From Persecution to Asylum: The Refugee Experience.

Catalog description

What comprises the refugee experience? This course traces the refugee journey from home to sanctuary and places in-between. The course begins by examining international criteria for persecution, and the conditions producing it. The process of forced migration is then analyzed, with an emphasis on the challenges faced by stateless populations, including the risks of flight, the costs of prolonged residence in refugee camps and other holding centers, and the tolls of legal liminality. The course concludes with an analysis of the asylum procedure. Students in this class will gain an understanding of the complex matrix of political, economic and social processes that commingle at the local and global level to produce refugees. The class will also provide an overview of how national and international actors (such as state governments, intergovernmental agencies and NGOs) shape the refugee dilemma over time through humanitarian measures and political responses.