DRAFT
Refugee Stories, Refugee Lives
Spring 2018
Emilie Diouf
Rabb 230 (x62161)
Course Description:
This course explores the cross-cultural politics of storytelling in the refugee crisis. Narratives of forced displacementcast a new light on the intersubjective and political dimensions of storytelling. Can storytelling restore a sense of viable community to a world of involuntary migration? The course examines novels, personal memoirs, andtheoretical texts to understandhow contemporary refugee narratives from African and the Middle East activate orfailto generate awareness and advocacy.
Learning goals:
Students in this course will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:
- key theories of storytelling as it relates to the representation of dispossession, vulnerability and forced displacement;
- the function of personal narratives in human rights campaigns and refugee status determination;
- the economic and cultural forces imbricated in the global transit of circulation and reception of refugee stories;
- how refugee and voluntary migrants are conceptualized and represented in popular discourse;
- life in encampment in the global North as well as in the global South.
Rationale:
This course engages students in contemporary issues; hence it will include a weekly current-events logthat encourages students to appraise howvarious forms of reportage and media coverage shape an audience’s sense of the newsworthy.
Required texts:
Lawlence, Ben, and Peter Alegi.City of Thorns: Inside the World’s Largest Refugee Camp,2016.
Kassindja, Fauziya, and Layli M. Bashir. Do They Hear You When You Cry. New York: Delacorte Press, 1998.
Seeries, Nehad. The Silence and the Roar. Translated in English by Max Weis. London: Pushkin Press, 2013.
Film: Michael Nash, Climate Refugees. Snagfilms, 2010.
Additional Materials:
Collin Kelley, “Climate Change in the Fertile Crescent and Implications of the Recent Syrian Drought.”
Destination Europe, Special Issue ofForced Migration,Oxford University, January 2016.
Facing Change: Documenting America.
Hannah Arendt, “The Public and the Private Realm”InHuman Conditions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958
Jacques Derrida, “Avowing – The Impossible: Returns, Repentance and Reconciliation,” in
Elisabeth Weber,Living Together: Jacques Derrida’s Communities of Violence and Peace, Fordham University Press, 2013, 18-44.
Jackson, Michael. “Displacements.” In The Politics of Storytelling: Violence, Transgression, and Intersubjectivity. Copenhagen, Denmark: Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen, 2002.
John Wendle, “The Ominous Story of Syria’s Climate Refugees”
Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith, “The Venues of Storytelling” In Human Rights, Narrated Live: The Ethics of Recognition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Course Policies and Procedures
Success in this course requires ninehoursof work for every threehoursof in class time. Students will use that time to view films, read, write logs, papers, and prepare presentations.
Grade Breakdown:
We will develop a grading rubric together in class for each assignment.
Weekly logs – 25%
Research Paper –30% (proposal 5%; annotated bibliography 10%; final version 15%)
Group Project -20%
Participation – 10%
Presentations – 15%
Assignments:
Current events log: Students will keep a journal with weeklylogs that connects the readings to current events. These logs of up to 500 words have to be submitted on LATTE before the day of the respective class. Current events log should substantially discuss a specific issue that attracts students’ interest in the assigned reading material by either comparing how the texts relate to the chosen current issue. Students’ logs will be guided by the following principles:
Specific versus generalizable knowledge: How does a particular theoretical concept of storytelling or a personal narrative inform or challenge underlying (often not explicitly stated) assumptions about migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons?
Agency: How does the text or narrator help us determine the agency on the part of refugees? How does a particular narrative reflect or undermine a displaced person’s agency?
Intersectionality: What is the impact of race, gender and sexuality on the ways in which refugees and asylum seekers experience displacement and represent it in language? Do representations of the refugee crisis privilege specific narratives of a particular group?
Assessing the impact: How does narrative framing of forced displacement affect our understanding of political community, social membership, andcitizenship?
Adopting a researcher’s mindset: What are the questions we have about claims made by the authors? What language and research would be appropriate to address these questions?
Research Paper: Students will write a twelve-page research paper. They are encouraged to develop and propose their own topics.
