Introduction to Migration and Displacement
Unit presenter: Mr Jean Pierre Misago
Human migration and displacement affect societies around the world. Nowhere are the impacts more visible than in Africa, where movements of people due to war, political persecution, and deprivation have long shaped the continent’s political, economic and social configurations. This overview course reviews the dynamics of international migration — forced and otherwise — and formal and informal responses to it. Instead of developing technical skills and policy recommendations, it provides a set of interdisciplinary conceptual tools to make sense of the complex conceptual, methodological, ethical and logistical concerns surrounding human mobility. In doing so, it situates migration in Africa within global trends and broader social and political theory.
Logics and Methods of Migration Research
Unit presenter: Prof Ingrid Palmary
This course is intended to strengthen students’ understanding of and capacity to conduct social research on issues related to migration. The focus is on developing an understanding of research objectives and logics, enhancing students’ skills for evaluating the merits of published materials, and developing strategies for conducting methodologically sound and theoretically relevant research in the environments in which migrants are typically found.
The availability of these courses is subject to confirmation by ACMS, and is also dependent on the number of enrolments
The Psychosocial and Health Consequences of Migration and Displacement
Unit presenters: Prof Jo Vearey and Dr Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon
This course provides a critical introduction to the health and psychosocial consequences of migration. The primary purpose of the course is to examine the intersections of humanitarianism, vulnerability and displacement from a health perspective. In order to do this, the course introduces fundamental concepts and analytical tools to understand the interaction between health, disease and illness in social contexts. It investigates the differential impacts of integrated public health responses on migrants with respect to ethnicity, gender, age and legal status. Case studies are provided of a number of common interventions with migrant populations including HIV/AIDS interventions (particularly access to services and treatment), psychological and psychosocial interventions and the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation and immunisation. Throughout the course, the focus is on the complexity and politics of humanitarianism and the assumptions that underpin such interventions.
Labour Migration in a Global and Regional Context
Unit presenter: Dr Zaheera Jinnah
While the vast majority of international migration is motivated by economic reasons, and mostly for work related purposes, recent scholarship and public interest in migration in developing countries have often inadequately accounted for this dimension of mobility. Yet, labour migration remains a key component of contemporary mobilities, particularly as it intersects with a range of development issues: political economy, regional integration, governance, statecraft, dependency, etc. This course will help students understand the origins, scope and current dynamics associated with labour migration globally and more specifically in the southern African region. The course is structured around 5 key themes destined to equip students with a robust theoretical, historical, and contemporary understanding of labour migration globally and in Africa. While the content of the course will be essentially academic, it is intended to allow students to understand the key orientations of and appraise critically global and regional policy positions.
