300735 Media, Mobilization and Migration (S) (SoSe 2026)

We often hear the expression that the world is ‘on the move,’ but who moves, how and why? Who gets to move freely, who is pushed to move, and who is blocked from moving, and how do media shape what we think those movements mean? This course explores how ideas about movement and mobility have been built over time, and how media infrastructures shape them into something problematic for societies in some cases, yet welcomed and desired in others. We will also consider why some kinds of mobility and movements are not even noticed as a social issue at all. How do media make certain movements visible in the first place, and with what consequences? How do news frames, images, metrics, and platform algorithms produce categories like “temporary”, “labour migrant”, “digital nomad”, “highly-skilled refugee”, “illegal alien”, “tourist”, and “expatriate”, and attach moral meanings to them? How do people themselves mobilize media infrastructures to organize, counteract, and shape these constructions? When does mobility become a public issue, and who benefits from the resulting attention, fear, or solidarity? We use real examples that account for social hierarchies articulates as race, class, gender, nationality, sexuality and age across different places and periods. Students will build skills in critical reading, discussion, short analytic writing, and collaborative research. This course is offered in a block seminar format conducted in person.