Academic Staff

The staff members from Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities // Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej (PL WARSZAW37) – co-ordinator

	Anna Horolets is an Assistant Professor at Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities (SWPS) where she teaches political anthropology and discourse studies. In 2010-2011 she is a Leverhulme Visiting Fellow at the University of Wolverhampton, where she conducts research on leisure mobility of Polish migrants. Her research interests concentrate on the symbolic politics and cultural dimensions of European integration, the symbolic dimension of tourism and other forms of leisure mobility as well as methods and theoretical models underlying discourse studies. She is a member of editorial team of Studia Socjologiczne (Sociology Studies, a Polish sociology journal with 50 year history) and author of several journal articles on European discourses and identities as well as a monograph The representations of Europe in Polish public discourse (in Polish, Krakow: Universitas, 2006).
	Michał Wenzel works at the Center for the Study of Democracy at Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities (SWPS). He has obtained his PhD in sociology from Central European University. Prior to his present position, he was a researcher and analyst at CBOS Public Opinion Research Center in Warsaw. He took part in design and analysis of public opinion surveys, and in qualitative research. He conducted numerous research projects on the situation of migrants and refugees in Poland. He was a post-doctoral scholar at Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne. He was also visiting scholar at University of Michigan.
	Izabela Grabowska-Lusinska, PhD, is Director of Institute of Sociology at Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities and member of Research Group of Centre of Migration Research at University of Warsaw. She graduated from University College Dublin and University of Warsaw. She is also one of the experts of the Expert Network of The European Commission in Mobility Lab and member of international Research Network IMISCOE. She published extensively on international mobility and the labour market.
	Marek Okólski, Professor at the Institute of Sociology, Warsaw School of Humanities and Social Sciences, is also the founder and Director of the Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw (CMR; www.migracje.uw.edu.pl). He is a member of the Executive Board of IMISCOE (International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion) Research Network and Deputy President of the Committee of Migration and Polish Diaspora Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences. His research area include great social transformations and their impact upon population processes, economic and social aspects of globalisation, demographic transition in Poland, migration theory, health crisis in the former communist states of Europe, labour mobility, migration trends in Central and Eastern Europe. Publications by Marek Okólski include 24 scientific monographs and nearly 270 research papers (articles in scientific journals and books).
	Monika Biłas-Henne is a cross-cultural psychologist and an Assistant Professor at SWPS. Her teaching interests are Cross-cultural Psychology, Psychological Interview with Immigrants, Cultural Diversity, Adaptation Trainings and Workshops for international students, foreigners, and Poles dealing with foreign matters. Her research interests center around acculturation and adaptation processes. Her research interests focus in particular on the adaptation processes of international students. She also carries out cross-cultural trainings and workshops for international students, expatriates living in Poland and Polish people dealing with international matters.
	Paweł Boski, Professor of Psychology at SWPS and Polish Academy of Sciences. Specialist in cultural and cross-cultural psychology. He has introduced and established these fields in Poland since 1990s and has been Chair of Culture & Psychology Labs ever since in these institutions. The author of numerous publications in Polish, English and other EU languages, including a handbook Kulturowe Ramy Zachowań Społecznych [Social Behavior in Cultural Context], which won many prestigious awards. Current Associate Editor of Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Consulting Editor of IJJR, two leading journals in the field. Over years he held many functions in the Executive Committee of IACCP. His career spread over three continents: Africa (Nigeria, seven years at University of Jos); North America (eight years at various universities in Canada and USA) and Europe (fifteen years at SWPS; lecturer in several EU countries within Erasmus program).
	Mirosław Bieniecki is currently completing his PhD, having obtained an MA in Economy and Society from the Central European University in Warsaw and a BA in Philosophy and Sociology from Lewis University in Romeoville, Il. He is employed as an Assistant Professor at Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities as well as a leading expert at Caritas Polska. He is also an expert and researcher for the Migrations and Eastern Policy Programme of the Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw. His main areas of interest include: international migrations, integration of immigrants, functioning of immigrants on the Polish labor market and border studies. One of his recent publication is "Laboratories of integration. Lessons from Belgium, Great Britain, Catalonia and Portugal", Caritas Polska, Gliwice 2009 (co-authored with Mikołaj Pawlak).

