Reporting (on) Migration

Catalog description

How does media coverage shape migrant experience, representation, and policy development? What are the ethics of reporting on displaced populations? What critical frameworks shape our understanding of how populations in host countries understand the influx of migrants? What roles are played by media and social media in influencing policies and acceptance or rejection of migrant populations? This course on migration reporting takes as central case studies the so-called refugee crisis of Syrians in 2015 and compares it with the Ukrainian migration crisis of 2022, examining how media discourse may have impacted the way populations fleeing wars were viewed and responded to. Students will learn techniques of journalism writing and discuss journalism ethics. The class includes a seminar in Greece, along with the class International Peace-building and Education with Prof. Dana Burde, to meet with displaced populations and work in partnership with Refocus Media Labs, an organization that specializes in training refugees in migration reporting. Students will produce a written story and do several writing and news drills. This course will be offered in January-Term 2026. This course will be taught in Greece and will count as an Away J-Term course.