In this course we will be exploring various topics related to global migration. In our lifetimes more people are on the move around the world than at any documented time in human history, and they’re moving for a wide array of reasons. We’ll discuss the causes and consequences of migration for migrants themselves, communities in sending and receiving states, and those who are charged with managing and controlling migration. Each week we'll focus on a particular theme, and we'll approach it by exploring a range of international and/or comparative examples.

The Goals:

We're going to be working with academic materials, but we're also going to be considering more policy-focused publications such as those from the OSCE, UN and IOM, as well as materials that reflect political realities like speeches and newspaper articles, and the occasional popular cultural source, such as film depictions of migrants/migration. Ideally, such an approach will ensure that we're not only considering academic ideas, but really engaging with the wide breadth of materials and perspectives that influence and reflect the lives of actual migrants and migration policy makers around the world. 

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course students should expect to be able to:

• Demonstrate a critical awareness and in-depth knowledge of different regional and national experiences of and approaches to migration and migrants, from the perspective of migrants themselves, state and non-state actors. 

• Understand, critically analyze and engage with national, regional and international law, policy and practice related to international migration and related topics. 

• Understand, critically analyze and engage with the causes and consequences of international migration, in particular the political and policy-related components.

• Understand, engage with and question the ways in which international migration shapes and is shaped by understandings of rights, identities and notions of belonging.