The staff from University of Iceland // Háskóli Íslands (IS REYKJAV01)

Unnur Dís Skaptadóttir is a professor of anthropology at the University of Iceland. Her research has dealt transformations in Icelandic society especially related with international labour migration and changes in fishing communities. Recent projects are the following: a) The Construction of Diversity in a Global Context: Immigrants in Iceland – opportunities and obstacles and b) Transnational Ties and Participation in Icelandic Society: Women and Men from the Philippines in Iceland. She is currently participating in a research project on affects of economic recession and unemployment on migrants in Iceland.  Her main interests are migration, gender, globalization, national identity and multicultural society.

Anna Wojtynska is currently completing her doctoral dissertation in Anthropology at the University of Iceland. The thesis is devoted to Polish migrants in Iceland. Anna has graduated from Warsaw University Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology. Her main areas of interests are migration, transnationalism, global culture, identity and integration.

The staff from University of Wolverhampton (UK WOLVERH01)

Aleksandra Galasińska is Reader in Discourse and Social Transformation at the School of Law, Social Sciences and Communication, University of Wolverhampton. Her main research interests focus on ethnographic and discursive aspects of lived experience of post-communism as well as post-enlargement migration on which she published numerous articles and book chapters. She is currently working on a monograph on internet forum discourses of migration. She is co-editor of Discourse and Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe (with Michał Krzyżanowski, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and as The Post-communist Condition. Public and Private Discourses of Transformation (with Dariusz Galasiński, John Benjamins, 2010).

The staff from University of Bologna // Universitŕ di Bologna (I BOLOGNA01)

Bruno Riccio holds a Doctoral degree in Social Anthropology (Sussex) and is Researcher and Lecturer at the University of Bologna where he teaches Cultural Anthropology and Anthropology of Migration. He is member of two interdisciplinary doctoral programmes: Anthropology and Epistemoloty of Complexity at CeRCO of the University of Bergamo and of International Cooperation and Sustainable Development Policies at the University of Bologna. He is in the editorial boards of afriche e orienti, Mondi Migranti and the Anthropological Journal of European Cultures. He has published extensively in edited books and scientific journals (Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies; Cahiers d'études africaines; Stichproben; Modern Italy; Asylon(s); Population Space and Place) and he is the editor of books and Special Issues on the broad areas of West African Transnational Migration, Home Town Associations and Co-Development, Citizenship, Politics and Policies of Multiculturalism, Translocal and Multi-sited Ethnography, Urban Everyday Racisms and Cosmopolitanisms. He is the author of two monographs: "Toubab" and "vu cumprŕ". Transnationalism and representation in the Sengalese migration into Italy, (in Italian) Cleup, 2007; Politics, associations and urban interactions, (in Italian) Guaraldi, 2008.

Francesca Crivellaro is currently Research Fellow in Anthropology at the Department of Education, University Bologna. Her PhD was on microcredit programmes targeting migrant women in Italy. Since 2007 she has been collaborating with the Microfinance International Observatory, working both on the interdisciplinary research project m. i. c. r. o. (Microcredito, Interdisciplinarietà, Crescita, Relazione,Opportunità) and on the "Grameen Italy" Feasibility Study (University of Bologna, Unidea Foundation, Grameen Trust). Since February 2011 she has been collaborating with the Emilia Romagna Gramsci Foundation on the interdisciplinary research "New Poverties in Bologna" as well as on the project "Gender, Early Childhood and Stereotypes" (Emilia Romagna Region, CSGe). Her current research focus is on migrant parenthood.

The staff member from New Bulgarian University // Nov Bulgarski Universitet (BG SOFIA02)

Magdalena Elchinova teaches social anthropology at the New Bulgarian University. She is the head of the Department of Anthropology there. The subjects of her research interest include political anthropology, ethnic and migration studies, Muslim communities in Bulgaria and the Balkans, the Macedonian diaspora in U.S.A. Her previous experience is in the study of folklore, with particular interest in the study of proverbs, religious legends and folk rites. She has conducted field work in Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and U.S.A. Her most recent research on migration focuses on the Macedonian Americans, the Bulgarian-born Turks, re-settlers in Turkey, as well as the British residents in Bulgaria.

