Course Syllabus

 

Semester & Location:	Spring 2023 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Ethnic Studies, Religious Studies, Sociology
Faculty:	Teresa Imaya Bengtsson Email: Teresa.bengtsson@dis.dk  Current students use canvas inbox for contact
Time & Place:	Monday & Thursday, 13:15 - 14.35, Classroom V10-D11

Syllabus is subject to change

Class discussion page

Class Spotify Playlist

Class Reps: Bridget, Katie, Kay, Raymond, and Mira 

Description of Course 

Every year, millions of people around the world leave their homes to travel and stay in faraway places in search of work, education, to form families, or to escape from political persecution and civil wars in their homelands. Economic globalization, cheap international airfares, the revolution in communication technology, wars, and natural catastrophes - to name a few - have massively increased the movement of people during the last century. Migrating, however, involves challenges for those on the move, such as finding a job, learning a new language, navigating new cultural norms, maintaining bonds to their home country, and, potentially, raising a family in a different cultural setting.

In this class, we will critically investigate and analyze the many experiences, challenges, and conditions that relate to the migrant and minority categories. Focusing on migrant and minority communities in Denmark, we will explore concepts such as power, mobility, belonging, representation, passing, gatekeeping, culture, ethnicity, integration, transnationalism, and nationalism. Through discussion and activities in class, we will explore questions such as, who is considered a migrant and minority in Denmark? How do factors such as age, nationality, gender, race, and occupation shape the portrayal of migrants and minorities in policy, media, and public opinion? In what areas of life do we see a power struggle between minorities and ‘ethnic Danes’ and what does that tell us about Danish culture? How do different immigrant communities in Denmark navigate their struggles of identity and belonging?

In Denmark, immigrants and descendants of immigrants are often portrayed in rather stereotypical ways as good, hard-working, and highly skilled professionals, religious extremists, or parasites on the Danish welfare system. This course aims at challenging such stereotypes, nuancing the debate on immigration in Denmark by focusing on the diversity, experiences, and different motivations of immigrant communities that come from different national, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds. By taking this course, you will get a more nuanced perspective on the many facets and processes linked to the individual and migrant community’s encounter with the majority and the negotiations of identity and belonging that take place within a new social reality. Furthermore, you will gain a foundational knowledge of key concepts and theories within migration studies. 

During the semester, we will investigate and explore the impacts of globalization and migration on European and in particular Scandinavian communities that in turn challenge cultural hegemony. We will look at the effects of different state policies that impact migrants and refugees and their ability to belong in their new 'homes', investigate cases that speak to the minority-majority power struggle, and deconstruct media representations and current political discourses that problematize certain migrant categories while privileging others.    

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will:

• acquire theoretical insights into subjects such as: migration; power relations between the majority and minority; identity processes and belonging; gatekeeping and passing; structure and agency; the nation-state and ethnicity. 
• be able to apply migration and sociological concepts and theories to migration-related issues.
• be able to discuss and analyze the complex field of migration and minority studies with more nuanced perspectives. Nuance is encouraged by considering different perspectives and approaches to migration. This will be stimulated through an open and discussion-based class environment where constructive dialogue and the use of your own experiences and newly acquired theoretical knowledge in the field will be vital for your academic growth. 
• gain a broader palette of knowledge on complex topics and cases that intersect migration. Topics may include Danish/European immigration rights and laws, the present and past 'refugee crisis', Islamic Feminism, Copenhagen minority neighborhoods, public media representation, integration policies, and right-wing extremism. 

Here is a quick roadmap of how the course is structured:

1. “Key concepts and analytical approaches”: An introduction to theory and concepts relevant for understanding and analyzing critical aspects of the minority and migrant experiences, such as space and place; belonging and identification processes; integration representation and resistance; ethnicity, nationalism; racism and stigma; structure and agency; which we will apply to different cases throughout the course.
2. “Refugees and Integration Denmark”: Here we will focus on the structural conditions and rules of migration in Europe and Denmark in order to gain a better understanding of the negotiations and exchanges between the minority and majority and how migrants navigate these structural conditions and laws.
3. “Representation”: In this module, we will dive deeper into discussions of how representations matters in majority-minority relations. This will be discussed through cases such as: right-wing perspectives, minority humor,  Thai-Danish marriage migration, and majority and minority representation in the arts and public media.

Faculty:

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Teresa is cand.mag in Advanced Migration Studies from Copenhagen University and has a Bachelor's degree in Global Humanities specializing in Communications and Cultural Encounters from Roskilde University. Teresa is Danish-American as she is a first-generation American who was born and raised in San Francisco, California, and has lived in Copenhagen for the past nine years. Teresa has studied abroad at the University of Amsterdam and specialized in transnational relationships and sugar dating within study abroad. She also did an exchange at the University of California, Santa Barbara with the Chicano/a/x department focusing on Latina/o/x migration and belonging and indigenous health and food practices. Teresa has volunteered and worked with numerous non-profit organizations that support migrants and minorities in creative and innovative ways. She is currently working on publishing her research on young, temporary, illegal cannabis laborers in Northern California. With DIS since 2014.

