ATS3891 · Representing migration in Europe: Crisis, creativity and culture

Overview

The United Nations estimates that in 2020, there were around 281 million international migrants in the world - or 3.6 per cent of the global population. Australia, for instance, is a nation defined by migration: as of 2016, 28 per cent of the population was born overseas and celebrated for their contribution to the nation’s prosperity. Nonetheless, the globally mobile include those who are forced to migrate as a result of war or persecution – the refugee, displaced person and asylum seeker – and whose status is often described in less positive terms by politicians and across culture and media, often represented as threat and in terms of crisis for ‘host’ countries. This unit explores the importance of the involvement of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers (MRAS) in the production of culture, emphasised in debates about the nature of creative industries in defining citizenship and rights of participation in meaning. This unit focusses on interdisciplinary approaches for researching and identifying issues in migration and in formulating solutions focussed on culture and creativity. You will gain new knowledge, skills of investigation and evaluation essential for active citizenship, future employment and social innovation. Focussed on the European context, but with a global perspective, the unit will explore the policies, production and people defining migration and its representation. We will engage with case studies from across cultural sectors including the fine arts to music and media forms like the press, social media and gaming - drawing on input from guest presenters including MRAS creatives, policy makers and cultural intermediaries involved in trans-national projects for, about and by migrants.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Identify and analyse key issues in the representation and roles of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers (MRAS) in the cultural and creative economy;
2. Evaluate the contribution of migrants to the establishment, character and value of the cultural and creative economy;
3. Research and theorise how processes of policy and practice enable, constrain and shape patterns of MRAS representation across various cultural and creative industries;
4. Debate, design and present creative insights and solutions for MRAS cultural and creative representation and development in collaboration with peers;
5. Communicate research and debates addressing public policy makers and industry practitioners that anatomize and re-imagine the role of MRAS in the post-COVID cultural economy.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.