Migration and Gender

This course is organised around five sub-themes: background contexts (sessions 1 and 2), theoretical perspectives (sessions 3 and 5), gender in migratory movements (sessions 6 to 8), recent empirical/theoretical tendencies (sessions 9 and 10), and methodological issues (session 11). The topics that will be discussed during each two-hour session are as follows:

1) Before “gender” comes in: migration studies and its beginning

2) Feminist perspectives, women studies and the birth of gender approaches in migration studies

3) Explaining migration through the prism of gender: some theoretical viewpoints

4) Important turns in migration and gender studies: transnationalism and mobility

5) Important turn in migration and gender studies: intersectionality

6) Women’s migration then and now

7) Gender issues in family-related migration

8) Gender in other geographical movements: children/youth and refugee migrations

9) Countering heteronormativity in migration studies: queer approach and the example of LGBTQ+

10) Returning to the past: the revival of the male figure in migration studies

11) Methodological issues in the engendering of migration studies

12) Conclusion: what do we gain from the cross-fertilisation between migration and gender studies?

At the end of this course, students will be able to explain clearly the cross-fertilisation through time between migration scholarship and gender studies using an interdisciplinary perspective. Specifically, they will be able to define key concepts and gender-sensitive approach(es) in the study of migratory phenomena, to retrace the development of migration studies while paying attention to its gender dimensions, and to identify recent scholarly tendencies as well as methodological issues in this research domain.

The course comprises ex-cathedra lectures and discussions as well as group presentations of scholarly works selected in a list of suggested readings. Other learning activities include analyses of photographs and of a documentary film, and an interactive lecture by invited scholar.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Students of this course will be provided with a list of required and suggested readings. The PDF of the slides will be uploaded to the Université Virtuelle after each class.

Course notes

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

asuncion.fresnoza@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• written examination
• Oral examination
• Oral presentation
• Other

written examination

Oral examination

Oral presentation

Other

Evaluation will be based on each student’s regular participation in class discussions, a group presentation of a selected scholarly work, a group discussion of a presentation by another group of students, an oral exam based on a photo analysis, and a written exam focusing on one of the five topics, namely historical development of gender in migration studies, key concepts/terms, analytical/theoretical perspectives, empirical questions and methodological approaches.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Class participation: 15%

Group presentation: 15%

Group discussion of a presentation by another group of students: 10%

Written exam: 35%

Oral exam: 25%

Language(s) of evaluation

• english
• french