This seminar, organised by FHSE’s Key Research Area “Migration and Inclusive Societies” (MIS), addresses both students who are working on migration-related topics and wish to broaden their view on the topic as well as students who want to get an interdisciplinary overview on the field of migration studies. We will try to access this field by focusing on the concept of conviviality, a term that has gained some importance in the Humanities and the Social Sciences as well as in public debate in the last 10 to 15 years. It refers to the Latin verb con-vivere in its primary sense of “living together”, and its use reflects a renewed interest in the conditions, modalities and possibilities of living together, especially in culturally complex societies/contexts resulting from migration. The notion of conviviality reflects a critical attitude vis-à-vis important cultural approaches to migration such as multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism or creolization and dichotomous thinking implicit in sociological concepts like inclusion, integration and social cohesion.

The discussion will center on five working areas:
1) Cultural Identities and Experiences of Borders,
2) Multilingualism and Educational Challenges,
3) Global Connectivity and Socio-Economic Participation,
4) Diversity and Social Cohesion,
5) Cross-Border Movement and Citizenship.

The course is taught by all members of the MIS consortium, which assembles researchers from geography, political science, (cultural) psychology, cultural border studies, cultural anthropology/history, pedagogy, sociolinguistics, and literary studies.

Students can achieve either three or five ECTS in this course (see below); students aiming at five ECTS are asked to think in advance of a topic for a working paper they would like to develop and to present in the context of the course (and with the support of one or two of the instructors).

Four sessions will be accompanied by public lectures on the evening before, which will be given by renowned guest speakers. Attendance is highly recommended.

Additional information available on Moodle.

This seminar, organised by FHSE’s Key Research Area “Migration and Inclusive Societies” (MIS), addresses both students who are working on migration-related topics and wish to broaden their view on the topic as well as students who want to get an interdisciplinary overview on the field of migration studies. We will access this field by distinguishing two different and, in a sense, complementary perspectives. The first sees migration as linked with crisis and vulnerability, the second sees it as linked with diversity and cultural difference. The course will focus on recent debates revolving around two concepts that epitomize these parallel approaches: resilience and conviviality.

Resilience is generally defined as the capacity to successfully cope with difficulties or shocks. In terms of migration, it is viewed as both a means to reinforce communities and an end when focusing on migrant experiences. The course questions this concept within the framework of multi-disciplinary migration studies and explores its relevance within different migration-related contexts as, for example: collective adaptation to external and internal stressors (e.g. climate change); individual survival strategies of migrants through their journeys (e.g. caravan formation); the individual ability to find/deploy resources in the face of adversity and the emotional resilience and well-being of migrants who lived through traumatic experiences; language use embedded in syncretic literacy, intercultural theater productions and other performances as expressions and strategies of resilience.

The concept of conviviality refers to the Latin verb convivere in its primary sense of “living together”. Its use indicates a renewed interest in the conditions, modalities and possibilities of living together, especially in culturally complex societies resulting from migration. The growing importance of the notion of conviviality in the Humanities and the Social Sciences as well as in public debate reflects a critical attitude vis-à-vis important cultural approaches to migration such as multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism or creolization and dichotomous thinking implicit in sociological concepts like inclusion, integration and social cohesion.

The course is taught by members of the MIS consortium, who represent different disciplinary fields: political science, (cultural) psychology, cultural anthropology/history, pedagogy, sociolinguistics, literary studies and intercultural theater and performance studies. Several sessions are planned to have a guest speaker who will also give a related public lecture.