Short Courses

Integration is one of the most debated and ambiguous terms. The ambiguity stems from the variety of understandings, interpretations and applications that have taken place in the last decades. In this course, we will first conceptualize the idea of integration and then dive into the different integration models to assess their effectiveness, efficiency, implications and impacts. In this course we will address the following models: the assimilation model, the multicultural model, the universalist model, and the segregationist model.

In this intense summer course, we will adopt an interactive learning experience where you won’t just be the recipient of information, but you will also be on the front line of the learning process. This means that each day is embedded with all sorts of activities, from debates to presentations, from documentaries to negotiations, amongst others, aimed at making sure the students learn by doing and enjoy while doing so. By the end of this course, you will be able to know the multifaceted reality of migrant integration in host countries, from its challenges to its opportunity and be able to deeply reflect on the consequences and implications of integration today.

About the Instructor

Adham Aly is a researcher, project manager, tutor and assistant lecturer at Erasmus University, Rotterdam (NL). He received his bachelor’s degree at Bocconi University in Milan (IT), majoring in International Economics, Management and Finance. Thereafter he received his master’s degree in Public Administration with a specialization in Governance of Migration and Diversity at Erasmus University. He currently teaches and lectures Public Administration subjects such as International Migration, Political Philosophy and Political Science within the Erasmus School of Social Behavioral Sciences faculty at EUR. He previously worked for IMISCOE, the largest interdisciplinary network of scholars in the field of migration. He was also the project manager and leading researcher for one of the SPRING (H2020 project) work packages. His work focuses on migration integration, second-generation dynamics, belonging and racism. He is also a public speaker, often invited to anti-racism symposiums and events.

In the past 30 years, women went from being ignored to taking a central place in the humanitarian discourse on refugees and becoming the main focal point of refugee policies. In 1990, the UNHCR adopted its first Policy on Refugee Women, and thirty years later, all UN actors, many government donors and many larger humanitarian NGOs had developed their own gender policies. Humanitarian aid in general, and international refugee protection in particular, have left gender blindness behind. A considerable collection of policy documents, field handbooks and programmatic responses have been developed.

This course will examine how gender is impacting refugee policy and refugees’ experience from a multidisciplinary perspective: sociological, historical and political. For instance, the course will examine how gender is taken into account by outlining practices and goals that encourage the implementation of programs that explicitly address women’s protection and needs in post-conflict

humanitarian and refugee resettlement efforts. From a more sociological perspective, we will also look at how refugee women are both represented as vulnerable and targeted as crucial actors in the establishment of refugee support programs, particularly those that involve food and education. The course will also critically reflect on the meaning of concepts such as vulnerability, labeling or culturalization/sexualization of citizenship. 

About the Instructor

Alexandra Parrs, PhD, is a senior professorial lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the American University (AU) in Washington, DC. She is a member of AU’s immigration research lab. She previously taught at the American University in Brussels, University Rene Descartes Paris V (Sorbonne), and the American University in Cairo, where she taught for the sociology department and the Center for Migration and Refugees Studies. She was a research associate at the Center for Migration and Intercultural Studies (CeMIS) at Antwerp University.

Her research focuses on gender and refuge, ethnic and religious minorities’ identity construction and diasporic practices. Parrs spent three years in Namibia, where she worked with the Ju/’hoansi communities of northern Namibia on educational and cultural projects. She has also lived and taught in Burma and the Sultanate of Oman. She is currently writing a book with her colleagues at the research lab on the comparison of Arab migrations to Beirut, Mexico, Paris and Washington, DC

Since the creation of Schengen in 1985, the European Union and individual member states have found ways to externalize their border control policies to other neighboring countries, including those of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This course examines the consequences of this externalization for MENA countries and their transformation from countries of migrant transit to important migrant and refugee host states. The course includes three days of lectures, discussion and case studies.

• Day one: Provides an analytical framework for approaching the course and the topic of migration in the Middle East specifically, as well as the processes of EU border externalization over the last four decades.
• Day Two: examines the consequences of EU border externalization for MENA host states prior to 2015 in terms of domestic and regional politics, societal transformations, and the lives of individual migrants and refugees.
• Day Three: Looks at the impact of Europe’s attempts to manage migration in the wake of the 2015 European refugee ‘crisis.’ We will cover the EU-Turkey deal and related compacts, the Valletta Summit on Migration, and will discuss how to conceptualize new attempts at migration management such as the Global Compact for Migration. Through academic literature, journalistic accounts, film clips, lectures, and case studies, students will gain an in-depth knowledge about the important transformation of Middle Eastern and North African ‘transit’ countries into key migrant and refugee host states and will develop analytical tools for examining the impact migration has on societies, domestic politics, international relations, and local and regional economies.

