:

  • Tammy L. Brown. 2015. City of Islands. Caribbean Intellectuals in New York. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press. 137-168. ProQuest Ebook Central. Login to BC Library to view at https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4397136.

Article/Artifact Search 2 – Due on or before May 1st by 11:59 pm  

4/21 – Classes follow a Thursday Schedule

Week 14 – Caribbean Culture and Transnational Circuits: Merengue and Hip Hop (4/27 – 5/1)

This week our topic is Caribbean Culture and Transnational Circuits. What are transnational circuits? This concept is defined in our reading for Session 17 by Austerlitz. The concept of transnational migration circuits, refers to the continuous movement of people, goods and information, through which various settlements on either side of the border are so strongly linked to form a single community scattered in several places (Rouse, 1991). Therefore as we wrap up the class, we will do so by looking at examples of, the products of and the experiences of transnational circuits and these connections between home (the Caribbean) and the diapora (New York). We will be looking at merengue as a transnational circuit;  hip hop (yes, hip hop), and during Week 15, the West Indian American Day parade as the most visible symbol of Caribbeanization in New York which connects Caribbean immigrants to their homes.

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • Define the concept of transnational circuits
  • Map and discuss the history of merenge as a transnational circuit 
  • Discuss the Caribbean roots and influence on hip hop

Merengue Readings:

Hip Hop Readings:

Watch:

Discussion 4 posted – Replies and responses due on May 8th or before by 11:59pm.

Week 15 – The West Indian American Day Parade (5/4 – 5/8)

The history of the West Indian American Day parade is without its hiccups. But it is amazing to learn that the parade that we know of today has its origins here in New York as early as the 1920s when Trinidadian and other Caribbean immigrants would host indoor carnival dances before a permit is obtained for a street parade in Harlem in 1947. So, the parade did not begin in Brooklyn but was brought to Brooklyn.  

By the end of this week, students will be able to:

  • Describe and define the history of the West Indian American Day Parade, from its beginnings in Harlem, to its current home in Brooklyn
  • Identify and describe the ways in which  the West Indian American Day Parade helps create or assert a pan-West Indian identity

Readings:

Week 16 – Caribbean Immigration on Film – Those who remain (5/11 – 5/15)

We have spent the entire semester focusing on the immigrant. But what about those who remain? Many times, not whole families (in all meanings of that term) can leave. So what happens then? We examine these questions by looking at Caribbean films as we wrap up our semester. 

Short Films:

Important Dates

January 26 – First day of classes

February 12 – College Closed

February 16 – College Closed

February 17 – No Classes Scheduled

March 20 – No Classes Scheduled

April 1–9 – Spring Recess

April 21 – Conversion day, classes follow Thursday schedule

May 16–18 – Undergraduate Final Examinations;

Graduate Final Exam/Meeting May 20–22, 26 Undergraduate Final Examinations; Graduate Final Exam/Meeting

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