Course syllabus autumn 2009
Course syllabus autumn 2009
Title
Theoretical Foundations of the IMER-field
Swedish title
Theoretical Foundations of the IMER-field
Course code
IM625E
Credits
15 credits
Grading scale
UV / Fail (U), Pass (G) or Pass with Distinction (VG)
Language of instruction
English
Decision-making body
Board of Studies at Faculty of Culture and Society
Syllabus approval date
2009-06-08
Syllabus valid from
2009-09-01
Entry requirements
Bachelor degree in social sciences or humanities + the equivalent of English course B.
Level
Advanced level
Main field
International Migration and Ethnic Relations
Progression level
A1N
Progression level in relation to degree requirements
The course can normally be included in a generel degree at advanced level.
Course contents
The course will present and problematise the work of classical theoreticians within social sciences, primarily sociology and anthropology. It will increase the students’ awareness of the theoretical and empirical traditions that form the historical fundament of present-day IMER research. Important perspectives for the exploration of ethnic relations – including the role of cultural and social circumstances for how such relations develop over time – and for understanding the consequences of international migration will be highlighted.
Learning outcomes
After finishing the course, the student:
- can show specialised knowledge of key issues and concepts in the field of study encompassed by IMER;
- can show knowledge of how theoreticians in the social sciences and humanities have addressed issues of migration, ethnicity and cultural diversity;
- can show specialised knowledge of how major currents within sociological, anthropological and philosophical thinking are made relevant for the perception of ethnic and race relations, group identities and mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in modernizing and multicultural societies;
- has the ability to apply critical analysis to contemporary theoretical positions and show their derivation from earlier schools of thought;
- has the ability to formulate critical, tenable and substantiated scientific arguments orally as well as in writing.
Learning activities
The learning process is student-driven. It relies on the initiatives by, and contributions of, students. Lectures will only be used as a means of introduction. The course consists mainly of seminars. Each seminar consists of topical presentations by students and/or lecturers, followed by a discussion.
Assessment
The assessment of students’ knowledge and understanding will be based on the written and oral presentations they produce individually. The number of presentations each student is expected to conduct depends on the number of students enrolled in the course. The seminar work, in any case, will be equally divided among them.
At least two re-examinations will be organized for each assignment. Re-examinations consist of written reports on the assignment topic.
The course is graded using the Swedish system of Väl Godkänd (Pass with distinction), Godkänd (Pass) and Underkänd (Fail), together with the ECTS-grading system of A, B, C, D, E, F(x), and F.
Course literature and other study material
Appadurai, Arjun. 1996. Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (153 pp.)
Barth, Fredrik 1998 [1969]. “Introduction.” Pp. 1-38 in Ethnic groups and boundaries: The social organization of cultural difference, edited by Fredrik Barth. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press. (38 pp.)
Benhabib, Seyla. 2004. The rights of others: Aliens, residents, and citizens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (251 pp.)
Kastoryano, Riva. 2004. “Religion and incorporation: Islam in France and Germany.” International Migration Review 38(3): 1234-1255. [Available through Wiley Interscience] (21 pp.)
Marshall, Thomas H. 1992 [1950]. Citizenship and social class. London: Pluto Press. (101 pp.)
Park, Robert E. 1928. “Human migration and the marginal man.” American Journal of Sociology 33(6): 881-893. [Available through JSTOR] (12 pp.)
Simmel, Georg. 1950 [1908]. “The stranger.” Pp. 402-408 in The sociology of Georg Simmel, edited by Kurt Wolff. New York: Free Press. (6 pp.)
Thomas, William and Florian Znaniecki. 1996 [1927]. The Polish peasant in Europe and America. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. [Abridged version] (127 pp.)
Wimmer Andreas and Nina Glick Schiller. 2003. “Methodological nationalism, the social sciences, and the study of migration: an essay in historical epistemology.” International Migration Review 37(3): 576–610. [Available through Wiley Interscience] (34 pp.)
Course evaluation
All students are offered an opportunity to give oral or written feedback at the end of the course.