The staff member from Miguel Hernández University of Elche // Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (E ALICANT02)

Antonio Miguel Nogués Pedregal is an Associate Professor of social anthropology at the Universitas Miguel Hernández (Spain). He graduated in philosophy, history and geography and got a PhD in social   anthropology (University of Sevilla). His research interests are focused on the relationship between tourism, power, cultural heritage and development in Spain and Latin America, where he has carried out his fieldwork. he has been involved in several development projects at European level. His anthropological research, and the publications derived from it, focuses on tourism, cultural heritage, development and the production of meanings, e.g. he edited Cultura y turismo (Sevilla: Signatura, 2003).

The staff member from Roskilde University // Roskilde Universitet (DK ROSKILD01)

Kristine Juul is Associate Professor of Human Geography at Roskilde University where she is part of the research group  “Mobility, Space, Place and Urban Studies. She has published on mobility and migration, land tenure and resource allocation in West Africa, on the role of monuments in the reconstruction of Kosovo, on homeless West-African migrants in Copenhagen and on Serbian immigrants in Denmark and how they have reacted to the breakdown of Yugoslavia.

The staff members from Gdansk University // Uniwersytet Gdański (PL GDANSK01)

Dorota Rancew-Sikora is an Associate Professor at Gdansk University, where she teaches at Sociology Department. Having background in psychology, she devoted her PhD in sociology to conversation analysis (completed at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun). She has recently been conferred higher doctorate (habilitacja) in sociology by the University Warsaw. Her research interests range widely from conversation analysis  and Discourse Analysis, to microsociology, environmental sociology, sociology of emotions, human-animal relations, maritime sociology as well as  material-semiotic approach. She has published on a range of topics from conversation analysis to ecological and hunting related discourse in a number of journals. She has edited several collected volumes and authored monographs: Conversation Analysis as a method for everyday talk studies (original title: “Analiza konwersacyjna jako metoda badania rozmów codziennych”, Warszawa: Trio, 2007) and Understanding of big game shooting: Contemporary meanings of traditional practice on the basis of hunters’ discourse analysis (original title: “Sens polowania. Współczesne znaczenia tradycyjnych praktyk na przykładzie analizy dyskursu łowieckiego”, Scholar, Warszawa, 2009).

Agata Bachórz  is working at the University of Gdansk as a research and teaching assistant. She holds degrees in sociology and Russian literature. Currently, she is conducting PhD research on Polish travel experience in Russia. Her interests and writing focus on anthropology of travel, Russian culture, Polish-Russian relationships and Eastern European identity.

The staff member from Lund University // Lunds Universitet (SE LUND02)

The staff member from University of Vienna // Universität Wien (A WIEN01)

Sopot
We hope that the students will enjoy staying in Sopot - a sea resort that can be an object of study for researchers of health tourism and life-style migration in its own right. Situated at on the shore of the Baltic sea and bordering the cities of Gdańsk and Gdynia, Sopot is a city of XIX century villas and a renowned seafront and pierce as well as innumerable cafes and shops to spend your free time; just step out from your hostel and you will be at the beach. For some insights about the city please visit its trendy brand new web site: www.sopot.pl

You might also want to check what’s going on in neighbouring cities
Gdańsk: http://www.en.gdansk.gda.pl/
Gdynia: http://www.gdynia.pl/eng/

 

Practical information about Sopot, Gdansk and Gdynia will appear shortly

Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport is the international airport nearest to Sopot:
http://www.airport.gdansk.pl/

Venue
The lectures, seminars and student sessions will be held at the SWPS Sopot Campus.
Address: Polna 16, Sopot. (locality C on the map).

Evening informal meetings
From 19.00 till 21.00 the students and staff of the summer school will have a chance to meet and chat at the bar of Irena Hotel (Pensjonat Irena) in Sopot.
Address: Chopina 36, 81-786 Sopot. (locality B on the map)
Check their site: http://www.pensjonat-irena.com/an_restauracja.html

Student accommodation
Students will be housed in one of the two hostels in Sopot in rooms for 4:
Siesta Hostel, Krasickiego 11, Sopot (locality D on the map):
http://www.siestahostel.pl/en/contact/
or
Hostel Central, Bohaterów Monte Casino 15, 81-701 Sopot (locality A on the map):
http://www.hostelcentral.pl/en/contact.html
Students need to bring their own towels, bed linen and light breakfasts will be provided.
Hostels declare they are in possession of free wi-fi.
The information on who is housed in which hostel will be provided by the organizers in due course.

