Write a paper on the causes of Migration in Canada.
The aim is to provide a ‘rich’ and ‘thick’ description of a personal or first person narrative, while connecting to
the themes, concepts and theory from the course.
Students may choose to apply the concepts and theory from course readings to a personal narrative or family
history. In doing so, students draw from the life history of one or multiple people that they know (or would like
to know more). Students may ask additional questions about the migration experience (to supplement their
existing knowledge), may add personal anecdotes or archival material – such as photos, mementos, proof of
travel etc. Students should illustrate such narratives in creative and different ways. For example, the story and
journey of one family member who set off a wave of inter-generational ties to home.
While the data (information acquired) is part of the paper, it needs to be directly related to central concepts from
the course. This is not a ‘historical’ account or ‘history’ paper, it is not an autobiography or biography. The
paper must directly apply the concepts/theories or central ideas from the course. For example, a student may
want to explore the concept of ‘belonging’ more in-depth, in doing so they use the anecdotal evidence to
illustrate how a migrant’s sense of belonging (for example) can be applied or illustrated to a particular case.
Research may include:
– Examination of photos (videos) from personal archives (or photos/videos that represent the time period)
– Photos (videos) or information from news that relate to the personal account
– Stories or information from relatives or first person account – ‘push’ ‘pull’ details
– Relevant dates and timelines of emigration, migration, settlement, acculturation, etc.
– Personal artifacts, examination of ‘papers’, train tickets, any artifact that exemplifies migration
– Inclusion of historical information that pertains to the personal case
– Discussions of citizenship acquisition, refugee status
– Discussion of elements related to xenophobia, racism, anti-immigrant sentiment
