Past Undergraduate Courses

Spring 2020

GERM 506B: Intercultural Competence: Narratives of Belonging
Instructor: Markus Hallensleben
Thursdays, 2:00 – 4:00 pm

This course is open to graduate students from all fields and focuses on narratives of belonging from an interdisciplinary cultural studies perspective. How do people relate to place? Does the question “Where are you from?” assume a linear narrative and sedentarist perspective of exclusion? How do we narratively create and perform belonging, cultural spaces, phenomenological borders, national and ethnic identities? With an emphasis on contemporary postmigrant narratives from and about refugees and immigrants in German-language literature that have become central to society and in social studies, we will investigate counter-perspectives to Eurocentric, ethnically and nationally centred visions of identity.

To view the draft course syllabus, please click here.

Fall 2019

CLST 518B: Archaeologies of Greek Mobilities, Migrations, and Diasporas 
Instructor: Franco De Angelis
Monday & Fridays, 2:30 – 4:00 pm

Mobility, migration, and diaspora have become central themes in the humanities and social sciences, and the study of the ancient Greeks as a history of movement and connectivity is no exception. Recent research has revealed an outstanding new fact: ancient Greeks may have founded over 500 “colonies” (or about one-third to one-half of the total number of Greek states in the Archaic and Classical periods), which may have been home to more than 40% of all ancient Greek population. In other words, ancient Greek mobilities and migrations represented literally the other half of story of ancient Greece. However, teaching of the subject has not kept pace with advances in research. We currently have two separate narratives of Greek history and archaeology—the older outdated one normally found in textbooks and the newer one that is the focus of this course. They need to be brought together through a diaspora perspective, in order to write an up-to-date fresh narrative history of the ancient Greek world. This seminar course fills that gap and expands the narrow story we tell about the ancient Greeks. The course is divided into two parts. In part one, we lay the groundwork for the subject with several introductory lectures and joint seminars, in which we explore together some necessary matters, such as modern constructions of narratives of ancient Greece and the importance of archaeological evidence to write the history of Greek mobilities, migrations, and diasporas. Some of the matters to be addressed can be formulated as the following questions. What are the most appropriate terminologies to be used in describing and explaining these ancient Greek mobilities, migrations, and diasporas, all of which have traditionally been labelled “colonies” and “colonization”? Is hybridity an appropriate and problem-free way to describe their cultural outcomes? Was Greek art produced outside of Greece “provincial” and “debased” or are other more apt descriptions and attitudes better suited in light of recent advances in theoretical thinking? In second part of the course, students will present their research on subjects they have chosen. Given the range of potential subject matter addressed in this course, students from various programmes will find something of interest and intellectual enrichment to their studies of the ancient world.

For additional information, please click here.

POLI 516C/GPP 591G: Debates in Migration and Citizenship
Instructor: Antje Ellermann
Wednesdays, 2:00 – 5:00 pm

Human mobility has become one of the most contested issues in contemporary politics. This seminar surveys key scholarly debates in the study of migration and citizenship in political science and cognate disciplines. We comparatively examine in both historical and cross–national perspective the ways in which states and societies (particularly in the Global North) have responded to, and have become transformed by, immigration. The course covers a wide range of topics: theories of international migration and immigration regimes, theoretical approaches to migration studies, immigration and settler colonialism, the ethics of borders, migration control, public opinion on immigration, voting behaviour and populist radical right parties, the making of immigration policy, national identity and citizenship, immigrant inclusion, and multiculturalism and religion.

To view the course syllabus, please click here.

GEOG 535: An introduction to international migration and settlement
Instructor: Dan Hiebert
Wednesdays, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

This course is designed to introduce a broad set of issues and approaches to the study of international migration and settlement. The first part of the course will survey a number of key concepts and theories of migration, with emphasis on the role of the state and regulatory systems—that it, how migration policies are framed and operationalized. We will also consider the relationship between national security and migration, an issue that has arisen in the wake of 9-11 and other terrorist incidents. The second part will concentrate on elements connecting places of origin and destination, and will explore key debates in countries of sustained migrant settlement, particularly Europe where we will consider the relationship between migration and the national (or supra-national) imaginary, as well as the relationship between asylum, human rights, and attempts to regulate (supra)national borders. Finally, the course will close on the question of integration policies and processes, particularly the recent challenges to the idea of multiculturalism (which was so widely supported a generation ago), and the concern that has arisen over the relationship between diversity and social cohesion.

To view the course syllabus, please click here.

