HSP 151H CRN 9291
Tuesdays & Thursday
3:10 - 4:30pm
Honors Observatory
Spring 2006

"Reframing Security and Migration in the Post 9/11 Era"

Summary:

Our individual lives, our collective identities, our national politics and policies, and our various institutions – from media to education to civil society -- are increasingly being framed and experienced with reference to a set of discourses about “security.” Yet, just what is meant by “security,” and how exactly does security, in both theory and practice, operate in the post-9/11 context? How “new” is the post-9/11 security environment and the US domestic response? How do the ways in which “security” is framed affect the policies adopted by governmental agencies and other actors?

With reference to academic research in “security studies,” film, and literature, this seminar will focus on how the post 9/11 environment has transformed internal security and the way that “homeland security” has affected issues related to immigration. Close attention will be paid to immigrant communities inside the United States that have come in for close scrutiny by the Department of Homeland Security and other internal security bureaucracies. The United States will be the primary focus of our discussion, though we will compare US policy to that of other countries in the course of our this seminar.