Group Projects: In groups of 3-4 students, students will engage inresearch and analysis of stories of displacement available at Faber Special collections.This could involve analyzing how newspaper articles, photographs, music, video interviews, etc…portrayforced displacement. Students can also analyze how context and medium influence the type of stories that refugees choose to tell. Do refugees tell their stories to a filmmaker or a journalist in the same way as they would to an immigration judge? This project encourages students to creatively explore the intersubjective dynamics between teller and audience. The concrete topic will be discussed with me and approved in advance. To this end, after an initial discussion, student teams will elaborate a draft outline of the project that spells out the key questions, their relevance, and the appropriate mode of delivery for the presentation. A one- page outline for the project is due on Latte on March 28th. Project will be showcased on the last week of classes.
For the assessment of the group project, I will evaluate the research and delivery mode (including the quality of the primary materials, incorporation of references, and the creativity and efficacy of the delivery mode in conveying key points of analysis. As this is a group projects, we will develop a peer evaluation rubric together. Students will also receive additional pointers on theprojects.
Due Dates:
Research Paper,March 15th
Group Presentation Proposal: March 28th
Presentations: April 26th
Participation: This grade will be determined by the quality (not quantity) of your contributions to the course in general. The participation grade will be a factor of the following four elements: your level of engagement during class discussions; your demonstrated effort throughout the semester; your attitude and openness towards others; and your improvement and progress throughout the semester. For students who are less comfortable with speaking in large groups, I encourage you to email me with questions and comments about the readings and to attend office hours. Also, please note that part of participating in class means having the assigned reading materials in front of you and ready to reference.
Course Requirements:
Attendance. Attendance and active participation at all class sessions are mandatory and will be taken on LATTE. If you have to miss a class because of religious observance, illness, family events, and emergencies, please let me know in advance if possible. You will not be penalized for illness, but you must provide a doctor’s note for your absence. If you miss more than 2 classes, your final participation grade for the course will be lowered by a full letter grade per absence. Missing more than 4 classes will results in failing the class
Laptops and mobile devices:In order to avoid distraction in the large lecture setting, laptop computers will not be allowed unless a special request is made to me in person. Use of cell phones in class for talking, texting or reading/writing email is also prohibited. If I see you using your phone during class, you will be asked to desist, and it will be counted against your attendance grade for that day.
Late Work will be penalized. Papers will be lowered by one full letter grade for each day they are late.
Office Hours are held each week, unless otherwise noted. Students may stop by office hours at any time for help, or you can schedule an appointment to meet outside office hours.
Communications: Any changes to the syllabus or class schedule, including accommodations for snow days, will be communicated via the class email list and posted on LATTE. Please plan to check your university email account and LATTE daily to keep informed.
Academic Integrity: Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s ideas or words in your writing without acknowledging the source. It is a serious offense, and may result in failing the class and suspension from the university. When in doubt, see me or consult the student resources listed by Brandeis Library & Technology Services ( including this handout on “How to avoid plagiarism” (
Writing Center: Students who want additional help with their writing are encouraged to visit the campus Writing Center ( Goldfarb Main Library, Room 107; 781-736-2130; ).
Disabilities: If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
Proposed Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction to Course
1
DRAFT
Week 2 -4: What is Storytelling?
Nehad Seeries, The Silence and the Roar
Hannah Arendt, “The Public and the Private Realm”
Jackson, Michael. “Displacements.”
Week 5&6: Writing the Conditions of Displacement
Jacques Derrida, “Avowing – The Impossible: Returns, Repentance and Reconciliation”
Colin Bundy, “Migrants, Refugees, History, and Precedents,” in Destination Europe
Start Fauziya Kassindja, Do They Hear You When You Cry
Week 7&8: Stories and their Influence on StatusDetermination
Continue with Fauziya Kassindja, Do They Hear You When You Cry
Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith, “Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights;”“The Venues of Storytelling”
Week 9: Climate Refugees
Film: Climate Refugee by Michael Nash
Collin Kelley, “Climate Change in the Fertile Crescent and Implications of the Recent Syrian Drought.”
John Wendle, “The Ominous Story of Syria’s Climate Refugees”
Facing Change: Documenting America
Week10-12: Refugees in the ‘Global South Encampment and Life inRefugee Camps
Ben Lawlence, City of Thorns: Inside the World’s Largest Refugee Camp.
Week 13: Group Presentations
1
DRAFT
1