Class Project Proposal
When many immigrants arrive to New York, they have a hard time adjusting to the new lifestyles and different cultures of this big city. I think it would be interesting to look at the various organizations that have helped the different immigrants adapt to their new life in New York City. Many of these organizations are vital to helping the immigrants adjust to their new homes. For example, the Mexican immigrants in Staten Island received a lot of help from the Latino Civic Association of Staten Island. Many Russian Jews also received help from similar organizations in Brooklyn. People from different countries and cultures have very different backgrounds, and all these different organizations play a part in helping the immigrants adapt. I think that it important to learn about the success stories of these immigrants, and the people who helped them gain these success.
For the class project, I think that the class can be broken up into groups of three to four students. Each group will be able to choose its own neighborhood or ethnic group to visit and work on. They can interview people, or just research on the various factors that made it hard for that specific group to adjust to life in New York. The factors can be religious differences, cultural differences, language barriers, educational differences, and any other barriers that may exist. The group can either pick one barrier, or many, and research about the struggle that the specific group experienced because of the difference or barrier. The group can also find out what impact the organization on helping the immigrants, the programs it started, and the methods it takes to help the immigrants.
Many immigrants still may be struggling, and it is also important to find out the areas in which they are not being helped. Is it because there are no organizations, or are the organizations unsuccessful? We may even be able to come up with our own idea of a way to help. This project will not only allow the class to gain a better understanding of the struggles that most immigrants come to when arriving to New York, but it will also allow everyone to learn more about the different cultures that come. Maybe part of the problem is that they feel too much pressure to become “American,” but they do not want to give up the cultures and traditions from their motherland. They have to find a way to adapt to this new city without compromising their own values and beliefs. I think this project can explore the methods that work for helping the immigrants, along with coming up with new proposals.
