Crossing Borders, Changing Lives: Migrants at the Spain - Morocco Border

  • Where: Andalucia, Spain & Nador, Morocco
  • When: June 10 - 25, 2023
  • Topic: Migration
  • Instructor: Lois Ann Lorentzen
  • Program cost: Tuition + $2,000 program fee (flights not included)
  • Syllabus

This course takes place at the Spain/Morocco border and analyzes the root causes and policies that have led to borders as zones without rights for many migrants who are in transit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire world experienced closed borders, shaking our understanding and experience of global health, international politics, interdependent economies, and more. For many migrants, facing a closed border was nothing new and again revealed patterns of exclusion, racism and repression that seemed only to deepen during the pandemic.

Many factors lead migrants to leave their homes, families, and countries of origin. Violence, political persecution, economic instability, food insecurity, climate change, reuniting with family members, or simply the dream of a better future all may play a role. Many face enormous legal and political barriers to entrance, embodied in border walls and the increased militarization of borders between affluent and less affluent nations.

For any questions regarding the immersion, please contact Professor Lois Ann Lorentzen.