What are 'borders,' and how have they been created, surveyed, and crossed? The primary aim of this course is to explore these key questions surrounding border regimes in European and non-European contexts. It will introduce students to border studies, their theoretical concepts, and research findings with people who are at the forefront of border management - policy makers and border guards - and people subjected to this border management - migrants, people smugglers, and residents. This course is mindful of borders as connected to broader inequalities and violence as well as agency and resistance. While using sociology as a key discipline, the course also engages with materials from human geography, international relations, criminology, and anthropology.

One hour lecture and one hour seminar per week, for 10 weeks.

None.

None

A 4000 words written assignment (project/report) that requires students to use secondary data from the existing academic and policy research and analyse border management and border crossing in a country/region of their choice while being mindful of specific history and broader inequalities related to this place. This assessment will be worth 100% of final mark.

The aim of this course is to introduce key historical contexts and theoretical concepts in border studies. Particularly, it will help students draw connections between historically rooted racial, gender, and other inequalities and global border regimes, as well as their impact on access to global cross-border migration today. Drawing on the latest border studies research, the course will further provide the basic grounding in key patterns of border policies and controls and how they are daily challenged by various border crossers. 

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Identify and discuss key historical context and major theoretical concepts in border studies,

■ Examine relation between global border regimes and broader inequalities that leads to unequal global cross-border migration,

■ Demonstrate understanding of empirical research on how borders are enforced, resisted and crossed. Analyse this research through active participation in seminars and written formative assessment,

■ Critically engage in policy and political interventions to border crossing and its facilitation.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.