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| SOCI1242-3 | Migration Transnationalism and Development
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| Duration : | 30h SEM |
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| Number of credits : |
| Master in Anthropology, in-depth approach, 1st year | | 6 |
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| Master in Anthropology, Teaching Focus, 1st year | | 6 |
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| Master in Anthropology, specialized approach in applied anthropology, 1st year | | 6 |
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| Master in Population and Development Studies, Professional Focus in North-South Cooperation
, 2nd year | | 6 |
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| Master en anthropologie, à finalité spécialisée en anthropologie des dynamiques sociales et du développement, 1st year | | 6 |
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| Lecturer : | Jean-Michel Lafleur |
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Language(s) of instruction :
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| English language |
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Organisation and examination :
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| Teaching in the first semester, review in January |
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Course contents :
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| This seminar entitled: "Migration, Transnationalism and Development" seeks to introduce students to the study of the articulation between international migratory movements and the processes of development. The course takes on a multi-disciplinary approach and aims to allow students to be familiar with the diversity in approaches to the subject. This course is taught in English.
The course comprises three sections. The first part is a series of ex-cathedra sessions through which we will discuss the main international migration theories and the concepts of migration, development, remittances, social remittances, transnationalism and diaspora. The second part is comprised of various thematic sessions, which will present various case studies that show the impact of migrants on their receiving and sending countries. Through these thematic sessions different questions on the topics of migration and development will be dealt with including: the role of migrant's international solidarity organizations (hometown associations) in the sending societies and the state's reactions to migrant's transnational practices, the female dimension of contemporary migrations (feminisation of migrations). Finally, the last session will be dedicated to the presentation of the student's group research papers and the blog. |
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Learning outcomes of the course :
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| The objective of this seminar is to allow students to have a greater familiarity with the different approaches on the issue of migration and development. It will allow the students to develop a reflection on these issues that is both theoretically and empirically grounded.
More precisely the seminar aims at:
- training students to do critical reading of the scientific literature
- training students to collect empirical data using research methods in social sciences
- improving students academic writing skills
- allowing students to use multimedia technologies (videorecording) and social media (blog) to present their research results
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Prerequisites and co-requisites/ Recommended optional programme components :
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| The course will be taught in English. At minimum, a good passive knowledge of English is required for the actual understanding of the class readings, the audio-visual material and the course's ex-cathedra sessions. |
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Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
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| The students are expected to write a group research paper. This research paper will be published in an online blog, which is also created by the students and orally presented towards the end of the course. The active participation of the students in class and online (blackboard) is also a part of the evaluation. Additionally, students are encouraged to attend academic conferences concerning the topics of migration that will be organized during the semester. These conferences could be held outside of the course hours and in a different location than that of the usual course classroom.
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Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
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| Students are expected to be present and active participants in the classroom. Students are also expected to connect at least once a week on blackboard to prepare the next session's readings. |
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Recommended or required readings :
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| Before each class, students are expected to read scientific articles related to the topic of the lecture and, in some case, answer online questions about those texts. These readings are indispensable to be able to participate in class. The reading material, the questions, and the powerpoint slides of the ex-cathedra sessions will be exclusively available on blackboard. |
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Assessment methods and criteria :
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| The evaluation is done according to three main assessments:
1. Active Participation in the Classroom (2 points).
Active participation is one of the central elements in a seminar. This participation is defined by the student's capacity to contribute to the class discussions but also in his/her abilities to use the preparatory/mandatory readings within the discussions. Nevertheless, it also defined by the student's presentation of their blog entry/research paper toward the end of the course as well as by their active participation to academic conferences that will be eventually organized through the semester and are also a part of the evaluation.
2. Group Research Paper (6 points)
The research paper is a written dissertation (1) and a series of brief videos that will be posted in an online blog (2) which will be created by the students.
(1) The dissertation should be in between 2000 and 3000 words (excluding the bibliography, appendixes, and footnotes...) and should tackle one of the many aspects regarding foreign populations in Liege. This academic year (2014-2015) we will be focusing on the Moroccan community. Every group is asked to write a dissertation about one aspect that concerns the presence of Moroccans in Liege (History and demography, socio-economic insertion, religious practices, transnational connections...). The dissertation will be based upon: The relevant scientific literature, grey literature, official reports and semi-directed interviews with key informants. This dissertation should consist of both a state of the art on the subject chosen and new empirical research collected by the students.
(1) The blog is a web platform created by the students where the dissertation of the different groups will be put together. Each dissertation represents one section of the blog. In the written text posted on the blog, the students will also attach fragments of the videos with the interviews they have collected. These fragments must illustrate particular/relevant points in their dissertations. (1) Every group will do at least 3 interviews/videos with the pertinent informants regarding the theme of their dissertation (migrants, civil society stakeholders, civil servants, and researchers...). The students will be held responsible to collect the informant's permission/written concern before forecasting the videos online. The students are also encouraged to include any other multimedia material (photos, graphs, tables...) in their sections of the blog. A video camera will be made available to students by ISHS (Social and Human Sciences Institute). Furthermore, the computer labs in Building B31 are equipped with the appropriate software to perform basic editing of videos.
The research paper should show the capacity of the students to:
- Identify and synthetise the scientific literature concerning their chosen research question/theme.
- Discuss the contributions and gaps of the existent literature.
- Identify the pertinent reports and statistics and present them in a coherent fashion through their dissertations.
- Conduct a limited but methodologically rigorous fieldwork.
- Create small interview videos, edit them and post them in the online blog.
3.Written exam: (12 points)
The final evaluation will be a written exam, composed of questions in English that students will answer in either English or French. Students are authorized to sit in the exam with their class notes and the scientific articles they read during the semester.
Second Session:
In the second session the evaluation will be a final written exam with questions in English that the students will be able to answer in either French or English. Students are authorized to sit in the exam with their class notes and the scientific articles they read during the semester. |
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Work placement(s) :
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| Internship connected to the class are available. A full list is posted on the student information boards of the Social Science Institute (B31, floor 1) |
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Organizational remarks :
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| The course is taught every tuesday between 3 and 5PM in room Tocqueville, building B31.
The course calender is available on blackboard.
The course starts on 30/09/14. No preparatory reading is necessary for the first class.
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Contacts :
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| Instructor:
Jean-Michel LAFLEUR
F.R.S-FNRS Research Associate
Universite de Liege
Institut des Sciences humaines et sociales
Centre d'Etudes de l'Ethnicité et des Migrations (CEDEM)
Office R.40 (building B31)
Office hours: by appointment only (via e-mail)
Tel. 04 366 46 80
jm.lafleur >at> ulg.ac.be
http://www.cedem.ulg.ac.be
Teaching Assistant:
Maria Vivas Romero
FRS-FNRS FRESH Researcher
Researcher at CEDEM
Office hours: by appointment only (via e-mail)
Mvivas >at> ulg.ac.be |
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