Geographies of Citizenship: Globalization Migration
Seminars
Course Description
An examination of recent changes in the Canadian population and the social/spatial negotiation of citizenship. As Canadian society becomes more diverse, new concepts of citizenship and new developments in human rights provision counter historic forms of oppression ('race', class, gender), to result in changes that are mediated by public policy initiatives, citizenship movements, and the reorganization of capital. Key concepts: citizenship, multiculturalism, migration, racialization, gender, transnationalism, globalization, democracy.
Globalization Migration
In an era of unprecedented global migration, climate displacement, and shifting borders, how do people claim space, identity, and rights? This graduate seminar examines the urgent, evolving geographies of citizenship and belonging as nation-states grapple with mass displacement, humanitarian crises, and the politics of who gets to stay, who must leave, and who decides. From millions of Ukrainians fleeing war, to record-breaking crossings through the Dari茅n Gap, to the EU鈥檚 New Pact on Migration and Asylum and the UK鈥檚 Rwanda deportation plan, these contemporary events reveal how border regimes are being reinvented and fundamentally reshaping citizenship discourse. This course positions you at the forefront of these debates, examining how borders, belonging, and political membership are being contested and reimagined in real time. We will analyze recent Supreme Court decisions on immigration, municipal responses to migrant arrivals in major cities, the rise of digital surveillance at borders - the CBP One app requiring asylum seekers to schedule appointments before crossing, to Palantir's AI technologies used to track non-citizens - alongside grassroots movements creating alternative forms of belonging beyond traditional citizenship frameworks. The course interrogates the stark disparities in how different populations are received: why Ukrainian refugees access humanitarian parole while Haitian and Venezuelan migrants face expedited removal, and how the Dominican Republic's denationalization of people of Haitian descent reveals citizenship as both powerful and precarious. This course examines citizenship not as a static legal status but as a lived, embodied experience shaped by race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and other axes of power. Our lens moves fluidly from the body to the border checkpoint, from the neighbourhood to the nation-state, from bilateral agreements to global governance regimes. Drawing on critical geography, anthropology, legal studies, ethnic studies, and migration studies, you'll develop a robust analytical toolkit. Assignments may include policy analysis, spatial mapping projects, oral history interviews, or collaborative research with community partners.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
1. Explain the historical, political, and social dimensions of citizenship, immigration, refugee crises and increasing border security.
2. Analyze the push and pull factors that are responsible for the current migration crisis occurring at major international borders/crossings, e.g., the USA-Mexico, the EU and North Africa.
3. Critically examine how citizenship and migration intersect with other social categories such as race, gender, and class.
4. Assess the economic and social impacts of state citizenship and immigration policies on host local communities.
5. Analyze real-world case studies of citizenship and migration by applying geographical concepts and methodologies.
6. Explore the role of international institutions and civil society organizations in influencing immigration policies in countries such as Canada, USA, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa etc.
7. Develop critical thinking, research, and analytical skills through engagement with academic literature and case studies.