About the Instructor

Kelsey P. Norman is a fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program. She also teaches courses on Middle East politics and the politics of migration and refugees in Rice University’s Master of Global Affairs program and the Department of Political Science. She has conducted extensive, empirically grounded research on refugees, migration, and state policy, reflected most recently in her book, Reluctant Reception: Refugees, Migration and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa, published by Cambridge University Press in 2021. Her research has also been published in academic journals, including the European Journal of International Relations, International Studies Review, the Journal of North African Studies, International Migration Review, the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, among others. She has also published numerous policy-oriented articles in outlets including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. 

On the one hand, population change and migratory trends have a distinct impact on contemporary societies–they are partially interrelated. The course provides information on major trends including access to and discussion of relevant data as well as an analytical framework that will help participants to understand the dynamics shaping demographic change and international migration. The course will also touch upon concepts of citizenship/belonging and their relevance in the context of international migration and Diaspora formation. Finally, the course will discuss migration policies from a sending and a receiving perspective as well as frameworks of global and regional migration/asylum governance.

About the Instructor:

Professor Rainer Münz is a Special Adviser on Migration and Demography at the European Political Strategy Center (EPSC). Prior to joining the EPSC, he led the Research and Development at Erste Group, a Central European retail bank headquartered in Vienna. He also worked as Senior Fellow at the European think tank Bruegel (Brussels), the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) and at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI, Washington DC). Until 2004, Rainer Münz had an academic career as a researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and at the Department of Mathematics of Finance/ TU Vienna as well as at the Humboldt University, Berlin. He was also a visiting professor at the Universities of Bamberg, UC Berkeley, Frankfurt, HU Jerusalem, Klagenfurt, Vienna and Zurich. He currently teaches at the Central European University (CEU), Budapest.

In 2000-01 Rainer Münz was a member of the German commission on immigration reform (Suessmuth commission). Between 2008 and 2010 he was a Member of the high level “Reflection Group Horizon 2020-2030” of the European Council (Gonzales commission). Currently, he is one of the chairs of KNOMAD, the World Bank’s Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development and co-chair of IOM's Migration Advisory Board.

The course will provide post-graduate students, international agency staff, NGO workers, lawyers and others working with refugees or interested in refugee issues with an introduction to the international legal framework which governs the protection of refugees. Through lectures, case studies and small group discussions, course participants will learn about the basic features of international refugee law through the lens of the 1951 Refugee Convention, looking at the elements of the definition(s) of "refugee," who is excluded from the definition, the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the process by which refugee status is determined, the rights of refugees under international law, the ethical and professional obligations of those representing refugees, and other issues of refugee policy. A background in law is useful but not required.

About the Instructor:

Parastou Hassouri has previously taught international refugee law at the American University of Cairo and has extensive experience in the field of international refugee law and refugee and immigrant rights and migration policy. Parastou has served as a consultant with different UNHCR operations in the Refugee Status Determination, Resettlement and Protection Units in Morocco, Turkey, Jordan, and the Russian Federation. She has served as a research consultant for NGO's including the Global Detention Project, where her research focused on migration-related detention in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Prior to that, as a consultant for Human Rights, she conducted extensive research on the resettlement of Iraqi refugees out of the Middle East to third countries. She has worked as a Legal Advisor and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Focal Point at Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA) in Cairo. Her experience in the United States includes serving as an Attorney-Advisor at the Immigration Courts of New York City and Los Angeles and working as an immigration attorney in private practice in New York City. In addition, she designed and directed the Immigrant Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, where she focused on responding to ethnic profiling and other forms of anti-immigrant backlash in the United States in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11. She also occasionally writes on the topic of refugee and migration policy. 

Statelessness is a global human rights challenge that leaves tens of millions of people across the world unable to access their rights. This 5-day intensive course on statelessness aims to provide participants with knowledge and skills to understand and address the phenomenon of statelessness and advocate for the right to a nationality. The course will start with an exploration of the concepts of nationality and statelessness, leading to an understanding of what international, regional and domestic legislation are associated with the issue. It will then go on to explore issues of the status of stateless persons, their human rights, discrimination and policy, through three specific themes: civil registration, displacement, and children’s right to a nationality. We will then finish the course by exploring different avenues for further research and advocacy on these issues. The course will incorporate topical and real-life examples of statelessness policies and explore their effects on communities from around the world to help contextualize the issue. It will include theory and interactive case studies. This course is supported by the LSE’s Knowledge Exchange and Impact Fund and by the LSE Middle East Centre.

