MIGRATIONS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The course on "Migrations and the environment" covers one of the key areas in the LM program on “Environmental Humanities”, namely the study of social patterns of behaviour as embedded in wider global transformations, with reference to the question of climate change.
On the one side, international migrations are the effect of wider processes in political, economic, social and -indeed- environmental fields. On the other side, migrants' trajectories have an impact on their surrounding social and natural environments, in countries of origin as well of arrival, at multiple levels. It is in this perspective, that this course tackles the issue of human mobility and the transformations associated with it.
The course is also offered to students from the LM programs in “Relazioni internazionali comparate” and “Lavoro, cittadinanza sociale, interculturalità”.

At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1) illustrate the main theoretical approaches to human mobilities in relation to global transformations, including climate change
2) identify the fundamental terminology and concepts used in migration studies and use the terms correctly in context
3) describe main issues from the history of international migrations, and their economic, social and political implications, in key geographical areas
4) critically analyse current academic and policy debates on migrations, and their relationship with the external social and natural environments in which they take place.
5) capacity to select and elaborate on relevant sources (secondary literature and empirical data) in order to provide a sounded and clear discussion of the course topics
6) effectively analyse and present in English (in writing and speaking) original research results, expanding on the core issues addressed by the course

Language skills, according to the admission requirements

The course will explore the main trends in contemporary international migrations and their interconnection with wider global transformations. In so doing, it provides an overview of key notions in migration studies concerning the motivations, patterns and outcomes of people’s mobility in different geographical settings (e.g. Europe, US, Latin America and the Pacific Rim). The distinction between ‘humanitarian’ and ‘economic’ motivations for migrating will be thoroughly discussed. In this discussion, the case of mobility - directly or indirectly - motivated by the effects of climate change is paradigmatic. At the same time, we are going to consider how human mobility also affects the social and natural environments in which it takes place. Thus, we are also looking at the way international organizations (e.g. OIM, UN, ILO, GFMD) are intervening in this realm at the policy level.

Compulsory readings will be chapters taken from the following books:
- Triandafyllidou, Anna, ed., Routledge Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies, 2016 [available at the BAUM library]
- Triandafyllidou, Anna, ed., Handbook of Migration and Globalisation, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018 [available at the BAUM library]

The selection of chapters from text books will be provided before the start via the moodle page, together with extra readings suggested for the students who want to submit a paper instead of taking the written examination (see below).

The final evaluation will be based on the following elements:

1a) A written exam in the (virtual) classroom consisting on writing a short essay (2 pages) responding to a chosen question (from 2 options). In order to answer to the chosen question, students will have to show their knowledge of the course program, including Compulsory readings and the Suggested readings (only of the 1st and 2nd modules), and their acquired capacity to critically reflect on issues of migration in relation to global transformations. This written exam will have the duration of 2 hours and students will not be allowed to consult any material available online or on their PC, but only personal notes or readings on paper.

1b) In alternative to this, students can decide to write a short paper to be submitted (by email) on the same day of the written examination mentioned at 1a). Students who want to choose this option have to submit a half-page abstract before the end of the course (15 December 2020). The paper has to be maximum 5 pages, Times New Roman size 11, spacing 1.5. The list of references (which does not count in the 5-pages limit) has to be at the end of the paper and follow the MLA style.
Concerning the topic of your paper: it has to relate to one of the phenomena we discussed in class (including guest speakers' classes) and expand it through the analysis of a specific case study. As case study you can take, for instance: 1) the specific conditions and experiences of a migrants' group; 2) the stories told by one or more novelists or video-makers about migrant protagonists; 3) events and stories taking place in a specific city or geographical areas, etc. Please do not include cases based on your personal/family experience or on interviews because ethnographic research on migrations falls outside the scope of this course. Also, please remember that you are writing a research essay and not a policy brief or a report. This means that the selected case-study needs to be interpreted as embedded in one of the general theories and phenomena we discussed in class, showing that you master the state of the art literature on these topics and you can relate to the main research questions in this field. For this reason, the main tool to analyze your case-study will be the (Compulsory and Suggested) readings available on the Moodle. You need to show how you used them in your analysis, by quoting them in the appropriate ways.

Please remember to sign-up for the written exam date even if you decided to submit a paper, because all communication with students, also concerning the oral exam, will take place via the Esse3 platform.


2) The oral exam will consist of a (online) discussion starting from the written essay (1a or 1b), and later expanding to cover other aspects of the course program, with particular with reference to the Compulsory readings, in order to have a full assessment of the knowledge and abilities they have learned through the course. The oral examinations will start one week after the written exams. Students will receive a message from the Professor with the dates of the online sessions and the list of people scheduled for each session.

The course consists of lectures and seminars in which the main concepts will be introduced and applied to relevant phenomena, also by means of visual material (ppt presentation, videos, pictures).
All materials will be made available by the teacher in the moodle page of the course.
Students are invited to contribute with critical questions and comments to the classroom discussion.

English

In case of necessity due to Covid-19 emergency, classes and examinations will be transferred to a online modality. Eventually, more detailed information will be provided in due time.

For students with (learning) disabilities, please find here more info: https://www.unive.it/pag/28640/

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development