Immigration Experiences
Students Gain Greater Awareness of the Richness of the Cultural Community That Surrounds Them
Students in Amy Schneidhorst’s History 228 Immigration and Ethnicity class recently interviewed immigrants about their immigration experience.
The visiting assistant professor of history thought it would be more meaningful for her students if, instead of telling them about ethnic and racial diversity, they had the experience of uncovering it themselves.
“I’m originally from Chicago, so it’s very obvious in day-to-day life the diversity of ethnicity in the community,” says Schneidhorst. “When I started teaching this course in the fall, it seemed to me that students were less aware of the richness of the cultural community that surrounded them.”
Student Jessica Saunders, with Marcus Richter
Members of the Alma College community interviewed for the project include Zhewei Dai, Sheryle Dixon and Victor Argueta.
“The nice surprise that came out of these interviews is that some of the students interviewed people who had strong cultural ties to the country of which they originated,” says Schneidhorst. “This challenged the myth that people come to the United States for a better life or out of rejection of their home culture.”
Technical Services Librarian Marcus Richter, who emigrated from Germany, retains his cultural ties by continuing to speak German at home and staying close to his family abroad. Ishpeming sophomore Jessica Saunders learned this when she interviewed Richter.
Saunders, who works in the library as a circulation desk assistant, also learned that German culture often reflects American culture, which surprised her.
“He told me that many TV shows, movies and music are German-dubbed American productions,” she says of her interview with Richter. “This gave me a view of American culture from the perspective of someone who isn’t from here.”
Throughout the semester, Schneidhorst’s students came to an awareness of the varieties of cultures and ethnicities that were not only part of Alma but also part of their own families.
Holland sophomore Elizabeth Corbin interviewed her mother, who emigrated from the Philippines in 1984.
While her mother mentioned immigrating to the U.S., Corbin says the two never had a conversation about it. Now, after talking about it, she feels a lot closer to her mother.
“I understand her more, and I understand why she is the way she is,” says Corbin. “I learned a lot from this project. She’s not your average American. I didn’t realize all the different things culturally she had to give up.”
Other countries represented in the project included France, Northern Ireland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Haiti, in addition to many more.
Wyoming senior Jeffrey Daniels interviewed the father of his father’s co-worker, who emigrated from Latvia during World War II, giving him the chance to meet someone he says he probably wouldn’t have otherwise.
“Hearing his story gave me a better appreciation for life because he was around my age when he immigrated to the U.S.,” says Daniels. “It made me realize that I take things for granted.”
Schneidhorst is pleased with the enthusiasm and dedication her students put toward the project. In addition to asking them to record and transcribe their interview, she also asked them to give the transcript to the people they interviewed to thank them for having shared their story.
“A couple of students have remarked on how enlightening it was to learn about the immigration experience,” she says. “I hope this experience challenged them to broaden their connections to people who maybe aren’t on their radar as well as encourage them to see the complexity of the communities that we come out of.”
— Ellen Doepke
Posted: Thu, April 15th, 2010 at 2:06PM
