Problems and Questions in Contemporary IMER Research

This course offers in-depth knowledge of central issues in international migration and ethnic relations (IMER). It draws on ongoing research at the department and the expertise of the teaching researchers. The aim is both to develop knowledge of the state of the art in the field and to examine how such knowledge is and can be produced. In so doing, the course consistently combines theoretical and methodological queries. The course is divided in two modules (15 + 15 credits), each of which covers a delimited area in current IMER research.

The course’s underlying pedagogical philosophy is that the generic intellectual skills of critical thinking and independent analysis are best developed in delimited thematic contexts, in which the connection between knowledge about and knowledge how are most visible and open for scrutiny. To this end, the course is focused on key problems and questions in contemporary IMER research, and benefits from the expertise and current research in the department. Apart from offering students in-depth knowledge on a selected set of subjects in the IMER field, the course also develops a more profound and general understanding of what it means “to know” something and how such knowledge is produced in IMER research.

For the fall semester of 2024, the following to modules are offered:

Module I

Migration and Rights: Legal and Normative Perspectives

International migration is a field of conflicting ideals and realities. This module explores such conflicts from the viewpoint of rights, understood both as legally codified entitlements pertaining to individuals and collectives, and as normative conceptions about what is just and fair. In the first sense, the module engages with international legislation governing migration with specific focus on the tensions between migrant rights and national self-determination/state sovereignty. In the second sense, this tension is critically examined from the viewpoint of normative values such as individual freedom, equality and democracy. The aim of the course is to improve the students’ understanding of the complexity and importance of rights in international migration, and to develop their ability to critically analyze tensions between different rights from a legal and normative perspective.

Module II

Artificial Intelligence: Citizenship, society and migration in an automated age

The course explores the growing impact of artificial intelligence driven technologies (AI) on citizenship, society and migration. The increasing scale, scope and adoption of AI is dramatically recasting citizenship and migration as we know it. AI applications have been normalized in numerous areas of relations between states, citizens and communities. It has also been adopted in mechanisms to managing migration. Further to this, AI is increasingly seen as the best (or only) option for current and future societal challenges.

The course approaches AI from a social science perspective. We will critically engage with how AI technologies relate to the field of IMER, and cover how one can understand, research and navigate its impacts. The course is designed to cut through the boom or bust AI hype, by grounding debates in ongoing empirical research on AI in relation to citizenship, statelessness, migration and democracy.

Syllabus autumn 2024

Earlier syllabuses

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