Readings

The below list is an outline of expected readings for the class and does not reflect the total number of articles used in the course. The majority of the required readings for this course are found on Canvas and there is no textbook. Additional readings will be selected as the course progresses based on current events

 

• Anderson, Benedict (1991): “Imagined Communities”, in: Hutchinson, J. & Smith, A.D. eds, Nationalism, Oxford University Press
• Bennett, J. (2013). Doing belonging: A sociological study of belonging in place as the outcome of social practices (Doctoral dissertation, University of Manchester).
• Carling, J. (2018). The complexity of global migrations. Aula mediterrania, 62.
• Carling, J., & Schewel, K. (2018). Revisiting aspiration and ability in international migration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44(6), 945-963.
• Cresswell, T. (2010). Towards a politics of mobility. Environment and planning D: society and space, 28(1), 17-31.
• Ekman, M. (2015). Online Islamophobia and the politics of fear: Manufacturing the green scare. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 38(11), 1986-2002.
• Erel, U. (2010). Migrating cultural capital: Bourdieu in migration studies. Sociology, 44(4), 642-660.
• Jenkins, Richard (2012): “Ethnicity in Everyday Life”, in: Being Danish. Paradoxes of Identity in Everyday Life, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen
• Jones, Paul & Krzyzanowski, Michal (2011): “Identity, Belonging and Migration: Beyond Constructing ‘Others’, in: Delanty, Gerard et al., eds, Identity, Belonging and Migration, Liverpool University Press
• Lapiņa, L. (2018). Recruited into Danishness? Affective autoethnography of passing as Danish. European Journal of Women's Studies, 25(1), 56-70.
• Lemberg-Pedersen, M., Whyte, Z., & Chemlali, A. (2021). Denmark’s new externalisation law: motives and consequences. Forced Migration Review, (68), 36-39.
• Malkki, L. (1992). National geographic: The rooting of peoples and the territorialization of national identity among scholars and refugees. Cultural anthropology, 7(1), 24-44.
• Rytter, M. (2018). Writing Against Integration: Danish Imaginaries of Culture, Race and Belonging. Ethnos, 84(4), 678-697.
• Schmidt, G. (2012). ‘Grounded’politics: Manifesting Muslim identity as a political factor and localized identity in Copenhagen. Ethnicities, 12(5), 603-622.
• Tranekjær, L. (2015). Interactional Categorization and Gatekeeping. Multilingual Matters.

Field Studies

The class has two field studies. All students are required to participate in field studies.

Approach to Teaching

My aim is to create a class environment that inspires and motivates you to engage constructively and openly. You can expect to be actively involved in each class through either discussion, questions, games, teamwork, or presentations; concurrently, I aspire to create a safe environment that respectively supports the more introverted and extroverted students. 

Our classes will strive to combine theory and practice by comparing theory to current political views and news articles; inviting relevant guest speakers who will present academic, political, or personal approaches to the course subjects; taking the class outside the classroom for relevant field studies or independent city excursions. The assignments will also be a reflection of this approach given that they will interweave actual or fictional minority and migrant narratives in the ambition to increase the knowledge and understanding of the individual and collective challenges a migrant or minority faces.

Expectations of the Students

I expect that you participate actively, as you will be involved in questions, discussions, and presentations for class. Through the course, you will be asked to engage curiously, critically, and academically, always based on your preparation for class from class reading, assignments, and curiosity in the field.

The social environment in a class also plays a vital role in the learning experience and I aspire for all of us to be part of constructing a positive and safe environment for discussions to take place.

Grading

Assignment	Percent
Engagement and Participation	25%
Mock Debate	10%
Portfolio Assignments	25%
Final Paper	40%

 

*A word about grades: I realize that grades are important to you, but try not to let your anxiety about grades deter you from taking intellectual or artistic risks since they are often what you learn most from. Also, my grade is never an indication of my evaluation of you as a person. I grade you to give you my honest assessment of your performance at this point in time.

Disability and Resource Statement  

Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Academic Support (acadsupp@dis.dk) to coordinate this.  In order to receive accommodations, students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations within the first two weeks of classes.

Policies

Attendance

You are expected to attend all classes, guest lectures, workshops, and field studies. If you must miss a class for religious holidays, medical reasons, or other valid reasons, you must let us know as far in advance as possible of the absence and obtain information about the work you must do to keep up in class. If you miss a class for any other reason (sudden illness, family emergency, etc.), you should get in touch with us as soon as possible and arrange to make up the work missed.

It is crucial for your learning that you stay on task and hand in assignments on or before the due date. All work– including in-class projects – has to be completed in order to pass the class. Late papers or projects will be marked down with 1/3 of a grade for each day it is late. The assignment will be marked as 0 if you have not turned in the late assignment within 3 weeks of the initial due date. 

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism and Violating the Rules of an Assignment

DIS expects that students abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic work. DIS assumes that all students do their own work and credit all work or thought taken from others.  Academic dishonesty will result in a final course grade of “F” and can result in dismissal. The students’ home universities will be notified. DIS reserves the right to request that written student assignments be turned in electronic form for submission to plagiarism detection software.  See the Academic Handbook for more information, or ask your instructor if you have questions.

Use of laptops or phones in class – The use of electronic devices in class is allowed only for notes or group research. It is the students' responsibility to display active listening while taking notes on the computer. If technology becomes a distraction, the instructor reserves the right to change the rules of electronic devices in the classroom and inappropriate use of technology will affect students' participation grades. 

Please note that the class sessions can be subject to change during the semester

 

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

• Course Enrollment and Grading
• Attendance
• Coursework, Exams, and Final Grade Reports

 

 

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