Migration and Intercultural Relations (EMMIR)

Study mode:On campus Study type:Full-time Languages: English
Foreign:$ 4.87 k / Semester(s) Deadline: Jun 15, 2024
StudyQA ranking:2281 Duration:2 years
EMMIR is the European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations. It is the first African-European Erasmus Mundus Master's Course in Migration Studies.

EMMIR is run jointly by three African and four European universities, facilitated by a wider network of partners. Various associate organisations on the regional, national and international level provide significant assistance for student internships and graduates' employment. The quality of the programme is constantly evaluated by an international board of experts.

EMMIR is a unique study programme focusing on migration through an intercultural approach. It provides profound theoretical skills in migration studies combined with field work in Europe and Africa. It is designed as a multidisciplinary programme that addresses important contemporary issues in an emerging field of study. The programme includes study periods in both Europe and Africa. Students' mobility is understood as a key to mutual understanding of different views and cultures of migration and movement and will sharpen intercultural sensitivity. Students become acquainted with different cultures and academic traditions and gain knowledge about migration issues in internships. They will gain profound skills and specialise in one of the four programme foci, providing them with excellent chances for employment in national and international governmental and private sector organisations or in academia. Graduates will be awarded a joint degree by the EMMIR partner universities.

EMMIR provides state-of-the-art education in theoretical concepts, empirical methods and transdisciplinary approaches to migration studies. Teaching and research in EMMIR will address issues that currently rank highly on the global agenda and need expertise on the transnational, transcultural and transdisciplinary level. Migration and mobility, flight, displacement and refuge - globally and (supra)nationally discussed primarily on a policy level - touch decisive dimensions in economic and social development, demography, international relations, political theory and cultural cooperation, to name a few, but not all of the key areas. Sustainable answers bridging the interests of nation states (including their welfare systems and labour markets) with human rights, democratic values and globality have yet to be found.

Research on intercultural relations and intercultural communication is closely linked to these questions and frequently key to the understanding of problems and conflict. The EMMIR curriculum takes into account all forms of migration and displacement. Related issues to be addressed are intercultural conflict resolution mechanisms, multicultural governance issues and global/regional integration.

The two key terms of reference for this study programme are migration and intercultural relations. Migration is understood here as encompassing all forms of international migration, voluntary as well as forced movements. Internal displacement, prominent especially in African contexts, will also be addressed. Intercultural relations include not only communication and other forms of interaction between the majority and resident minorities/diasporic communities within nation states but also interethnic relations in the (inter-)national arena and beyond nation states - including multinational settings and concepts such as multiculturalism or cosmopolitanism.

There are four programme foci: Gender, Development, Representation and Education. The foci serve as the foundation students use to develop their individual specialisation and profile, e.g. by combining them with a geographic focus involving one or more of the countries in the partnership, potentially also linked to individual language skills.

Educational organisation

Semester one will start in Oldenburg with a four-week intensive phase focusing on overviews as well as exemplary approaches to key areas in migration studies and intercultural relations. The semester will continue with modules on transdisciplinary methods/methodology and theory. For semester two, all students will move to Stavanger, they will contextualise their studies and furthermore concentrate on key areas and concepts.

In their third semester, students will work in thematic research teams as the frame and support structure for their individual tasks in project based internships. Depending on their internship placement and/or the research focus module, students move on to another partner university, either in Europe or in Africa. For the fourth semester, supervision groups will be formed who attend the research colloquium at their selected partner university. Students will dedicate the fourth semester entirely to writing their thesis.

First Semester - University of Oldenburg, Germany
Intensive Phase: Studying Global Migration in the 21st Century
Evaluating and Developing Research Methods for Transcultural Contexts
  • Research Methods for Transcultural Contexts
  • Migration & Intercultural Relations: Disciplinary Perspectives - Theoretical Foundations
  • Academic Writing
Theorising Historical and Contemporary Migration Processes & Intercultural Relations
  • Historical Dimensions of Migration
  • Theorising Contemporary Migration & Intercultural Relations
  • Global Migration - Contextualising African Migration
  • German Language and Society

Second Semester - University of Stavanger, Norway
Emigration and Immigration: A Northern European Perspective
  • Scandinavia: Historical and Contemporary Migration
  • Norwegian Language and Culture
Theorising Migration and Multiculturalism
  • Migration and Integration
  • Migration, Borders and Citizenship
  • Migration, Gender, Development: African Perspectives
  • Migration, Gender, Culture
  • Controversies over Multiculturalism
  • Citizenship, Multiculturalism and Pluralism

Third Semester - all seven partner universities
Project-based Internship (thematic research teams)
  • Research Foci: Migration & Multicultural Societies
  • Diversity and Education
  • Migration and Small Nations
  • Representation, Ethnicity and Nation State
  • Gender and Multiculturalism
  • Theory and Methods in Migration Studies
  • Forced Migration, Gender and (Post-)Conflict

Fourth Semester - all partner universities
  • Proposal colloquium
MA Dissertation
  • Dissertation and Research Colloquium (supervision groups)

Study abroad unit(s)

The full cohort will study the first two semesters in Oldenburg and Stavanger. In the second year, every student will follow his/her own study plan in order to succeed in EMMIR.
EMMIR combines the mobility of the full cohort with individual research mobility and specialisation. The mobility path serves two purposes. On the one hand, it exposes students to different migration policies, various approaches to intercultural relations, several academic institutions, and economic, social, and cultural settings that are shaping migration processes as well as migrants' experiences. On the other hand, it allows students to develop individual research foci - drawing on the expertise of all involved partners and their specialisation in a decentralised way.

