History of Migration: MENA

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

From the Imperial, to the National, to the Global: History of Migration and Displacement in the Middle East Migration is an old phenomenon of spatial mobility. It has different forms, degree of involvement by the state, and has decisive economic, social, political and cultural implications. Migration is directly linked to global political events including wars, revolutions, change of the political system, and nation building. It is also linked to the occurrence of natural disasters and the discovery of natural resources. This seminar examines the various forms of spatial mobility into, out of, within, and across the Middle East and North Africa from the late nineteenth century to the present. Students will learn how the contemporary Middle East, society, politics and history is shaped by these patterns of migrations. The course will address the root causes of displacement and migration, migrants’ trajectories and emphasizes the agency of migrants, gender differences in the experiences and effects and the cultural effects of the home and host countries. This course is organized along two historical periods: imperial and post-imperial including colonial and the nation-state periods. Each period is organized to include themes of natural disasters and disease, gender, labor, religion and ethnicity, memory and cuisines while covering the various areas of the Middle East and North Africa. The assigned readings are primarily from the field of history, but other works as well as theoretical frameworks for analyzing migration and displacement are interdisciplinary from anthropology, sociology, literature, gender studies and political science. There will be strong emphasis on including primary sources in Arabic and English or other accessible languages. For their research papers, students who have a strong command of Arabic, English, Spanish, German or French are encouraged to include primary sources in their research.