Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/Pomona College/Critical Inquiry Seminar: Diasporas (FA2014)/Course description

In Greek, “diaspora” means “to scatter.” Today the term describes a community of people who live outside their shared country of origin but maintain active connections with it. Several questions frame this seminar about such diasporas. How do diaspora groups organize to influence U.S. foreign policies? How does this relate to their identity, and their relationships to both their homelands and the U.S.? How, when and why are diaspora groups successful in shaping U.S. policies toward their country of origin?

In the context of an increasingly multiethnic American society, local politics often is ethnic politics. Ethnic lobbies, like other interest groups, utilize political muscle, monetary resources, and electoral clout to try and influence U.S. foreign policies. The daily schedule of any secretary of state or national security adviser often includes sessions with domestic ethnic groups. The end of the Cold War has served to increase ethnic group influence. In a multipolar world, where no single threat to the U.S. exists and where the once “imperial presidency” is in retreat before Congress, and where the Congress itself is increasingly subject to partisan rivalries, social forces have gained more power to influence foreign policy. As such, the seminar will touch on a number of important themes: identity, immigration, civil society, ethnic politics, interest groups, and U.S. foreign policy.

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