The certificate’s focus is knowledge enhancement in migration and mobilities research that is informed by multiple disciplines and grounded in interdisciplinarity. Students are required to take at least one course outside of their home departments to gain an understanding of different academic perspectives on migration studies. All students complete a core migration seminar that requires engagement with diverse and decolonizing methodologies in studying migration.
Program requirements
To complete the certificate, students must fulfill 10 credits:
- ASTU 505 – Interdisciplinary Research and Professional Practice in Migration Studies (1 credit). Students are generally expected to complete this year-long core research seminar in their first year of the certificate program. The course meets bi-weekly throughout Winter Terms 1 and 2. In 2024/25, the course meets on Mondays from 12-1:45pm, beginning on Sept 9th. See course catalogue for details.
- 9 credits of graduate course electives from a list of approved courses. The 9 credits may be completed any time during the student’s graduate degree. 3 of the 9 credits must be taken outside of the student’s home department. Where departments open up 400 level courses to graduate students, certificate students may take 3 of the required 9 credits at the 400 level. See the Certificate Courses page for more information.
- Any number of these elective credits may also be applied to the requirements for the student’s graduate degree program of study, at the discretion of the student’s degree program.
- Upon completing the 10 credits, students are required to submit a 5-7 page paper reflecting on their curricular learning.
- If a student does not maintain continuous registration in or is withdrawn from their degree program before they complete the certificate requirements, they will be simultaneously withdrawn from the graduate certificate program. However, if a student has already completed all certificate requirements when they are withdrawn from the degree program, they may be awarded the certificate.
If a student takes an approved leave of absence during their degree program, they will simultaneously be on leave from the graduate certificate program.
Satisfactory progress as defined by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for Graduate Certificate students must be maintained.
Contact Information
For any inquiries on the Graduate Certificate in Migration Studies, please contact CMS Research Manager, Gabriele Dumpys Woolever, at manager.migration@ubc.ca.