CU/PO 334 - Migration, Ethnic Minorities, and Multiculturalism in Europe

The course focuses on one of the most important issues in international politics, the processes of global migration, and evaluates its meaning for the EU and its member states. It provides an introduction to major theories of migration and to the history of European migration, including labor migration in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as post-colonial migration. Two sessions on internal and irregular migration show the variety of migration Europe. Furthermore the focus of this class is on the current developments in asylum migration and the political reactions on the European level. In the second part of the course different policy approaches of EU member states towards immigration and the resulting economic, political, social and cultural conditions for immigrants’ integration are analyzed in a comparative perspective. By getting to know the social realities of different European minority groups, the class investigates integration policies and multiculturalism from a transnational perspective. An outlook to the wider context of European concepts of multicultural society, comparing it to the U.S., and the future of immigrant societies in a globalizing world order will close the seminar.

This course forms part of the IES Abroad Independent Research Program. It can be combined with the Introduction to Research Module for an additional 1 credit.