Introduction

Please click here to see History department information.

Issues of immigration are at the center of modern policy and political debates and are thus a core concern for social scientists, policy makers, civic leaders, community organizations, and citizens. The objective of the History Department's Undergraduate Immigration Studies Certificate is to offer both traditional academic training through coursework and research and also practical experience working with immigrant and refugee communities through an internship. The Immigration Studies Certificate will ultimately prepare students to conduct immigration research, influence immigration public policy, and inform immigrant-related government decisions.

Upon successful completion of the certificate, students will:

• Understand the theoretical explanations for immigration flows, immigrant assimilation and exclusion, and ethnic formation
• Possess a fundamental understanding of the legal and political institutions responsible for immigration policy
• Be familiar with currents trends in immigration studies thought, research, and activism
• Be able to apply the content and methodological skills to engage in original research projects involving immigration topics
• Be able to apply the theories and examples from coursework to conduct immigration-focused internships in the workforce

Program Delivery

• This is an on-campus program.

Declaring This Certificate

• Eligibility: While housed in the History Department, Immigration Studies is a multidisciplinary field that draws from Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, Political Science, Education, and Sociology. Thus, CU Denver undergraduate students in any discipline can enroll in the program.
• This certificate is open to all CU Denver Undergraduates. Students may apply for the Immigration Studies Certificate at any point in their studies and maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0 within the certificate courses. To apply, students should print and attach a completed Immigration Studies Certificate Application to an unofficial transcript. These documents should be submitted to the Immigration Studies Certificate Administrator, Dr. Kariann Yokota (kariann.yokota@ucdenver.edu). Once the application is approved, students will be contacted about their acceptance into the program.

These program requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their Immigration Studies advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them. 

General Requirements

Students must satisfy all requirements as outlined below and by the department offering the certificate. 

• Click here for information about Academic Policies.

Certificate Requirements

1. Students must complete a minimum of 12 credit hours from the approved courses.
2. Students must complete a minimum of six upper division (3000-level and above) credit hours from the approved courses.
3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the certificate and must achieve a minimum cumulative certificate GPA of 3.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to certificate requirements.
4. Students must complete all certificate credit hours with CU Denver faculty.

Certificate Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

1. If departments offer additional courses that fit within the themes of the Immigration Studies Certificate, those courses can be counted for credit with the Immigration Certificate Administrator’s approval
2. The certificate will be awarded when the student graduates with the bachelor's degree.

Required Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete both of the following required courses:		6
HIST 3345	Immigration and Ethnicity in American History 1	3
HIST 3939	Internship 2	1-3

¹

Students must take HIST 3345 Immigration and Ethnicity in American History prior to enrolling in an internship.

²

Students will work with the Immigration Studies Certificate Administrator and the Experiential Learning Center to secure an immigration- or refugee-related Internship.

Electives 

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete two related electives from the following list of courses:		6
ANTH 4300	Immigrant Health
ANTH 4350	Anthropology of Globalization
ETST 3108	Chicano/a and Latino/a History
ETST 3297	Social History of Asian Americans
ETST 3697	Contemporary Asian American Experience
ETST 3704	Culture, Racism and Alienation
HIST 4412	Mexico and the United States: People and Politics on the Border
LDFS 3000	Undocumented Mexican Immigration
PSCI 4545	Immigration Politics

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.