View the four MOBILE localities on the map

School Schedule

Day 2 August 13, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Lecture: "Socio-Economic Dimensions of Post-Accession Migration" (Dr. Grabowska-Lusińska); 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "Post-accession Migration: Migration Grand Narratives vs. Migrants' Small Stories" (Dr. Galasińska); 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 "Migrants adaptation" (t.b.a.); 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel opening evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 3 August 14, 2012: 9.30-11.00  Lecture: "Gender and Migration" (Prof. Skaptadottir); 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "Migration and Work: Migrants' Careers" (Dr. Grabowska-Lusińska) 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Students Session (discussant: Dr. Grabowska-Lusińska); 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 4 August 15, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Workshop: "Survey Methods for Migration Studies" (Dr. Wenzel); 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "Multimodality of Migrants' Narratives" (Dr. Galasińska); 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Students Session (discussant: Dr. Wenzel); 16.00-19.00 free time; 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 5 August 16, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Seminar: "Polish and Filipino Migrants in Iceland" (Prof. Skaptadottir and Ms. Wojtyńska); 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "Tourism, History and Politics: Post-communist Tourism" (Dr. Horolets, Ms. Bachórz); 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Students Session (discussant Prof. Elchinova) 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 6 August 17, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Lecture: "Migration and Ethnicity" (Prof. Elchinova) 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "Shifting Theoretical Models of Migration in Anthropology" (Ms. Wojtyńska); 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Round table on transnationalism (Prof. Skaptadottir and Ms.Wojtyńska) 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 7 August 18, 2012: day off
Day 8 August 19, 2012: day off

Day 9 August 20, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Lecture: "Tourism, Culture and Society" (Prof. Nogues Pedregal) 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "The Border as Locality and Temporality in Migrants' Practices and Narratives" (Prof. Elchinova) 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Student Session (discussant: Prof. Nogues Pedregal) 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 10 August 21, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Lecture: "The New Mobilities in Tourism Destinations" (Prof. Nogues Pedregal); 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "Discourse and Conversation Analysis in Mobility Studies" (Dr. Rancew-Sikora, Dr. Horolets); 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Student Session (discussant: Prof. Riccio) 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 11 August 22, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Seminar: "Re-traditionalization of Serbian Diaspora in Denmark" (Prof. Juul); 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "Migration Policies"  (t.b.a.); 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Student Session (discussant: Prof. Juul) 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 12 August 23, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Lecture: "Migration and Multiculturalism" (t.b.a.); 11.30-13.00 Seminar: "Migration and Tourism in Europe" (Dr. Anna Horolets); 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Student Session (discussant: Prof. Rancew-Sikora) 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 13 August 24, 2012: 9.30-11.00 Student Session: (Discussant: Ms. Anna Wojtyńska); 11.30-13.00 Lecture: "Changing Forms and Patterns of Migration in Europe" (Prof. Okólski); 13.00-14.30 lunch break; 14.30-16.00 Wrap up of the programme (Dr. Horolets) and commencement; 16.00-19.00 free time; 19.00-21.00 Irena hotel closing evening informal meeting (optional)

Day 14 August 25, 2012: Departure day

I. Descriptions of lectures and seminars

“Socio-Economic Dimensions of Post-Accession Migration” (Dr. Izabela Grabowska-Lusińska)

Short description:
In order to understand in depth why and how people migrated so massively and dynamically after EU enlargement in May 2004, it is important to take into account both social and economic dimensions of this phenomenon, also in a theoretical perspective. The lecture will focus on: (1)  primarily changing dynamics of post-accession migration, including period of global economic crisis; (2) types and forms of post-accession migration as comparing to the pre-accession times; (3) households’ strategies; (5) socio-economic consequences of post-accession flows both  for sending and receiving countries and (6) return migration.

“Migration and Work: Migrants’ Occupational Careers” (Dr. Izabela Grabowska-Lusińska)

Short description:
Seminar will be devoted to problem of occupational mobility of migrants and the meaning of migration to their occupational careers. Participants will be discussing: various careers’ metaphors and methodology of researching careers (qualitative and quantitative approaches) and various case studies of people who experienced international migration throughout the course of their lives.

