AANK13505U Advanced Course in the Anthropology of Migration: Mobility as Social, Economic and Cultural Resource

In anthropology migration is no longer viewed as an interruption in ordinary settled life, but rather conceptualized as a resource that is integral to ongoing social, economic and cultural mobilities. This course will look at some of the new forms of migration that we are seeing today, how they may differ from previous patterns of migration, and some of the central theoretical and methodological approaches that have emerged in recent research.

Through ethnographic case studies we will explore how migration is perceived and practiced as a resource in different socio-economic and cultural contexts: What kinds of social and personal aspirations as well as structural challenges enframe current migration processes?  Which possibilities and problems do they pose to the migrants and their families, as well as to the sending and receiving states? How can we capture these migration processes in ethnographic research? And what is the methodological and analytical purchase of new concepts that have emerged in recent studies, such as social imaginaries, adventure, integration regimes, diversity, and narrative constructions of personhood?

In class discussions of theoretical, methodological and analytical approaches we will also draw on students’ planned or completed fieldwork on migration-related topics as well as examples from the instructor’s research among migrants in Denmark and abroad.

The course is intended for MA students. Please note that there are special admission criteria for students not enrolled at the MA level in anthropology. Those who have not taken the introductory migration course will be expected to acquaint themselves with the literature for that course