Border Geographies

We live in an age of intense globalization with near instantaneous transfers of information and unprecedented movements of goods and people across the world. At the same time, there are more walls constructed between countries today than ever before. How do we explain this paradox of increasingly restrictive borders in an age of globalizing flows? In this course we will trace the history of political borders, critically evaluate theories in the scholarly literature about borders and flows, and investigate strategies, experiences, and imaginaries that produce different border-scapes and representations. Students will be actively engaged in unraveling the paradox of walls and flows through group research projects on specific border regimes around the world. 3 hrs. lect.