Transnational Migrant Networks and Flows
Full course description
The course on Transnational Migrant Networks and Flows will introduce transnationalism as a concept and an approach. It presents students to the different dimensions of the concept of transnationalism (transnational networks and families; migrant diasporas and development; transnational cultures; transnational flows and the state) and its importance for debates on migration and development. Students will also become acquainted with transnationalism as an approach and reflect on the methodological consequences of transnational research. They will conduct an in-depth interview with a migrant and research the particular migration flow that they represent. At the end of the course students will be able to interpret and analyze theoretical and empirical literature in the areas of transnationalism and migration and development and to conduct and report on a qualitative interview.
Course objectives
After completion of this course, students are able to:
- Describe the main academic debates in the field of migration and development studies and the theories that underpin them
- Define and explain transnationalism as a concept and as an approach
- Explain how a transnational approach departs from other approaches to the study of migration
- Discuss theoretical and empirical academic literature in the area of transnational migration studies
- Identify and give examples of ethical concerns when conducting research on vulnerable populations
- Explain how transnationalism relates to the use of communication technologies, migrant diasporas , families, gender and intergenerational relations, migrant networks, cultures and state policies
- Relate current events to transnational migrant phenomena
- Develop a topic guide for an interview with a migrant on a transnational phenomenon
- Conduct an interview with a migrant that reveals information related to a transnational phenomenon and is conducted in an ethical way
- Analyze a transnational phenomenon for the purposes of a research paper based on academic literature and the interview conducted, and communicate this effectively in a written form to an academic audience.
Prerequisites
The courses: - GDS4000 and - GDS4002