ANTH 570N - Language & Migration

Credits: Variable

The objective of this course is to critically examine the role of language use as it plays out in migratory processes in the United States and in Europe. In an era characterized by globalization and rapid transnational flows of ideologies, information, money, goods, and people across national borders, how do individuals, families, and communities cope with the new forms of existence brought forth by migration? How does language influence these dynamic and changing processes’ How does language play a role in creating or removing boundaries around migrant groups’ How are racial identities constructed or deconstructed through language? How are exclusion and inclusion of migrants performed through language use? These and other questions will be addressed in this course by reading the most current literature on these key issues. We will explore topics including the effects of mobility on a range of practices that include parenting, health, gender roles, marriage, politics, and linguistic anthropological research itself. We will consider several overlapping issues also, including the everyday practices of transnational living in a variety of cross-cultural settings; the theory and methodology linguistic anthropologists use to better understand migrants’ experience; and the ways in which migration has been politicized through language.