ATS2625 - Mobile worlds: Borders, displacement and belonging - 2019

Why do politicians and citizens seem so threatened by refugees, asylum seekers and new migrants? Is it because these forms of human mobility challenge the traditional and outmoded nation-state system and the sense of social cohesion and security it has provided?. Or is it because of increasing anxiety, insecurity and inequality in a world changed forever by globalisation?. Mobile Worlds explores socially and culturally diverse forms of migrant experience, from among those known as gypsies, nomads, slaves, settlers, tourists, to refugees, asylum seekers and other displaced peoples, and the array of formal, informal and illegal migrants, guest workers, labour and love migrants, 'gold collar' workers and international students that move around the globe in ever increasing numbers. The subject seeks to explore the responses and interactions of diasporas, transnational and transilient networks and communities around the globe. The broader aim is to understand the diversity and implications of human movement, new border regimes and emerging trends that will characterise life in the future.

Upon successfully completing the unit, students should be able to:

1. identify and discuss the diverse forms of human mobility in the contemporary world;
2. critically analyse perceptions, responses, representations and social categories of migrants and human mobilities;
3. identify and explain the ways refugees, asylum seekers, labour migrants and transnational communities pose challenges to the nation-state system;
4. engage and respond to the latest solutions offered by researchers and theorists to the challenges of human mobility and global migration;
5. read, think and respond reflectively and critically to global issues and challenges;
6. utilise developing academic qualitative research skills to locate, link, critically analyse and communicate theory and evidence.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Anthropology

International relations

International studies