CONN 397 | Migration and the Global City

This course explores the political, cultural, historical, and social footprint of urban life in the contemporary era of unprecedented mobility. Students explore scholarly frameworks used to understand contemporary migration and mobility, and the foundational scholarship that shapes our conceptualization of urban space and the urban landscape. Putting theories regarding state formation of immigration regimes into conversation with the lived experience of migrants in the urban landscape provides a multidimensional vantage point on the patterns and consequences of migration. After students develop these theoretical foundations, they deploy these new perspectives in field excursions in the Puget Sound region, framed by a series of series of lecture/discussions and encounters with a number of experts, specialists, and practitioners concerned with Tacoma. Lectures, guest speakers, and field excursions focus on the city's history of migration, the legal framework governing contemporary admittance, the lived experience of foreigners' place-making in the city, the interactions between migration flows and the built landscape of the city, and the cultural web through which the foreign presence is framed. These themes are then carried abroad: At the conclusion of the semester, students depart on a faculty-led trip to cities in Europe and the Middle East, and work closely with faculty to conduct independent research projects that conclude the course.