(Im)Migration, Multilingualism, and Identities

Catalog description

This course introduces students to the linguistic and social aspects of immigration in today's global society. Immigration will be studied as a socio-political construct with an emphasis on the linguistic, socio-cultural, and political challenges and opportunities that migration creates for the individual and society. Throughout the course we will explore one key question: What challenges and opportunities do different aspects of migration posses for multilingual societies and individuals? A great deal of the course focuses on the linguistic challenges that migration creates for the individual and society, with a special emphasis on the development of bilingualism and the education of immigrant children. From a larger socio-political perspective, the course focuses on various case studies of immigrant populations throughout the world in order to obtain a better understanding of the characteristics, opportunities, and challenges faced by immigrant populations internationally.