Learning outcomes

- know how to use the anthropological method of immersion

- be able to analyse the field diary with the theoretical knowledge gained from the course/readings

- be able to propose a relevant research question

Goals

Two objectives are pursued :

1. To experience the encounter with the other (asylum seeker/migrant / with disabilities) through the process of immersion in a reception area;

2. Decolonising / renew our vision of the other and of cultures / disabilities

Content

Natalie Rigaux teaches the Anthropology of Asylum Policies course, focusing on asylum seekers and migrants, to students with a bachelor's degree in political science.

Amélie Pierre teaches a course in the anthropology of communication and disability to students with a bachelor's degree in information and communication.

After a presentation of the issues surrounding asylum in Belgium / disability, two classes will be devoted to the immersion approach and its critique, two classes to the presentation of concepts proposing a decolonised/postcolonial vision of cultures/renewed vision of disability, two classes to the proposal of research questions concerning reception centres for migrants and asylum policies/care for people with disabilities and the anthropology of communication.

Teaching methods

The students will be involved in a voluntary work in a place of reception for migrants/asylum seekers among those selected by Fucid for 20 hours. At the same time, six class sessions will provide the elements needed to implement the anthropological immersion approach and to analyse its results. Three practical sessions will be devoted to collective work on parts of the final work corrected by the teacher. Texts will be read to enrich the analysis of the field experience.

Assessment method

Based on extracts from the field diary, the course and readings of articles, a final paper will propose an analysis by the student of his/her self-positioning in the field, the conceptions of culture/disability that he/she observed there and a proposal for a relevant research question.

Language of instruction

French