This course examines key areas of contemporary migration politics in a historical perspective, such as refugee protection, border security, and regional integration. It also trains students in methods of documentary research.
Migration is one of the most hotly debated issues in current international politics. Governments face strong pressure to support an integrated global economy while simultaneously restricting access to local labor markets and social resources. Freedom of movement has also become a central point of tension in European and international organizations, notably in relation to humanitarian commitments.
This course will survey shifting patterns of trans-border migration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as political efforts to regulate those patterns. It will assess migration as part of wider processes of globalization, consider the particular challenges associated with the regulation of forced migration, and compare national, regional, and international governance structures. Lectures will link historical perspectives to current debates in migration policy.
Teaching methods will include ex-cathedra sessions, small-group work, and debates.
The course will help students develop the following skills:
- working with different kinds of evidence
- constructing an argument
- giving and receive critical feedback
- Lecturer: Madeleine Louise Lynch Dungy