Borders and Security Concerns

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

IPOL 210 will utilize a multidisciplinary approach to explore the meaning and experience of borders and related security concerns throughout the world. We incorporate a variety of disciplines—political science, geography, ethics, history, and demography—to examine issues of national, regional, and local identity in relation to the changing international context. After an interdisciplinary introduction to border studies, the next unit focuses on the emergence of nation-states that brought about the need for country borders. The class then examines current immigration and security issues in the United States that result from having relatively porous borders to the south. Additional units examine contested borders in India and Israel; EU immigration policy and reality, including xenophobia; refugees and asylees; reunification; and natural resources that cross national borders. We will analyze historical and modern forces that shape borders, and then study how borders affect the economic, social, and political fabric of countries. Critical writing and presentation skills are emphasized in the course. The course culminates in a major project in which each student prepares an artifact for an online museum. We will discuss border and security issues in a small seminar setting. Students will collaborate with classmates on several class projects, as well as work independently on assignments.