Political Science 470 - International Migrations and Politics in the Era of Globalization

We live in an era of mobility: movement of goods, services, capital, ideas, culture, and–most importantly–people. International migrations reshape politics, markets, and societies. They generate challenges and opportunities for individuals, families, communities, businesses, political parties, governments, and international organizations. Many current political debates revolve around questions concerning transnational movement: How can states manage migratory flows, both effectively and ethically? Do international migratory flows erode sovereignty? Do they generate democratic deficit? Does migration boost economic growth, becoming a bottom-up engine of contemporary modernization that helps rural communities and developing countries? Or, on the contrary, does migration perpetuate and exacerbate domestic and global inequalities? Does it deplete human capital or does it facilitate knowledge transmission? Does diaspora participation strengthen or weaken democracy? Does transnationalism amplify or moderate nationalist tendencies?

This course examines migrations around the world, in both sending and receiving countries. We will study the impact of migration on citizenship, identity, state sovereignty, security, democracy, development, elections, and social capital. The course explores the theories and realities of international migration in this globalization era. Readings cover cases from North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. We will compare trends to gain a full picture of human mobility, present and past. We will examine migration across space (cross-nationally) and over time, in historical perspective. The course follows the two key dimensions of migration research. We ask two sets of questions: Why do people move? and How do migrations shape the world in which we live? We examine how democracies and authoritarian regimes deal with different types of migration: e.g. voluntary and involuntary, documented and undocumented/irregular flows. The course will help you design, develop and conduct political science research.

Requisite: Recommended, at least one POSC course (200 level or above). Limited to 18 students. Fall semester. Assistant Professor Paul.

How to handle overenrollment: Priority given to juniors, then to a balance of sophomores and seniors.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Emphasis on readings, communication skills (discussions, oral presentations, written work - both academic and public intellectual/commentary style, online participation and engagement), group work, independent research, staying informed (following, sharing, and commenting current events), developing analytical skills that are portable across a wide range of professional and academic settings (developing an informed opinion on the basis of critical engagement with a set of competing arguments, contributing to a debate, synthesizing existing knowledge/research, categorizing claims, assessing arguments on the basis of real-world/empirical evidence, offering constructive criticism, setting goals for oneself and one's team, developing and implementing action plans, identifying effective accountability mechanisms, developing self-assessment techniques and achieving intellectual independence as a learner, etc.).