|
Instructors: Prof. Dr. Nina Perkowski
Event type:
Seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
24-008.46
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
20 | 20
Comments/contents:
In recent years, the Mediterranean has emerged as one of the key sites of contestation over mobility and the borders of Europe. While media coverage of the dramatic events has tended to frame what we are witnessing as unprecedented, unforeseeable ‘crises’ or ‘tragedies’, we will seek to rethink these events by situating them in the longer-standing relations between both shores of the Mediterranean. By examining the role that the Mediterranean has played in the construction of Europe historically, we will explore how recent attempts at governing this space reflect longer-standing continuities, and where they mark ruptures or significant departures.
In particular, we will engage with concepts such as Gilroy’s ‘Black Atlantic’, the construction and operation of ‘whiteness’ and ‘blackness’ across and beyond the Mediterranean space, European colonialism and the foundations of the European Union, and postcolonial accounts of migration and mobility. We will then look at emblematic events and developments taking place over the last five years, including mass deaths and selective mourning, Italy’s ‘Mare Nostrum’ operation, the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’, the fight against smugglers dubbed ‘slave traders’, the far-right initiative ‘Defend Europe’, the border humanitarians saving migrant bodies at sea, migrant-led resistance and struggle, and ongoing attempts to push European borders further outwards.
Rather than analysing these events as singularities, we will seek to situate them in wider historical trajectories of mobility and governance at sea, and to connect them to one another. What patterns of times past continue to shape events today? Which kinds of encounters do they enable, and which do they foreclose? What subjectivities emerge through the practices, struggles, and ways of framing that the diverse actors populating the Mediterranean today are engaged in? And what do developments in the Mediterranean tell us about the constitution of ‘Europe’ and its ‘others’, both historically and today?
Learning objectives:
You will gain a thorough understanding of the Mediterranean as a contested space, and get to know a range of actors and issues that have shaped struggles in recent years. In addition, you will appreciate the historical continuities and ruptures that characterise recent developments, and learn to apply concepts from critical migration and border studies as well as wider postcolonial literature to conceptualise contemporary migration across the Mediterranean.
By using problem-based learning, you will not only get to know a different style of teaching and learning, but also actively practice your skills as a discussion leader, note-taker, and active member of a student team seeking to address complex social issues.
Didactic concept:
The seminar will be student-led, using problem-based learning (PBL). Every session will focus on a specific issue at hand, with students identifying learning objectives to guide independent study at home. Each seminar will have 30 minutes of ‘pre-discussion’ (steps 1-5 below), and 60 minutes of post discussion (step 7 below). Discussions will be led by students, and active participation is essential.
The seminar will follow this 7-step PBL method:
1. Read a brief case description, discuss the case and make sure everyone understands the problem at hand
2. Identify the questions that need to be answered to shed light on the case
3. Brainstorm what the group already knows about the issue and how it might be understood
4. Analyse and structure the results of the brainstorming session
5. Formulate learning objectives for the knowledge that is still lacking
6. Do independent study: read articles or books with the learning objectives in mind
7. Discuss the findings in your next seminar session
If you are interested in finding out more about PBL and how it works, have a look here: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/education/why-um/problem-based-learning
Literature:
The seminar literature will be made available at the beginning of term.
Additional examination information:
Course work:
Active participation in class and a close reading of the literature is a prerequisite of this seminar, which will be student-led. Due to the PBL format, a maximum of two absences will be allowed. If you miss more than two classes, you will be excluded from the course.
Each student will be asked to lead at least one discussion, and to serve as a note-taker at least once.
Assessment:
Active participation in class (20%)
Final essay: 10 pages (or 12-15 pages in pairs), to be submitted by 30 September 2018.
|
