Education is a central aspect of the Center for Global Migration Studies mission. The Center works to provide a distinctive institutional home for interdisciplinary research, for training faculty and students, and for distributing information about the history of the immigrant experience to a broad public in a number of different ways.
In addition to academic conferences, publications, and presentations, the Center provides undergraduate students at the University of Maryland information on immigration/migration related courses, an "Immigration and Migration Studies" transcript notation, a minor in immigrant studies, and a certificate in immigrant studies.
The Center is also dedicated to K-12 education. Currently, the Center is partnering with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in assessing the state of the field regarding the teaching and learning of immigration and migration history in public schools across the United States. The data and analysis generated by this research will serve as the basis for the creation of a new framework for teaching migration/immigration across the country. For more information on this project, please visit the Center's page on "Reframing the Teaching and Learning of Migration/Immigration in U.S. History."
The Archive of Immigrant Voices adds to this education mission. These oral histories represent a way to capture and preserve the stories of recent immigrants to the United States as a source for scholars, a classroom tool for teachers, and a resource enabling immigrants themselves to share their experiences and memories. On this page educators can find links to other oral history projects and lesson plans related to immigration and migration. In addition, the Center has created a sample lesson plan using one of the Archive's oral history interviews. As the Archive grows, more lesson plans and educator resources will be created.
Immigration and Migration Oral History Projects/Collections
National Park Service Ellis Island Oral Histories
University of Texas at El Paso Institute of Oral History
Northern Michigan University Italian-American Immigrant Oral History Catalog
Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Immigrant Oral Histories
Library of Congress, Interviews with Today’s Immigrants
Arab Immigration Oral History Digital Collection, University of Florida
PhilaPlace, Oral Interview Collection
Resources and Lesson Plans Related to Immigration/Migration and Oral Histories
Library of Congress, Teacher Resources-Immigration
National Park Service, Ellis Island--Oral Histories for Your Classroom
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Immigration History Lesson Plans
Bracero Archive, Teaching Resources
University of Minnesota Immigrant History Research Center Curriculum Plans
Archive of Immigrant Voices Lesson Plans
Teaching Contemporary Immigration with Oral History: Interview with Carlos Morales Lesson Plan