Global Migrations

Catalog description

Global Migrations examines human mobility from the early modern period to the present. Challenging popular assumptions about who migrates, where they move to, and why, it explores mobility as a fundamental element of how empires, states and societies came to be. Special attention will be paid to cross-cultural connections made possible by migrant populations, questioning whether "globalization" is only a twentieth century phenomenon. The course provides a basic knowledge of major global migration movements, from the Mongols and the Silk Road to the Atlantic slave trade, twentieth century labor migrations and contemporary issues such as trafficking, statelessness and diaspora politics. Throughout, it examines the challenges and opportunities that migrations pose for immigrants, as well as sending and receiving societies.