Admission requirements
BSA norm and a pass for both first year Themacolleges
Description
Refuge. A Modern History of Forced Displacement from, to and within Europe
Present-day refugee movements are among the most controversially discussed topics in modern politics. They seem to affect election results and divide communities. This course explores the history of these movements to find out how and why refugees have come to be perceived and presented as political leverage that affects societies and cultures. What kinds of refugee movements have occurred within the continent in the last two hundred years? Why did people leave Europe, why did they come? What did life on the move look like? The course approaches the modern history of refuge to ask what prompted departures and how forced displacement influenced the experiences of refugees, the places they came through, the spaces they entered and those they left behind. We will approach the history of forced migration from a broad array of angles including the politics involved, the social questions that triggered refuge and that refuge caused in return, cultures of movement and exile and the memories of refugee diasporas.
The course traces the journeys of different groups of refugees as well as individuals through times of religious persecution, political displacement, and ethnic exclusion and cleansing. We will look at migration in the age of the revolutions of the long nineteenth century and discuss the ways the world wars of the twentieth century have shaped global refugee governance. We will follow refugees across the Iron Curtain and address colonial and postcolonial perspectives on the history of forced displacement. In the later weeks, we will look at how climate change has affected and continues to affect refugee history. Together, these discussions will point to the intertwined nature of the effects of refugee movement on life in Europe and beyond. Along the way, we will address questions of age, class, ethnicity and gender and discuss the chances and challenges of writing the histories of refugees through texts, images, films, songs, and objects that people took with them and created on the way or upon their arrival in a new place. Moreover, we will discuss how modern media have shaped the debates around refugees and their journeys. Secondary sources will further guide our discussions. They provide an overview of scholarly debates that have defined the field in recent years and offer answers to the question of why we should continue studying the history of modern refuge.
Course objectives
General learning objectives
- carry out a common assignment
- devise and conduct research of limited scope, including
a. searching, selecting and ordering relevant literature;
b. organising and using relatively large amounts of information;
c. an analysis of a scholarly debate;
d. placing the research within the context of a scholarly debate. - reflect on the primary sources on which the scholarly literature is based;
- write a problem solving essay and give an oral presentation after the format defined in the first year Themacolleges, including
a. using a realistic schedule of work;
b. formulating a research question and subquestions;
c. formulating a well-argued conclusion;
d. giving and receiving feedback;
e. responding to instructions of the lecturer. - participate in discussions during class.
Learning objectives, pertaining to the specialisation
- The student has knowledge of a specialisation, more specifically in the specialisation Social and Economic History, on explaining differences between groups from a comparative perspective (local, regional or international, class, gender, ethnicity and religion) and the role of individuals, groups, businesses and (international) organisations (including churches) in processes of inclusion and exclusion, and on the global interaction between trade networks in the early-modern period, the nineteenth-century industrialisation of the Netherlands in a world history perspective, and the political economy of the globalising economy in the twentieth century, from round 1500 to the present;
- The student has broad knowledge and understanding of the key terms, the apparatus and the research methods and techniques of the chosen specialisation: in the specialisation Social and Economic History, of the application of concepts from the social sciences and economic concepts, on the acquisition of an understanding of the interaction between social and economic processes through research into both qualitative and quantitative primary sources.
Learning objectives, pertaining to this specific seminar
- Reflection on memory culture.
- Insights in rerfugee migration from a social and economic perspective.
- Insights in the use of visual sources.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar (attendance required)
This means that students have to attend every session of the course. If you are not able to attend, you are required to notify the teacher beforehand. The teacher will determine if and how the missed session can be compensated by an additional assignment. If specific restrictions apply to a particular course, the teacher will notify the students at the beginning of the semester. If you do not comply with the aforementioned requirements, you will be excluded from the seminar.
Assessment method
Assessment
Written paper (5000-6000 words, based on historiography, excluding title page, table of contents, footnotes and bibliography)
measured learning objectives: 2-4, 6-7, 8-10Oral presentation
measured learning objectives: 3-4, 8-10Participation
measured learning objectives: 5, 7-10Assignment 1 (outline paper)
measured learning objectives: 2, 3, 8-10Assignment 2 (section on literature)
measured learning objectives: 2-5 2-5, 8-10Assignment 3 (oral presentation)
measured learning objectives: 1-10
Weighing
Written paper: 60%
Oral presentation: 20%
Particiation: 5%
Assignment 1: 5%
Assignment 2: 5%
Assignment 3: 5%
The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average with the additional requirement that the written paper must always be sufficient.
Resit
The written paper can be revised, when marked insufficient. Revision should be carried out within the given deadline, as published in the corresponding Brightspace course.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.
Reading list
To be announced
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about registering for courses and exams can be found here.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: [Huizinga] (https://www.organisatiegids.universiteitleiden.nl/en/faculties-and-institutes/humanities/faculty-office/student-affairs/education-administration-offices/huizinga-education-administration-office).
Remarks
Not applicable