TDMIGR 100 : Migration Futures

Arts

2025 Semester Two (1255) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Explores systems, patterns and experiences of international migration, globally and in Aotearoa New Zealand. Transdisciplinary and critical understandings of migration are developed to examine governance, economics and politics; health, well-being and identity; climate change; and social justice in diverse societies. Addresses the workings of migration policy, the experiences and stories of migrants and the cultural spaces of migrant communities.

Course Overview

Migration Futures is a transdisciplinary course that is open to undergraduate students in all faculties, degrees and majors.

Migration Futures explores the global and local systems, patterns and experiences of international migration. The course places particular emphasis on transdisciplinary understandings of migration that highlight matters of governance, economics and politics; health, wellbeing and identity; and social justice in the context of diverse societies. Students will learn about migration and its implications through lectures by experts from across the university and studio-based learning that will provide opportunities to examine the workings of migration policy, the lives of migrants and the social and cultural spaces of migrant communities.

Migration is fundamental to the worlds that we live in and is frequently thought of as one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Human histories have been shaped by complex and shifting migratory patterns, settler colonial and other nations have been formed through the mass movement of people, and migration policy and border control represent perhaps the apogee of state sovereignty. Globally, migration is a complex and contentious political and societal issue, especially in relation to the movement of refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants. Migration is also framed as a key component of economic growth, and an opportunity for livelihood improvement for people around the world.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, our society has been formed through the arrival of Māori over 800 years ago and their establishment as tangata whenua, the mass immigration that underpinned settler colonisation and Indigenous dispossession, the growth in Pacific communities through labour migration, Asian migrations and settlements especially since the 1980s, and more recently processes of significant ethnic and economic diversification as part of government aspirations for economic development. Today, Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland and the staff and students of Waipapa Taumata Rau are representative of these shifting patterns of migration and the diverse social and cultural forms that constitute our place in the world.

The Migration Futures course will provide students with a transdisciplinary introduction into the complex dynamics of international migration, giving attention to global histories and contemporary patterns of migration while highlighting the present realities and future possibilities of migration in the settler colonial context of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Course Contacts

This is a transdisciplinary course jointly led by the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS) and the Faculty of Arts & Education (AED).
Key contacts:
  •  FMHS co-Director: Professor Rachel Simon-Kumar, School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (r.simon-kumar@auckland.ac.nz)
  • AED co-Director: Professor Francis Collins, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts (f.collins@auckland.ac.nz)

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 2: Sustainability
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Identify and explain the primary features of transdisciplinarity through a focus on international migration and diverse societies (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)
  2. Collaborate in diverse groups to discuss different views/multiple perspectives on migration (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)
  3. Apply transdisciplinary approaches to address contemporary social and political implications of migration (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7)
  4. Communicate effectively using at least two different channels (written, oral, or visual) to convey complex debates about migration related to Aotearoa New Zealand (Capability 6, 7 and 8)
  5. Reflect on the use of transdisciplinary approaches for complex problem-solving (Capability 4, 5, 6 and 7)
  6. Develop creative and empathic solutions to the challenges of migration futures (Capability 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Individual Reading Engagement 10% Individual Coursework
Studio Reflections 10% Individual Coursework
Photo Essay 30% Individual Coursework
Group Presentation 25% Group Coursework
Individual Final Essay 25% Individual Coursework
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Individual Reading Engagement
Studio Reflections
Photo Essay
Group Presentation
Individual Final Essay

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, each week you can expect 1 hour of lecture, a 2 hour studio, 3-4 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 3-4 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at scheduled activities including studios to complete components of the course.

Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including studios will not be available as recordings.

The course will include live online events including group discussions organised by students.

The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

As this is the first delivery of this course, we will await SET (and other forms) evaluations before considering modifications. 

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 04/03/2025 05:00 p.m.