Refugee Histories

Undergraduate / Graduate

This class approaches refugees not as a problem to be solved but as people with stories to tell and with a history that goes back centuries. We will consider some of the reasons that compel people to leave their homeland, read narratives that they have produced about what this experience meant, and examine the myriad ways in which they have shaped their host societies as well as the countries that they left behind. In addition, this class will prepare history majors to produce their own original research paper of 15-20 pages reflecting on some aspect of the refugee experience. About half of our class time will be devoted to readings on refugee history and the other half to historiographical approaches and research techniques.