Admission requirements
This course is only open for students that are enrolled in the Minor Ecology, Migration and Tolerance: Limits to Cooperation.
Description
Our world is a world defined by the interconnections of the local and the global and the continuous flow of goods, information, services, technology, capital and cultural influences. While the global traffic of goods, services, capital, ideas, and culture is often regarded as inevitable, the free movement of people across national borders is often perceived as problematic and remains largely unregulated internationally. Furthermore, within both origin and destination societies, human diversity raises complex questions of integration and peaceful coexistence. In some cases, these interactions give rise to tension, discrimination, or violence.
Although migration and diversity often feature prominently in political and social debates, they are frequently misunderstood or considered outside of their historical and economic context. This lack of understanding of the context can foster a tendency towards presentism and alarmist narratives.
This course examines the role of migration and migrants in contemporary societies and economies, placing them within a broader social, economic and historical framework. It discusses the role of the state, class, gender, ethnicity in shaping migration processes, as well as the processes of integration into host societies. The course draws on individual cases to illustrate and analyse key developments. Students will engage with the following topics:
A theoretical and historical introduction to migration: Why do people move? What are the major historical and contemporary trends? What is the role of economic factors, conflict, poverty and environmental change? Why does migration history matter? How do historical political, economic and colonial ties continue to shape present-day migration patterns?
International refugee regime: Why and how is this kind of migration regulated at the international level? What forms of protection is available to people fleeing violence, discrimination and persecution? This topic will explore the historical origins and development of the international refugee regime, as well as the current situation in different parts of the world.
How do states and their economic and migration policies on the one hand and migrants and their networks on the other influence mobility patterns and migration outcomes? What is the impact of migration on both countries of origin and destination? What roles do class, gender, religion, ethnicity, and citizenship play in the integration process?
Contemporary policy debates: What is the role of migration in economic and technological development? How does it affect labour markets? How does migration transform societies and cultures and how does it contribute to the sustainability of modern societies and economies?
Course objectives
Concise description of the course objectives formulated in terms of knowledge, insight and skills students will have acquired at the end of the course. The relationship between these objectives and achievement levels for the programme should be evident.
The students will gain a global overview of the problems and issues related to migration.
The students will become familiar with a variety of sources that are relevant to current issues of migration.
The students will gain in-depth knowledge of several theories related to migration.
The students will be able to engage with academic discussions regarding migration.
The students will be able to analyse the migration process in its social, historical and political contexts.
The students will learn how to prepare and conduct fieldwork research, as well as how to analyse and interpret results.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Eight lectures.
Four seminars.
Assessment method
Assessment
Invididual assignments
Group assignment
Final Exam: oral/written examination
Resit: oral examination
Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Individual assignments | 35% |
| Group assignment | 15% |
| Final Exam | 50% |
End Grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:
- The end grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of the individual assignments grade, the group assignment grade and the exam grade.
Resit
If the end grade is insufficient (lower than a 5.5), there is a possibility of retaking the exam. No resit for the group assignment is possible.
Retaking a passing grade
Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2025 – 2026.
Exam review and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.
Reading list
To be announced.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Student Affairs Office for BA International Studies
Remarks
All other information.