Teaching migration studies: A new series

What defines the field of migration studies? This question is asked and answered daily by researchers and practitioners across a dozen or so academic journals with migration in the title, and hundreds of research units dedicated to the topic that have proliferated globally over the past 30 years. But some of the most influential definitions of this research field now also emanate from educators of the topic in the increasingly numerous university graduate programs on migration studies forming around the world. Most of these have emerged over the past decade, and because so many of our authors are involved in setting up and running them, few have had the time to step back and reflect together on the way they are collectively shaping the field. That is why we are creating a new space in Migration Studies to engage in a dialogue about Teaching Migration Studies. We want to help migration researchers, practitioners, and educators to better understand the different migration studies programs taught around the world and how they fit within the wider context of different higher education curricula. Initially we hope to map the topic schemas, course designs, core texts, teaching tools, assessment methods, qualification structures and so forth that are used to teach migration studies in different places. Out of that, we hope to foster a discussion about what drives the creation of migration studies graduate programs in different countries and regions, and what shapes their different goals, outcomes and challenges. Ultimately, our goal is to open a debate about how these programs shape the parameters of the field itself.