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WiSe 20/21: Migration and Diaspora in Global History: Perspectives and Intersections

Frederik Schröer

Comments

Migration is a deeply historical and profoundly contemporary affair. Various scholars have called it a defining characteristic of certain centuries, societies, or humanity itself. Migrations of different forms seem not just ubiquitous, but often appear to the global historian as quintessentially transnational. But for every translocal displacement, migration also spurs highly local processes of emplacement. This seminar approaches migration and diaspora as pertinent cases and methodological challenges in global history. How can we tell these histories without relapse into well-worn teleologies of “assimilation,” “multiculturalism,” or “global integration”? The class aims to provide students with knowledge of the debates within studies of migration and diaspora themselves, as well as related disciplines. It will explore different ways of approaching the topic in global history, paying particular attention to the intersections of migration and diaspora with other historical categories such as race, gender, social class, or religion. Instead of offering a one-size-fits-all solution to students, the seminar is designed as a collaborative exploration of productive approaches to an omnipresent yet highly contingent historical phenomenon. close