DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Who am I? Where did I come from? How do I feel?

 



I was born in Romania during the Cold War and I was educated in the military system - went to 4 years of Military High School (much like the Citadel in North Carolina here), then to 4 years at the Military Academy of Land Forces where I chose the Tanks/Armor specialty. I was commissioned as lieutenant and spent 4 years in the system.

 

Exactly 20 years ago I left Romania and after spending almost a year in Italy, I arrived with a suitcase at JFK airport. Looking back, it feels very strange and unique what I did. My wife told me that my traveling story warrants a movie!

 

I married my wife here in the metro area NY-NJ, and we have 3 beautiful children. I am very proud of my background, including my native language and customs, to a point where I stop to talk with people if I hear them talking Romanian!

 

Sometimes I feel that I do not belong here because I was not born here, and I do not belong there because I decided to leave! But these moments are rare and I dedicate my time to raise a strong and happy family.

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

International Migration

 Spring 2015

 

 

International Migration - GEOG 301 Spring 2015

 

Welcome to Geography 301 – International Migration.
I am really excited about this semester and I am looking forward to getting to know everyone!

You can either call me Prof. Bradley or Prof. Gardener. (My preferred email is bradley.gardener@sps.cuny.edu) Please send all questions to this address.
The first thing you should do is read the course syllabus. After you finish reading the syllabus please log into e-portfolio. It is absolutely essential that you log into e-portfolio right away as a large portion of this course will take place there. For instructions on how to log in please see the e-portfolio link on the left hand side of your home page. You should have received notification from SPS about your log in information.

 

 

 

 

 

Course Description
This course is a quantitative and qualitative examination of historic and contemporary international migration patterns. Emphasis is on spatial demographic impacts of immigration policy in the United States with special attention to major urban centers. A comparative analysis of ethnic and racial minorities in the United States will also be offered.

 

 

 

 

 

Course Organization
There are two important parts to our course. In addition to a traditional Blackboard course, we will spend a significant time in the Digication learning environment, E-portfolio.
 
To get to ePortfolio… https://cunyonline.digication.com/portfolio/directory.digi
 
Once you sign in, please open your page for our course, “
GEOG 301.01 Spring 2015.

 

 
In Blackboard…
  1. You will find all of the readings
  2. You will find the syllabus.
  3. You will find instructions on how to log into ePortfolio
  4. You will find the announcements sections, the primary way in which I will communicate with the class.
  5. You will find discussion boards that will be used several times of the course of the semester.You need to check blackboard frequently, as I will communicate with you frequently through announcements on the front page. 

 

In the low stakes ePortfolio…

 

  1. You will post low stakes assignments 

 

In the individual ePortfolio...

 

  1. You will submit most assignments (Landscape Assignment, Building Towards the Final Paper, and Peer Review)
  2. You will find detailed descriptions for all assignments.
  3. You will find evaluation rubrics

 

 
Course Structure 

 

 

 

We will follow a twin trajectory through seven learning units. In terms of content or course material we will study migration as it pertains to the history of the United States. We will start the course by trying to understand what migration is, why people do it, and what the different categories of migrants are. Next, we will look at Indigenous movement, slavery, and colonial settlement. Then we will study the migration of different groups to and within the United States, examining such movements as the Great Migration, Japanese Internment, and Eastern European migration to the Northeastern United States. We will finish by examining the diversity of post 1965 migrants and looking at issues currently facing migrants coming to the United States.
 
The second trajectory has to do with the research paper. On several occasions you will have the task of completing one part of a 10-15 page research paper due at the end of the semester. This method, called scaffolding, enables you, the student, to build your paper step by step over the course of the semester. Please go to the
 ePortfolio page for more details.
 
There is also a field assignment and several discussion boards you must participate in. Please see explore our blackboard page and
 ePortfolio for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluation

 

 

 

Important Note: You will given a 24 hour grace period to submit assignments after their posted due date. After this point, I will take off 10 percent off of your grade. For every further week you are late, you will lose another 10 percent. THIS APPLIES FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS.

 

 

 

Low Stakes Writing Assignments: 18%

 

There are six low stakes assignments. You will write a response to the course materials based on a prompt I created. These low stakes assignments will be posted on our group ePortfolio. Please make sure you have access to this ePortfolio immediately.

 

 

 

Discussion Board Participation - 10 percent total.

 

In this class you will post on a total of 4 discussion boards. You are expected to post at least once on the introduction discussion board, and three times on each reflection based discussion board. There are 3 of these discussion boards. On each, you will post once in response to my prompts and two other times in response to classmates' posts. For the first week, you should post on the introduction discussion board and respond to my prompt on the first reflection discussion board.

 

 

 

Building Towards the Final Paper and Peer Review. (16% and 12% respectively)

 

Instead of doing your final paper all at once - you will do it increments. There are four increments to this paper (Research Question, Empirical Data, Analysis, and Rough Draft) You will complete this part of thie course in your individual ePortfolio. You will create an ePortfolio from the template I provided for you - Geog 301.01 Sping 2015 Template. Each section is worth four pecentage points.

 

 

 

After the first week or so you will given a partner. I will introduce you to your partner through email.  In the week after the building towards the final project are due you will be responsible for reviewing your partner's assignments according to specific criterion I provide. In the week after you post your building towards the final project assignment, you will peer review your partner's assignment through the add comment function. I will also give you feedback through this feature in ePortfolio.

 

 

 

I will introduce you and your partner through email. Once you are in contact with each other you will be accountable to your partner. Only in extreme circumstances will I intervene. 

 

 

 

Field Assignment: 19%

 

You will be asked to visit Harlem, or if you do not live in New York, somewhere else that we agree upon. You will complete an assignment based on your visit that will be graded upon a 100 point scale. If you do not live in the New York metro area, please contact me so we can decide on an alternative. You will also post this assignment in your individual ePortfolio.

 

 

 

The Final Paper - 25%

 

The final paper will be graded on a 100 point scale. 

 

 

 

The course is broken up into Learning Units. With the exclusion of the first assignment, each learning unit lasts two weeks. Typically, there will be one assignment due each week related to the learning unit.

 

 

 

 

 

What is the First Assignment?

 

 

 

In the first week (January 28th - February 4th) you should accomplish several tasks 

 

  1. Explore and become comfortable with the learning enviornment, both in blackboard and ePortfolio 
  2. Make sure you can access our Group Low Stakes ePortfolio - Geog 301.01 Spring 2015 Low Stakes 
  3.  Make sure you create an individual ePortolio from our class template, which is Geog 301.01 Spring 2015 Template
  4. Post at least once on the introduction discussion board in response to my prompt.
  5. Post a response to my prompt in the first discussion board (Discussion #1) - By the end of our second week (February 4th - February 11th) you should at least make two responses to your classmates' intital posts.

 

If you have questions - the best way to reach me is through email. 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.