People, Movement & Migration

Teacher(s): Julie Shackelford 

Lessons: 4/week

This Folk High School People, Movement and Migration Class takes an interdisciplinary approach to explore ‘people on the move’ in a wide range of contexts. Throughout the term students will examine a number of key themes and concepts within migration studies, including: push and pull factors, ‘voluntary’ versus ‘forced’ migration, global diasporas, immigrant stories, refugee and other forms of forced migration, and the material culture of migration, among other topics. While the first half of the term will focus primarily on people, movement and migration in the pre-modern period, the second half centers on more recent trends, thereby situating human migration in a more contemporary context.

Methodologically, the Folk High School Class is comprised of: lectures, small- and large-group discussions, documentaries and film screenings and other audio-visual media, and individual project work. In addition, students will also participate in a class project that employs their own family’s story of movement and migration as a case study. As such, students will gain valuable insight of historic and contemporary migration trends while also acquiring a more intimate and personal understanding of its implications.