About the Instructors

Zahra Albarazi is an independent human rights lawyer and activist, working in the field of statelessness. She specializes in the nexus between statelessness and forced displacement, and the link between discrimination and statelessness, including work on gender inequality in nationality law. Geographically, her work has focused mainly on statelessness and nationality in the Middle East and Africa region. Zahra has been working on the issue of statelessness and citizenship since 2010 and has been involved in conducting studies on statelessness for UNHCR, International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Open Society Justice Initiative, and Amel House of Human Rights. She holds an LLM in International Law from Leeds University.

Migration Governance is described as the norms and structures regulating states’ response to migration It aims at enhancing inter-state cooperation to ensure a maximization of the benefits and minimization of the costs of migration. Since 2016, migration governance has been a priority for stakeholders at the global and regional fora. In September 2016, world leaders came together in the New York UN Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.

The Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), introduced by the Global Compacts, aims to support refugees in countries affected by large refugee movement, or in a Protracted Refugee Situation, through mechanisms to ensure responsibility and burden-sharing. The global processes have not only represented a new framework of inter-state cooperation but also broadened discussions on migration governance, by recognizing its multi-faceted nature. In the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), there have been several efforts to enhance regional and national cooperation in reforming migration policies. Migration consultation processes at the regional level aimed at addressing challenges related to migration and inter-state cooperation, including but not limited to: The Arab Regional Consultative Process on Migration and Refugees Affairs (ARCP) and the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, known as the Khartoum Process.

In addition to regional efforts, countries in MENA have embarked on national efforts towards promoting migration policy frameworks. The course will unpack the term “migration governance” by looking at the migration governance framework and international cooperation at global, regional and national mechanisms to address migration. By analyzing case studies in the region, participants will identify the application of global migration governance objectives to specific local contexts. By analyzing case studies in the MENA region, the course will look at best practices as well as limitations and challenges. It will look at the role of policies and practices of various stakeholders in shaping the experience and addressing the challenges faced by different categories of migrants and refugees. The course will be based on lectures, case studies, group activities and presentations. It will provide an avenue for participants to exchange knowledge and share experiences in the region. At the end of the course, participants will identify relevant baseline indicators for migration governance. The course is for young scholars, academics, practitioners and policymakers engaged in the field of migration.

This course aims to provide participants with comprehensive information on demographics of migration, including migration data sources, data collection, and analysis of migration data, standards and main measurements used in this field. The course includes both internal migration and international migration. By the end of the course, during presentations, case studies and available data on international migration in developing and developed countries, participants will be able to identify migration data sources, read and understand the meanings of migration statistics, indicators, and be able to calculate main migration indicators. Required specifications: Those wishing to participate in this course should have a background in computer technology and computer skills, especially Microsoft Excel.The main themes: 1. Migration, population growth and regional and international disparities 2. Demographic concepts and definitions used in the field of migration 3. Types and divisions of migration 4. System of Migration data collection a. Population censuses b. Field surveys (sample surveys)c. Population records d. Records of foreigners e. Administrative sources f. Crossing statistics (border) 5. Evaluation and assessment of migration data 6. Analysis of migration data. Immigration Rates b. Migration rates Methodology: During the course, we use a wide range of methods and curricula, including lectures, hands-on training, exchange of experiences, discussions and debates.

The course will provide post-graduate students, international agency staff, NGO workers, lawyers and others working with refugees or interested in refugee issues with an introduction to the international legal framework which governs the protection of refugees. Through lectures, case studies and small group discussions, course participants will learn about the basic features of international refugee law through the lens of the 1951 Refugee Convention, looking at the elements of the definition(s) of "refugee," who is excluded from the definition, the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the process by which refugee status is determined, the rights of refugees under international law, the ethical and professional obligations of those representing refugees, and other issues of refugee policy. A background in law is useful but not required.

About the Instructor: Parastou Hassouri, Refugee and Migration Law Consultant, she has previously taught international refugee law at The American University of Cairo and has extensive experience in the field of international refugee law and refugee and immigrant rights and migration policy. Parastou has served as a consultant with different UNHCR operations in the Refugee Status Determination, Resettlement and Protection Units in Morocco, Turkey, Jordan, and the Russian Federation. She has served as a research consultant for NGO's including the Global Detention Project, where her research focused on migration-related detention in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Prior to that, as a consultant for Human Rights First, she conducted extensive research on the resettlement of Iraqi refugees out of the Middle East to third countries. She has worked as a Legal Advisor and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Focal Point at Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA) in Cairo. Her experience in the United States includes serving as an Attorney-Advisor at the Immigration Courts of New York City and Los Angeles and working as an immigration attorney in private practice in New York City. In addition, she designed and directed the Immigrant Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, where she focused on responding to ethnic profiling and other forms of anti-immigrant backlash in the United States in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11. She also occasionally writes on the topic of refugee and migration policy. 

