The Crucible of Nations: Race, Migration

This course is an historical introduction to the study of race and migration in the modern Mediterranean with a particular focus on histories from Africa and the Middle East. We will explore the fundamental migration events that have shaped Mediterranean history, including global settler movements, enslavement and forced migration, partitions and population transfers, and contemporary refugee crises. Building on Mediterranean history, we will discuss how race and migration shaped successive border regimes and competing world orders from 19th century to the present. Analyzing a diverse array of primary sources from legal texts, government reports, and maps to film, poetry, and visual arts, we will pursue answers to questions such as: What are the legal, social, and political structures which govern international migration? What laws, ideas, and affects construct political borders? What happens to those who breach them? How do the legacies of racial slavery, settler colonialism, and ethno-nationalism unsettle the borders of contemporary Mediterranean?