EDST 565A 81: Migration and Adult Education
Instructor: Hongxia Shan
Wednesdays, 4:30 – 7:30 pm

“All the world seems to be on the move” (Urry, 2006, p. 207). Asylum seekers, professionals, guest workers, undocumented migrants, international students, business people, families, tourists and many others have changed the social, cultural, economic and political landscape across place. The phenomenal scale, speed, and spread of the migratory movement, coupled with the accelerating rate of globalization and technological development, has transformed how social relations are organized, performed and mobilized in the local, national, and transnational realms. It seems to have led to the formation of a connected, networked, pluralized, and according to some, decentered or flattening world. Yet, at the same time, we’ve also witnessed the entrenchment and emergence of old and new disconnects, divides, disparities and inequalities. On the one hand, the social ideal associated with immigration has shifted from assimilation, which is one-way and one sided, to integration, supposedly a two-way process, with transnationalism looming always in the horizon. On the other hand, while multiculturalism has been a major policy discourse managing immigration and diversity, much of the global west, with the exception of Canada, has moved into an era of post-multiculturalism. All these have presented unprecedented opportunity as well as challenge for adult educators and cultural workers, especially those who work in the areas of vocational education, language training, employment support, career counseling, and workplace diversity management.

This course is designed to inquire into, drawing on interdisciplinary readings and research, the changing policies, practices, pedagogies and politics of adult education and learning, vis-à-vis the context of multiple mobilities, super-diversity, and shifting social and material organization of work and life. Through this course, you will develop a critical appreciation of the context of immigration, integration, (post)-multiculturalism, and transnationalism and its impacts on adult education and learning. You will expand your understanding of the politics of skills and recognition, the complex roles that adult education and learning plays in immigrants’ work and lives, as well as the power and problems of everyday pedagogies, everyday multiculturalism and convivial (dis)integration. You will also develop a repertoire of epistemic, pedagogical and research tools and skills in approaching issues of diversity, equity, and social justice in your educational practices. This course is suited for educational practitioners and researchers who are interested in learning about and challenging the status quo of adult education and learning as it relates to issues of immigration and integration.

For additional information, please click here.

SPRING 2019

POLI 516C/Global Public Policy 591G, Migration and Citizenship
Instructor: Antje Ellermann
Wednesdays, 2:00 – 5:00 pm 

Human mobility has become one of the most contested issues in contemporary politics. This seminar surveys key scholarly debates in the study of migration and citizenship in political science and cognate disciplines. We comparatively examine in both historical and cross–national perspective the ways in which states and societies (particularly in the Global North) have responded to, and become transformed by, immigration. The course covers a wide range of areas: theories of international migration, the ethics of borders, migration control, immigration policy making, public attitudes, anti-immigrant populism and the rise of far-right parties, refugee protection, national identity and citizenship, immigrant integration and multiculturalism, and transnationalism and homeland-hostland politics.

GERM 520C, Narratives of Migration
Instructor: Markus Hallensleben
Thursdays, 2:00 – 4:00 pm

This course focuses on narratives of migration from a comparative studies point of view. It aims to provide an interdisciplinary framework for the investigation of transnational literature within the wider context of the global mobility turn and critical European Studies, with a special emphasis on the most recent German-language post-migration literature that appeared since the European “refugee crisis” in 2015. While one part of the course will utilize the sociological concepts of post-migration and superdiverse societies for an analysis of literary narratives as counter-narratives to Eurocentric, ethnically and nationally centred models of belonging, another part will investigate select primary texts. This course is taught in English with a directed study approach, including portfolio components in preparation for the final essay. The course is open to graduate students from all fields who work on narratives of migration in any context, whether in theory or praxis. Students are welcome to incorporate their own research and will present on at least one course related topic based on their own annotated working bibliographies.

Fall 2018

GEOG 535, An Introduction to International Migration and Settlement
Instructor: Dan Hiebert
Wednesdays, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

This course is designed to introduce a broad set of issues and approaches to the study of international migration and settlement. The first part of the course will survey a number of key concepts and theories of migration, with emphasis on the role of the state and regulatory systems—that is, how migration policies are framed and operationalized. We will also consider the relationship between national security and migration, an issue that has arisen in the wake of 9-11 and other terrorist incidents. The second will concentrate on elements connecting places of origin and destination. The third will explore key debates in countries of sustained migrant settlement, particularly Europe where we will consider the relationship between migration and the national (or supra-national) imaginary, as well as the relationship between asylum, human rights, and attempts to regulate (supra)national borders. Finally, the course will close on the question of integration policies, particularly the recent challenges to the idea of multiculturalism (which was so widely supported a generation ago), and the concern that has arisen over the relationship between diversity and social cohesion.

FRENCH 512 (cross-listed with SPAN 501), Introduction to Mobility Studies
Instructor: Gaoheng Zhang
Wednesdays, 4:00 – 6:00 pm

This course will introduce Mobility Studies in relation to case studies focused on several mobile subjects—namely, merchants, explorers, tourists, colonizers, pilgrims, and migrants—within Italian, French, and Chinese contexts. As an umbrella social theory, Mobility Studies provides a new paradigm to explain significant social phenomena, which range from social inequality to global climate change, all of which are related to movements. Our course will contribute to cultural analysis of mobilities by exploring how to use this paradigm to frame major intercultural events (e.g., the Age of Discovery, the Grand Tour, and migrations) as they are articulated in narratives of diverse types (e.g., novels, journalism, diaries, and films). In particular, we will consider the motivations, knowledge, technologies, affects, meanings, and power relations of narratives of these movements.