Variety of Human Experience - Immigrant Research Presentation

(Small Groups) (50 points)

In project groups of 3-4 students, research and/or interview an immigrant whose
background is different from your own and who came to this country when he or she was at least
10 years old. Some examples of famous immigrants include: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austria;
Madeleine Albright, Czechoslovakia; Dave Matthews, South Africa; Rupert Murdoch, Australia;
Freddy Adu, Ghana; Mikhail Baryshnikov, USSR; George Soros, Hungary; Dikembe Motumbo,
Congo; Sammy Sosa, Dominican Republic. The person you focus on may be famous or may be a
friend, acquaintance, someone you go to school with, or anyone who does not mind discussing
his or her worldview and family. If you interview someone, you must seek verbal consent with
the individual that you interview, prior to completing this project. You should note this consent
as a part of your presentation and when it was obtained. The goal of this project is to learn more
about the immigrants worldview and culture, as well as how it relates to his or her core values.
You will be developing your own questions to explore in your presentation. If you are
researching a famous immigrant, try to choose one who has talked about these issues in
interviews, etc., so you can find this material. Developing your own questions to ask/research
will be a part of the assignment. You should submit your list of questions that you used in your
inquiry as an appendix to your presentation.
Here are some ideas for questions:
In the view of the immigrant, what is the persons definition of freedom? What about human
rights?
Was health care available to him/her and if so how would he/she describe its availability and
quality?
What did he/she know of the culture (in U.S.A.) prior to immigrating? What motivated him/her
to
come here?
What were (are) some of the biggest obstacles in dealing with being in a new country?
What are common aspirations shared by both cultures? How does the immigrant define
happiness?

Deliver a 15-minute, in-class presentation (it must have some kind of visual element, such as a
PowerPoint presentation, Video, Prezi, or a poster board) that illustrates what you learned about
the interviewees core values and worldview. Each member of your project team should speak
for 5 minutes as part of the presentation and participate in collecting the information as well as
delivering the presentation.