Historical Perspectives on Ethnicity and Migration

Aim

After completion of the course, the students should on an advanced level be able to:

• explain how historical and social contexts influence migration processes and the formation of ethnic identities, and critically judge the research literature addressed in the course
• identify and formulate scientifically motivated problems concerning migration, ethnicity and identity formation in the modern and contemporary period
• define and analyse concepts such as ethnicity, race, citizenship, community, border, and migration and apply them in empirical and theoretical cases in ways that demonstrate methodological understanding
• account for and apply standard academic rules of referencing and source criticism
• offer and receive constructive criticism and understand the consequences of plagiarism
• account for basic problems and attitudes concerning ethical issues within the field of ethnic and migration studies

Content

This course deals with historical and sociological perspectives on the ways in which migration has shaped human history and society. It also addresses conceptions such as identity, race, ethnicity, nationhood, citizenship, boundaries, and other kinds of community-formation. In the course, migration, identity, and related notions are seen as both constitutive of and constituted by human history. Students will encounter a series of classical texts in the field of ethnic and migration studies, and they will problematize basic theoretical and methodological issues that are raised by the texts. The course also introduces students to the resources of the research library. Moreover, the course addresses the principles of an academic approach both in terms of the evaluation, use and presentation of sources and the application of general rules of academic referencing and citation, and in terms of scientific discussion and critical scrutiny of academic texts.