“Gender and Migration” (Prof. Unnur Dís Skaptadóttir)

Short description:
Today the number of men and women who migrate internationally is about equal but the pattern of migration in terms of destination is clearly gendered. Gender relations affect who migrates and why, how the decision is made, the effects on migrants themselves, on sending areas and on receiving areas. Including gender in the study of migration began only in the 1980s and as in many other areas of study began with making female migration visible. In my lecture I will briefly discuss the developments in gender and migration research but will mostly focus on recent concerns. Currently migration is seen as a gendered phenomenon. Gender analysis of migration is being undertaken across a wide variety of spatial scales, from the local and familiar to the national and global. Scholars of migration in various fields of study investigate gender in the lives of both female and male migrants. They examine for example such questions as: Are the politics and governance of migration gendered?  How do different kinds of mobilities influence different women and men’s life? What is the role of sexuality in migration research? They examine gender in the workplaces of immigrants, in neoliberal or welfare state policies toward migration.

“Survey Methods for Migration Studies” (Dr. Michał Wenzel)

Short description:
The workshop will be a presentation and discussion of applying survey research methodology to the study migration and attitudes to migrants. Surveys are a convenient method for studying the constraints on the reception of migrants in the host country: quantitative research on the general population may help identifies areas where immigrants may face adaptation problems. On the other hand, surveys  (and other types of quantitative methodology) may be used to study the scale of migration and the opinions of the immigrant community. In the workshop, challenges regarding the methodology will be presented on examples of research conducted in recent years in Poland.    

”Multimodality of Migrants’ Narratives” (Dr. Aleksandra Galasińska)

Short description:
Migrants often told their stories of departure, voyage, coping and settling down, or indeed struggling with their new live. Oral version of these accounts as well as written forms such as letters, diaries or memoires have been a focus of analysis by researches representing numerous fields.  Explosion of new technologies and new form of communication enable storytellers to extend the range of ways of narrating their experiences. This seminar will explore migrants’ accounts delivered in many different modes of discourse. Students will be presented with a variety of examples of migrant storytelling, ranging from traditional oral narratives, press texts, forum discussions, (photo)blogs, and other visual material. Methodologically, this seminar will be anchored in textual, narrative and visual analysis and students will discover how to look for, identify, and follow patterns of similarities and differences at the level of both, form and content, of data under investigation.

“Post-accession Migration: Migration Grand Narratives vs. Migrants’ Small Stories” (Dr. Aleksandra Galasińska)

Short description:
Semi-private discourses of economic migration are going to be investigated during this lecture, which focuses on an internet forum discussion triggered by newspaper reports and articles on Polish recent migration to the UK (in the aftermath of the 2004 EU Enlargement). Dynamics of Polish discourses on migration will be explored by pointing to the evident discursive struggle between, on the one hand, the new accounts on migration in the early 21st century and, on the other hand, Polish ‘old’ historical grand-narrative of migration. Two questions are going to be examined in particular: 1) what constitutes post-enlargement migrants’ narrative of migration; and 2) how this narrative is created and how it is used as a form of negotiation with, as well as resistance towards, the national, historically-bounded, decontextualised (as well as, to a large extent, mythical) grand narrative of migration. In conclusion the link between discourses of migration and new trans-local discourses of Polish social and economic transformation in the context of the EU expansion after 2004 will also be scrutinized.

“Polish and Filipino Migrants in Iceland” (Prof. Unnur Dís Skaptadóttir, Ms. Anna Wojtyńska)

Short description:
Until very recently Iceland was quite homogeneous country with very small foreign population. In the recent period of economic expansion the inflows of foreign nationals increased dramatically and the number of immigrants rose up to 9% of the total population in 2007. The vast majority of them were coming from European countries (71%), predominantly from Poland (30%) and only a small percentage from Asia (19%). The financial crisis that began in the fall of 2008 slowed down immigration process, however it did not stop it. Taking examples of Polish and Filipino migrants in Iceland we will discuss mechanism of contemporary economic migrations in Europe.

”Migration and Ethnicity” (Dr. Magdalena Elchinova)

Short  description:
The lecture will try to outline the interrelations between the study of migration and the study of ethnicity. The overlapping will be discussed of methods and subject matters, with particular attention to the concepts of nation, national identity and citizenship. Various examples of social discourses will be discussed, such as ones in which ethnic minorities and immigrants are regarded as synonyms, as well as ones where these two concepts signify of different entities. A closer look will be given to the development of migration studies in Bulgaria out of the tradition of ethnic studies.

