Program Description
This is a class and workshop on comparative international migration focused on Western Europe and the United States before and after 9/11/01. The course will emphasize the intercultural relations and dialogue within the multicultural groups of people in Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, New York, and Miami, and will rely primarily on lecture and discussion with immigrants and specialists in the field. The course will address questions such as: How can people with different identities, religious beliefs, and national backgrounds live together and negotiate their differences? What are the obstacles to achieving this goal? How does the post-September 11th world context affect these processes?
The Universitat Rovira i Virgili at Tarragona (50 minutes from Barcelona) has scholars in the social sciences, humanities, and law who specialize in the legal, cultural, and social dimensions of these questions. Participants will visit immigrant communities from around the world in both Tarragona and Barcelona. The course will also feature lectures from Western European scholars who specialize in the field.
Tarragona is a cosmopolitan city with thousands of immigrants from the Global South, and as such is a strategic location for the study of migration processes. Its architectural wonders as a temporary capital of the Roman Empire, and its location at the edge of Mediterranean Sea, will greatly add to the learning experience.