RSOS4958 – International Migration: Sovereigns, Borders, Control
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
We live in an interconnected world where the flow of capital and goods has been systematically liberalised, air travel is affordable, and information can move instantly. People who want to cross international borders, on the other hand, can face numerous obstacles depending on a range of factors. As states invest heavily to try to control human mobility, migration control gets referred to as the last bastion of sovereignty. Yet, humans are also sovereigns and want control over their own lives and future. While the many myths and unfounded assumptions permeating cross-border migration contribute to polarised public perceptions, migration’s complexity and fluidity makes legal regulation and institutional management particularly challenging and fragmented.
Drawing from law, sociology of law, criminology, political science and migration studies more generally, this multidisciplinary course provides a wholesome understanding of the many debates and dilemmas surrounding international migration and its management today. The course will address a broad range of topics and themes, including the legal regulation and institutional management of migration; ordering through labels, terms and categories; sovereignty, control and externalisation; citizenship and statelessness; securitisation and criminalisation of migration; smuggling, trafficking and instrumentalization debates, as well as gendered, racial and other aspects of migration and its management.
We will cover a combination of both canonical and newer academic texts in this area and will draw additional insights from policy documents, reports, fiction literature and films.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
At the end of this course, you are expected to have an understanding of the key issues and debates surrounding international migration, including
- what characterises international migration and its management today,
- what kinds of overt and discrete tools are utilised to control unwanted migration, and
- how migrants themselves respond to and navigate this complex landscape.
Skills
At the end of this course, you are expected to have enhanced your ability to
- read and critically engage with a variety of texts on migration,
- follow and be able to participate in multidisciplinary discussions on migration, and
- form and coherently communicate own views in this area, with reference to existing debates, key concepts and relevant literature.
Competences
- At the end of this course, you are expected to have enhanced your ability to critically assess new developments in the area of international migration and its management, and
- more generally discern and appreciate the complexity and multifaceted nature of similar contemporary societal issues.
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with RSOS2958 – International Migration: Sovereigns, Borders, Control
- 10 credits overlap with KRIM2958 – Migration Control, Borders and Citizenship (continued)
- 10 credits overlap with KRIM4958 – Migration Control, Borders and Citizenship (continued)
Teaching
There will be eight lectures taught in English.
Examination
Students are graded on the basis of a 4-day take-home exam.
Size: Maximum 4000 words. Front page, contents page (optional) and bibliography are not included. If footnotes are used in the text (at the bottom of each page), they are included in the 4000 word limit. Papers that exceed the 4000 word limit will not be accepted.
Any exam at the University of Oslo are being checked for both correct word count and incidents of cheating.
Use of sources and rules for citing
You must familiarize yourself with the rules that apply to exam support materials, and the use of sources and citations. If you violate these rules, you may be suspected of cheating or attempted cheating. You can read about what the university considers cheating, and the consequences of cheating here.
General rules on cheating and plagiarism apply during all exams. You must provide a reference whenever you draw upon another person’s ideas, words or research in your answer to the exam question(s). You cannot copy text directly from textbooks, journal articles, court judgments etc. without highlighting that the text is copied. Verbatim quotes must be put in quotation marks, italicised or otherwise highlighted to clearly mark that they are not the candidate’s own words. Failure to cite sources or highlight quotes in your exam answer constitutes a breach of exam regulations and will be regarded as cheating.
Digital home examination
The home examination is conducted in the digital examination system Inspera. You will need to familiarize yourself with the digital examination arrangements in Inspera.
Read more about home examinations using Inspera.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English.You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Marking criteria
This guide is used by examiners for grading this course.
Explanations and appeals
Resit an examination
Withdrawal from an examination
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
Special examination arrangements
Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.
Evaluation
The course is subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students to participate in a more comprehensive evaluation.