GEO 373 GLOBAL MIGRATIONS
Human migration is one of the defining issues of the 21st century. More people are on the move now than ever before. This includes unprecedented numbers of transnational migrants and refugees seeking economic and physical security. In addition, there are untold numbers of rural to urban migrants seeking opportunities in cities and internally displaced people fleeing conflicts and climate-related disasters. This course seeks to situate contemporary global migration within a historical and geographic context. To do so, this course analyzes the driving factors behind historic patterns and contemporary trends in global migration. Taking a human geographic perspective, this course seeks an examination of migration at multiple scales, from the aggregate demographic level to the individual human experience. The overall aim of this course is to equip students with the contextual knowledge and the analytical skills to engage the topic of migration from a variety of angles. Topics covered in the course may include forced migration, refugees and asylum seekers, humanitarian aid, border controls and security, economic migration, human trafficking, as well as debates around citizenship and multiculturalism. In exploring these topics, special attention is paid to the importance of “race,” ethnicity, and gender to experiences of and debates about migration.