Introductory description

Millions of people have historically been forced from their homes by factors including war destruction, political persecution, regime changes, revolutions, or genocide in Europe throughout the twentieth century and in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. This has culminated in new understandings of international law and new ways of treating vulnerable populations. The management of various displacement crises has constituted a critical challenge for local populations, state institutions, as well as international and non-governmental organizations in these various contexts. This module explores various case studies as it examines roots of forced displacement crises, the responses to them in diverse reception spaces (e.g. western Europe, eastern Europe, borders and borderlands, urban and rural sites, or refugee camps), and practices to address refugees’ needs in the modern European context (1914-2015). In addition to studying the institutional and structural developments that shaped displacement in and out of Europe, this module will pay a special attention to the human experience of refugeedom.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held and titles may differ.

Week 1: No class
Week 2: Intro + Defining “the refugee.”
Week 3: War Refugees
Week 4: Displacement and Statelessness in the Era of Internationalism
Week 5: State Making, Expulsions, Resettlements
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7: Refugees of The Spanish Civil War
Week 8: Refugees and Fascism
Week 9: Displaced Persons & WWII
Week 10: The Making of the International Refugee Regime
Week 11: The Expellees
Week 12: Political Refugees in the Early Cold War
Week 13: Refuge in the Socialist East
Week 14: Displacement in the Era of Decolonization
Week 15: PAPER WRITING SESSION
Week 16: Reading Week
Week 17: The Vietnam War and Its Refugees: A shifting paradigm
Week 18: The End of Socialism and the Lure of Democracy
Week 19: The 1990s
Week 20: 2015 and the “Refugee Crisis”

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

•  Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of historical roots and attempted resolutions of various waves of forced displacement in modern Europe.
•  Analyse and evaluate the contributions made by existing multidisciplinary scholarship on history of refugees and forced displacement.
•  Generate ideas through the analysis of a broad range of primary source (visual, textual, oral, data) material for the study of refugees and forced displacement.
•  Take responsibility to identify, design, and produce coherent projects on episodes of history of refugees in modern Europe.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Research element

The students will have two assignments that require research:

1. Reflection Essay.
2. Long Essay.

Interdisciplinary

This module includes readings from multiple disciplines (i.e. history, anthropology, sociology, political science). Furthermore, it will speak to multiple specializations (e.g. History & Politics: History & Sociology; Law).

International

The content of this module has a significant international dimension due to the coverage of multiple historical contexts.

Subject specific skills

See Learning Outcomes.

Transferable skills

See Learning Outcomes.