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Syllabus Refugees & Development - 59541
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Last update 11-03-2019
HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Glocal International Development

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Orit Gazit-Lederman

Coordinator Email: orit.gazit@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Tuesday, 16:00-17:00

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Orit Gazit

Course/Module description:
This course focuses on the identity construction processes of refugee communities and asylum-seekers, and places them within the broader international-political and strategic dynamics typical of the contemporary ‘age of migration’. Through some of the most recent ethnographic, sociological and international-political works done in the fields of refugee studies and international migration, we will explore together such topics as the existential anxiety and lack of ‘security of the self’ that are an inseparable feature of being a stranger; micro-level processes of identity construction and techniques adopted by refugee communities across the globe to cope with their situation; the relations between refugees, development and security; the socio-symbolic and political meanings of border-crossing and territorial passages; the relations between space, migration and emotions; and the macro-political and strategic processes affecting refugee communities in an age in which we are all, to a certain extent, strangers.

Course/Module aims:
To expose students to some of the most recent research done in the field of international migration and refugee studies;

To offer an integrative view on international migration, which brings together the micro-sociological dimension of the identity construction and subjective experiences of refugees and asylum-seekers across the globe; with macro-sociological, political and international aspects of this phenomena.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
display in-depth understanding of the major approaches and contemporary research done within the field of international migration and refugee studies.

Attendance requirements(%):
80

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Frontal instruction and discussions in class

Course/Module Content:
*What is 'the age of migration'? On mobility and population movements from the Global South to the Global North;

*The uprooting of people, refugees and identity: A conceptual framework;

*The stranger as a social form and as a state of being in the (post)modern age;

*The elasticity of thresholds and the politics of the European refugee crisis;

*Irregular migration and the space in-between states and societies;

*The host society and the asylum-seekers: Symbolic and political encounters;

*The securitization of migration;

*Refugees as a challenge to the 'traditional' nation-state: The concept of 'the camp' in contemporary refugee studies;

*Narratives of displacement and ethnographies of trauma;

*Ontological Security (OS) in migration;

*Tensions and dilemmas in fieldwork among refugee communities;

*Voluntary organizations, humanitarianism and representations of the refugee;

*Between universalism and nationalism: Migration policies and citizenship in the 21st century.

Required Reading:
See course website

Additional Reading Material:

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 10 %
Project work 90 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
The course is a joint initiative of the M.A. program of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the GLOCAL M.A. program in international development. Open to third year undergraduate students of sociology with the permission of the course coordinator.
 
Students needing academic accommodations based on a disability should contact the Center for Diagnosis and Support of Students with Learning Disabilities, or the Office for Students with Disabilities, as early as possible, to discuss and coordinate accommodations, based on relevant documentation.
For further information, please visit the site of the Dean of Students Office.
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