This curriculum tool serves to :
- Highlight materials of interest in The Postville Project that lend themselves particularly well to research, instruction, and discussion in the classroom.
- Lay a foundation for students to develop a proficient understanding of the events of Postville and the contextual issues and events that coincided with the 2008 immigration raid.
- Draw in and highlight materials that are contained in the project’s Index of Related Resources.
This tool has been developed with the guidance and collaborative work of Christine Moeller, Visiting Assistant Professor and Instructional Design Librarian, at Luther College. Ms. Moeller combined The Postville Project with other related resources to design a semester-long research curriculum and project for first-year undergraduate students. This tool is largely modeled after the syllabus and classroom instruction that she designed for her course.
Module 1: Ancestral Migration Identity, Exploration, Stories
Readings:
“Repercussions of Immigration Raid Felt Far Beyond Iowa” – Catholic News Service
“Immigrants’ Speedy Trials After Raid Become Issue” – NY Times
“Postville, Iowa is up for Grabs” – NY Times
Shattered Dreams, by Virginia Gibbs and Luz Maria Hernandez, p. 5-22
Assignment:
My Migration History
Module 2: Multimedia Contextual Learning, Reflection, and Discussion
Showing of AbUSed: The Postville Raid a documentary filmmaker Luis Argueta, followed by class discussion or possible input by a panel or guest speaker who can address some of the larger issues present in the film. Unedited film interviews are available at www.postvilleproject.org.
Readings:
Shattered Dreams, p. 22-36
Review of Julie Berg-Raymond’s photography collection of, First Week Post-Raid, available at www.postvilleproject.org and click on Collections.
Assignment:
Written response/reflection paper to variety of multimedia resource