Migration and multicultural societies: Ethnicity, gender and sexuality

Today's Norway is characterized by global migration flows that have contributed to making society more visibly multicultural. At the same time, Norway has historically had ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity. This course provides a fundamental introduction to various topics, debates, issues, and theories related to migration and multicultural societies, with a particular emphasis on perspectives of ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Some of the questions we explore in the course include: How are ideas about equality and difference expressed in a Norwegian context? How can having a multicultural background affect identity and belonging? In what ways are issues of gender and equality significant in Norway as a multicultural society? What specific challenges do homosexual minorities face in Norway? Can integration be understood as dealing with different things, and if so, what are they? And how can we ensure belonging, trust, and cohesion—what is referred to as social sustainability? The course provides knowledge about various aspects and debates concerning Norway as a multicultural society and the characteristics of research in this field. The course is part of the one-year program in Gender Equality and Diversity, but it can also be taken as an elective in other contexts.

Candidates who have completed this course will have knowledge of:

• theories of migration, diversity and integration
• central concepts such as transnationalism, integration, discrimination, racism, intersectionality, equality, minoritizing/majoritizing and othering
• Norway as a multicultural society, both historically and in the present
• different perspectives on the relationships between migration and ethnicity, gender and sexuality

Candidates who have completed this course will have the skills to:

• discuss different issues related to migration and multicultural societies
• describe and understand diversity in a Norwegian context
• describe and understand how questions of ethnicity, gender, and sexuality come to play in multicultural societies
• reflect critically on the position of gender equality in debates concerning Norwegian multicultural society

Teaching will be in the form of lectures and group exercises. Group work and active student participation will be emphasized.

Two compulsory assignments. The exam is in assignment form. To qualify to sit the final exam, the compulsory course assignment must be approved.