“Shifting Theoretical Models of Migration in Anthropology” (Ms. Anna Wojtyńska)

Short description:
Migration was hardly in the scope of traditional anthropology; neither were modern (“complex”) societies. The reason for this – as Carolline Brettell explains – was prevailing at that time definitions of culture, seen as territorially rooted, discrete, static and relatively homogeneous (2000, 97). Anthropologists were mostly occupied by portraying different ways of life of distant peoples, paying little attention to issues of flows and connectivity. However, increased mobility of the studies people to Western world finally brought interest of anthropologists. As Nancy Foner neatly put it “(…) anthropological research on migration is, to a large extent, about what happens when the people studied on their home turf turn up living next door (Foner 1999, 1268).” 
In my lecture I will shortly outline the history of migration studies in the field of anthropology, while my main focus is on the recent theoretical development – theories of transnationalism, and how they are applied in migration studies. Since transnationalism acquires slightly different meanings in the works of different migration scholars, I will present how it was defined by it forefathers and how the understanding of transnational migration has changed within years.

“The Border as Locality and Temporality in Migrants’ Practices and Narratives” (Dr. Magdalena Elchinova)

Short description:
The lecture will focus at the different interpretations of the border, with particular attention to borders as spaces (structuring space) and as temporalities (constructing memory, past experiences, local or individual histories). The case of the Bulgarian-born Turks, re-settlers in Turkey since 1989 will be extensively discussed with regard of issues such as: the formation of transborder local communities, the narrative re-construction of group identity and of memories of the traumatic past.

"Borders, the State, and Migration" (Dr. Alexandra Schwell)

Short description:
Pierre Bourdieu portends to the "danger of always being thought by a state that we believe we are thinking". For Weber, state sovereignty is defined by the monopoly over the legitimate use of force. But what is the state, and how can we conceptualize the state in social and cultural sciences? In the course of nationalization and extensive homogenization the idea of the nation state as a quasi-Herderian cultural space has been quite pervasive among different populations and political classes. This comes along with the imagination of a supposedly and far-reaching incommensurability of cultures, whereas "culture" in popular discourse is perceived as something static, eternal and unchangeable – something a person "has" (or has not). Mental boundaries and institutionalized borders both play a pivotal role for the imagined national community in the construction of Self and Other and are thus particularly prone to the securitization of external threats from anywhere 'behind the border', and from the "East" and "South-East" in particular. Participants will discuss various examples of how migrants are depicted as the de-individualized and threatening Other by both tabloid media and political and public discourse.

"European Identity and Migration Policies" (Dr. Alexandra Schwell)

Short description:
This course will scrutinize the way the EU shapes migration and asylum policies in its member states. Particular attention will be paid to the East-West asymmetry and the question of how migration is adapted and reproduced as a security issue after EU enlargement. Since the new member states had to submit to a homogenizing Europeanisation process, they also had to internalize the EU-15's concept of the "threatening other(s)" and shape their bureaucracies and policies accordingly. Furthermore, the European Neighborhood Policy aims at delocalizing and delegating migration controls ("remote controls") outside EU territory. Therefore, the EU's insistence on terrorists, irregular migrants, and organized crime as extraordinary threats to internal security is a practice that is both discursive and institutionalized in practical actions. Security, however, is differently experienced and culturally imagined in different contexts. In the course, we will analyze policy tools and concepts and discuss their repercussions on mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion with regards to European identity formation.

“Re-traditionalization of Serbian Diaspora in Denmark” (Prof. Kristine Juul)

Short description:
Migrants' perceptions of issues such as the welfare state, democracy, gender equality, traditions and family values reflect, on the one hand, a wish to adapt to shifting social and political environments in the country of settlement, and on the other, political and social transformations in the homeland that are likely to bring former values and norms under stress.
In the course we will explore the often contradictory ways in which re-traditionalization of Serbian society as well as the changing norms and regulations of the Danish society, have impacted on the cultural and social practices of the Serbian families in Denmark, and how this has acted to shape and reshape their perceptions of notions such as family, religion, democracy and the inclusionary welfare state. In the case of the Serbian community in Denmark issues such as bio-rytms, royalism and religion have for example suddenly acquired prominence among certain layers of the Danish-Serbian community.

