Course Descriptions

1036.4002.01 Theories of International Migration 
 Dr. Adi Hercowitz

Migration is a major source of social, cultural and economic change in many parts of the world. It creates opportunities as well as hardship and is shaping the demography of many countries. The course aims to acquaint students with the main theoretical perspectives on International Migration. We start with a brief historical outline beginning with mass migration flows in the latter part of the 19th century leading up to the end of the 20th century. Following that we examine various theories of migration (why people move). We then examine the political context of international migration. In the next part of the course we discuss the experience of migrants. Here we review theories concerned with the integration of immigrants in host societies and the relationships between hosts and immigrants. In the last section we will address some topics of high visibility and examine recent theorizing of transnationalism, forced migration and refugee issues.

1036.4001.01 Qualitative Research Methods 
Dr. Eimi Lev

The aim of this Graduate qualitative research methods course is to introduce various qualitative research approaches and methods. This course will focus on conceptual approaches as well as practical techniques. Throughout the course we will learn basic skills and discuss issues of ethics, quality, reflexivity and academic writing in qualitative research.

1036.4028.01 Theories of Identity in the Context of Migration
Dr. Anna Prashizky

There is currently a burgeoning interest in sociology, anthropology and politics around questions of ethnicity, identity politics and minority rights. This course will provide a sociological perspective centered on questions of ethnicity and inter-group relations. It examines theoretical and empirical issues related to ethnicity in the context of global immigration.
​The central issues of the course are: what is the difference between race and ethnicity; what ethnic identity is; the connection between citizenship and ethnicity; the generational change of ethnicity and the children of contemporary immigrants; gender aspect of ethnicity. The course will deal with the different types of ethnicity: such as reactive, strong and symbolic ethnicity of the immigrants around the world. The special emphasis will be laid on the examples of ethnic relations and different immigrant groups in Israel.

1036.4019.01 Quantitative Research Methods
Dr. Ina Kubbe

This is an introductory course on quantitative research methods in social sciences. The course is designed to cover basic principles of empirical research and data analysis using statistical methods. The course consists of a series of lectures accompanied by practical research experience, including data analysis using statistical software package SPSS.

1036.4023.01 Comparative Migration and Citizenship Regimes
Dr. Avinoam Cohen

This course offers an introduction to migration and citizenship policy trends in a comparative perspective. It includes two main modules. At first, we will address the "classic" modes of migration and citizenship regimes that focus on the regulation of entry, status, naturalization, integration and exclusion, asking how policies are negotiated and designed within and in support of different migration and citizenship regimes. The second module accounts for the increasing reach of migration and citizenship policies beyond their traditional domains. From the labor market, through criminal law, trade and financial regulation, to regulation of cultural conduct, multiple spheres of human activity have become sites for immigration policymaking. Looking at migration and citizenship policies in these variety of domains and across regions from the global North and South, we will study the interplay between restrictive and expansive approaches to migration and citizenship that are often coextensive. Delivered during a global health crisis with ramifications in multiple domains, including mobility restrictions, state protectionism and more, the course will address various issues that arise from the COVID-19 situation to look at institutions, structures and agents involved in the policing of borders and membership, as sites of continuity and change.

1036.4026.01 Legal and Ethical Perspectives on Refugees
Dr. Yuval Livnat

The course will cover key aspects of the international legal regimes pertaining to asylum seekers, refugees, internally displaced persons and stateless persons, as well as a brief review of both the evolution and contemporary situation of these categories of persons globally. It will also be approached from a broader human rights perspective, highlighting where possible, examples of complex or challenging situations both in policy and practice, and from an ethical perspective.  

 

1036.4032.01 Global Middle Class

This module offers in depth explorations and characterisations of globally mobile professionals’ families across various life domains, considering how these families experience mobility and what motivates these relocations; how families create a sense of identity while ‘on the move’; what short-term and longer term aspirations the professionals, their partners and their children have; what education and extra-curricular choices are made; how different cultural contexts are negotiated etc. Critically, during the classes we’ll seek to consider how these middle class families work to reproduce and extend their privilege, and so engage in ‘class-making’ practices.