Migration and Integration: Refugees, Rights & Realities

[Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this programme has been cancelled for summer 2020. If you are interested, please visit the programme website and send us an email. We will keep you posted about online alternatives, other developments and summer 2021].

What are the legal, political & human ramifications of the current refugee crisis? How should states handle the recent mass migration? What are the forces behind this influx? How do international organizations and sovereign state respond to the challenge of millions of displaced persons? And what about the immigrants themselves? Are they interested to permanently settle in Europe or are they better off in countries ‘in the region’? How can they, given their diverse backgrounds, be integrated best into the European societies?

This interdisciplinary two-week course introduces students to key issues in the legal, (geo)political, sociological and anthropological analysis of forced migration. It enables students to understand the context in which the recent influx of migrants takes place, the social change this triggers and the efforts needed to successfully integrate the newcomers.

Course leader

Evelien van Roemburg. Evelien is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Science at the University of Amsterdam, where she is specialised in conflict studies, refugee studies and the United Nations.

Target group

For current university students (Bachelors and Masters) in the arts and social sciences with an interest in political science, international relations, and migration studies. For working professionals with a desire to continue their education in this field.

Course aim

The first week of the course will explore the journey of refugees on a macro scale by unpacking the various factors involved in forced migration. Students will delve into the many reasons why an individual decides to flee their home, with the morning module focusing on international refugee law and the afternoon module on the geopolitics at play. The second week of the course narrows down to the micro scale by focusing on refugees themselves, featuring two modules, one that employs an anthropological lens and the other a crisis management lens. Not only are top-down, state-led initiatives featured and analyzed during this week, we also explore grassroots initiatives that have developed during the current refugee situation, including integration possibilities both here in the Netherlands and there ‘in the region’.

Credits info

6 EC
Upon successful completion of the programme, students who wish to earn credits will receive an official transcript stating the courses taken, credits earned and grades obtained.

Fee info

EUR 1600: Tuition fee. Including lunch on class days, all course materials, excursions and events.
EUR 500: Housing fee (optional).

Scholarships

Upon successful completion of the programme, students who wish to earn credits will receive an official transcript stating the courses taken, credits earned and grades obtained.