“Migration and Tourism in Europe” (Dr. Anna Horolets)

Short description:
The main aim of the course is to demonstrate the variety and complex nature of links between migration and tourism. These two forms of mobility are often studied separately, yet there a number of reasons to treat them as interconnected and mutually dependant forms of mobility both at the macro lever (e.g. Hall and Williams 2002) and at micro level of lived experience of European migrants-tourists. By using the examples from my own current field work in the UK as well as research of other anthropologists and sociologists I will aim at raising the discussion on how tourist and recreation mobility is intertwined with tourism.

“Tourism, Culture and Society” (Prof. Antonio Miguel Nogués-Pedregal)

Short description:
Tourism is a global phenomenon and the world’s largest industry. Most countries and regions rely upon tourism to enhance national and local economies. These facts make tourism one of the leading forces of cultural change and, therefore, a suitable subject of anthropological analysis. In this lecture some of the major theoretical approaches to tourism is presented, and special attention is paid to the multidisciplinarity of tourism studies. Ethnography of culture in diverse tourism environments is analysed through class commentaries.

“Tourism, History and Politics: Post-communist Tourism” (Ms. Agata Bachórz)

Short description:
In the seminar, I will study the case of Polish travelers touring Russia, basing on in-depth interviews and travel literature. I will focus on the picture of Russia in Polish travel narrations, trying to find out the meaning of Russia for some part of today Polish society. Polish experience of Russia is based on the long presence of Russian discourse in Polish culture. On the other hand, it is connected  to the notions of adventure and transgression, often bodily understood. I also assume that Russian culture and society is often romanticized, archaised, ruralised and orientalised by Polish travelers, which is the way of building  their own identity, in terms of West and East orientation. Summarizing, I will examine the function of Russia in Polish travel experience, looking for its roots both in anthropology of travel and Polish cultural resources.

“The New Mobilities in Tourism Destinations” (Prof. Antonio Miguel Nogués-Pedregal)

Short description:
Many people from North-Western Europe have quite long stays in some Euro-Mediterranean territories, partly related to phenomena such as ‘wintering’, seasonal movements and sabbatical holidays, for the most part dwelling in their own houses or apartments. During the session intercultural relations of long-term visitors will be explored and some important questions in consolidated tourism context analysed.

“Discourse and Conversation Analysis in Mobility Studies” (Prof. Dorota Rancew-Sikora, Dr. Anna Horolets)

Short description:
The discussion of Conversation Analysis (CA) in multicultural setting will include considering two domains: a) talking as a social structure – what are the consequences of second language use among natives in the spheres of interpersonal relations, employment and health? and b) conversa­tional rules of membership categorization: “tourist”, “immigrant” or “ethnic minority member”. The discourse analytical tools discussed will focus on the possibilities on the selected categories of self and other presentation according to critical discourse analysis perspective.

"Psychological Adaptation of International Students" (Dr. Monika Biłas-Henne)

Short description:
Participants will gain basic understanding of the process of adaptation to the new cultural environment. The lecture will focus on acculturation theories (affective, behavioral and cognitive); and will describe core concepts for acculturation (culture shock concept and re-entry shock). Students will also have an opportunity to get to know a new notion in cross-cultural psychology, so called multicultural buffer - group/community of sojourners who shield themselves from external reality of the host culture and cope with it through mechanisms of internal support. Through the buffer stress may be diminished but at the same time it inhibits acquisition of the host culture competences. The consequences of being a part of a multicultural group for psychological (well-being) and socio-cultural adaptation to the host culture will be discussed.

II. Round table on transnationalism

Round table will consist of a round of statements from the scholars who adapt the paradigm of transnationalism to their research on migration and mobility, followed by a round of questions from the students and the academic staff; the final part of the round table will be the replies and summary comments by the round table leaders.

III. Simulation  “Debate on Migration in Europe”

Students will be distributed roles of relevant social actors (representatives of economic and state institutions, media and NGOs), provided with exemplary “problem issue” and get involved in a debate on the situation of migrants in Europe. The envisaged learning outcomes are a) developing the skills of rational debate; b) acquiring the knowledge of how language works as a social practice; c) acquiring skills of policy oriented analysis of migration and mobility.

IV. Students’ presentations

Students who have expressed their wish to present their ongoing research will present the research design of their project and receive comments and questions from student sessions’ convenors (members of academic staff) as well as their colleagues.