In a world where nearly 20 people are forcibly displaced every minute as a result of conflict or persecution,” (UNHCR 2017), the crisis became an epidemic in catastrophic proportions. It is widely recognized that the face of this crisis and the refugee landscape has changed greatly over the last decade. Refugees are less often concentrated in the traditional camps, and more often are living in urban areas, especially large cities. This change in the landscape adds further psychosocial issues to consider, particularly, integration into communities and access to resources. Most of the guidelines and recommendations for psychosocial interventions are directed at those refugees living in camps, and it is recognized that this needs urgent addressing.

This course aims to bring those working with refugees and forced migrants together to develop a greater understanding of the needs, experiences, psychosocial and mental health interventions available to this ever-growing and under-serviced population, with a particular focus on displaced individuals living in urban areas. Whilst many refugees are able to great resilience and cope effectively, others in more vulnerable situations are less able to, and are at increased risk of mental health and social problems. Those with existing mental health issues are at great risk of the worsening and prolonging of such issues, given the circumstances in which they find themselves and a lack of access to appropriate resources.

This course will also familiarize participants with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Guidelines on mental health and psychosocial support in emergency settings. The levels of interventions will be explored focusing on psychological first aid, basic counseling skills and the identification and sharing of referrals and cases.

About the Instructor: Kate Ellis is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and the Graduate Director of the Psychology Department at The American University in Cairo. She is a qualified clinical psychologist who completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University, in England. Ellis works predominantly with refugees and individuals who have experienced trauma. Her research focuses on the impact of violence and conflict, with a particular focus on young people, which was the focus of her first PhD awarded by the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Ellis is also the course coordinator of the Leadership in Mental Health course, Eastern Mediterranean Region, held annually at the AUC. This course was developed in collaboration with the WHO, in order to provide training to mental health professionals in the region, with the aims of up-scaling mental health services and putting mental health on the national health agenda in under-resourced countries low economic status countries.

Since the creation of Schengen in 1985, the European Union and individual member states have found ways to externalize their border control policies to other neighboring countries, including those of the Middle East and North Africa. This course examines the consequences of this externalization for MENA countries, and their transformation from countries of migrant transit to important migrant and refugee host states.

The course is divided into three parts. Part I provides an analytical framework for approaching the course and the topic of migration in the Middle East specifically. Part II focuses on the consequences of EU border externalization for MENA host states between 2010 and 2015 in terms of domestic and regional politics, societal transformations, and the lives of individual migrants and refugees. Part III looks at the impact of Europe’s attempts to manage migration in the wake of the European refugee ‘crisis.’ We will cover the EU-Turkey deal, the Valetta Summit on Migration, and the more recent deal with Libya, and will discuss how to conceptualize new attempts at migration management such as the Global Compact for Migration. Through academic literature, journalistic accounts, film clips, lectures, and case studies, students will gain in-depth knowledge and about the important transformation of Middle Eastern and North African ‘transit’ countries into key migrant and refugee host states, and will develop analytical tools for examining the impact migration has on societies, domestic politics, international relations, and local and regional economies.

About the Instructor: Kelsey Norman is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for European Studies and the Department of political science at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. During the 2017-2018 academic year; she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Sié Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver. Her research examines the Middle East and North African countries as sites of migrant and refugee settlement and she is currently working on a book manuscript titled, "Reluctant Reception: Understanding Host State Migration and Refugee Policies in the Middle East and North Africa." The book is based on four years of conducting more than 150 interviews in Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon with government officials, NGOs, intergovernmental organizations, and individual migrants and refugees. Her work has been published by peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Mashriq and Mahjar: Journal of the Middle East and North African Migration Studies, International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, Journal of the Middle East and Africa, Refugee Review, Crossings: Journal of Migration and Culture and The Postcolonialist, as well as by media and policy outlets including Jadaliyya, Muftah, The Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Political Violence at a Glance, and The Washington Post. She has taught courses and guest lectured on migration and the Middle East at the University of Denver, Loyola Marymount University, and the University of California, Irvine.