Internships

As part of the study programme, students will complete a project-based internship in the third semester (15 ECTS).

Course objectives

EMMIR, combining the expertise of European and African universities, strongly encourages students to evaluate the existing body of knowledge critically and to conduct their own research projects. Students will have the benefits and challenges of an international learner group in which participants' different backgrounds will in themselves offer valuable intercultural perspectives for the study of migration.
EMMIR aims at training young academics who contribute to improved information about the dynamics of migration and will become new professionals, consciously combining their specific national/regional/institutional situatedness and tasks with transnational perspectives, in the specific context of this programme primarily in Europe and Africa.
In order to train for a labour market demanding flexibility, self-motivation and problem-solving skills, the didactics of EMMIR are built around the idea that young professionals need state-of-the-art, in-depth knowledge in their field, plus the tools to present and negotiate, to apply and to conceptualise, to cooperate, administrate, and to manage. In cooperation with numerous agents and institutions in the field (associates and others) students will be exposed to specific labour market segments. They gather experience that can be actively linked to the study programme and their specialisation.
The cross-cutting aim is to promote problem-solving skills and the ability of knowledge transfer. Graduates will be qualified to pursue doctoral studies or employment in national and international governmental and non-governmental institutions dealing with migration, intercultural competence and education, in particular intersecting with development and/or gender issues.

Language requirements

EMMIR is taught in English. All applicants have to prove language proficiency. This may in certain cases be done by requesting an English language proficiency waiver. If you claim a waiver please elaborate on your language proficiency and be aware that the consortium might request further proof of language skills.

Applicants whose native language is English must demonstrate proficiency in a second language relevant to migration studies by the application deadline at a level corresponding to the list on the website http://www.emmir.org/admission/requirements/#c48.

Applicants whose native language is not English or whose undergraduate instruction was not in English must demonstrate proficiency in English by the application deadline. Please check the website for further information and acceptable tests of English language competence.

Academic requirements

Please check the programme website for most recent information.
EMMIR requires you to have at least a BA degree. The degree you base your application on needs to be in a field related to migration studies: i.e. social sciences, history, cultural studies, educational sciences, law, economics, development studies or journalism. You are required to send a document to prove your graduation.

Application process: EMMIR uses an online platform to facilitate the application process. Only after registering with your name and e-mail address will you be able to access the online application form. The application form must be completed online by filling in all the indicated boxes; you will be able to fill it in piece by piece, all data will be saved to our database. You will receive a summary of all your application details automatically via the application system. This confirmation has to be printed out, dated and signed, and attached to the whole application package including all the documentation required. The application process is only completed when the paper version of your application (details see below) has arrived at the University of Oldenburg within the given deadline.

Selection process: assessment of the applications will be carried out by the Consortium Committee Selection Board. Applicants who fail to provide necessary documentation will be excluded from further application procedures. Accepted applicants will receive a letter of acceptance from the Consortium Committee as well as an official notification from the University of Oldenburg. The notification of acceptance will contain further information about how to register for the programme and a deadline for registration. If this deadline is not met, the notification of acceptance will be null and void. The Consortium Committee Selection Board takes into account the following: relevance and level of academic qualification, relevance and level of research/professional experience, motivation, proficiency in second/third language.

Enrolment fees

Students will have to pay the partner universities' registration and social service fees at the universities they attend. These fees are not included in the participation costs.

Costs of living

Oldenburg/Germany: 770 to 1,000 EUR per month
Stavanger/Norway: about 1,150 EUR per month
Nova Gorica/Slovenia: about 600 EUR per month
Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic: 400 to 600 EUR per month
Omdurman or Khartoum/Sudan: about 700 EUR per month
Mbarara/Uganda: about 500 EUR per month
Johannesburg/South Africa: not specified

Arrival support

Orientation week and other events:
At the beginning of the Intensive Phase of EMMIR, the team of the International Student Office will assist you with organisational formalities and support you in getting settled at the University of Oldenburg.

Services and support for international students

EMMIR Advisers:
At every EMMIR partner university, you will find a course director whom you may contact. The coordination of the EMMIR consortium is at the University of Oldenburg and here you will also find a team working in the programme management.
EMMIR teaching staff come from all partner universities and additional scholars and guest professors will participate in teaching and research.

Accommodation

The student service at the University of Oldenburg offers furnished rooms in a hall of residence for six months (including internet facilities; not including a computer) starting 1 September. Alternatively, you can look for private accommodation (rent ranges between approx. 200 and 360 EUR per month). Please be aware that there will be a shortage of rooms, because all new courses at the University of Oldenburg start in October.
Similar programs:
Study mode:On campus Languages: English
Local:$ 50 k / program Foreign:$ 50 k / program
51 place StudyQA ranking: 3425
Study mode:On campus Languages: English
Local:$ 50 k / program Foreign:$ 50 k / program
51 place StudyQA ranking: 3678
Study mode:On campus Languages: English
Local:$ 45.6 k / program Foreign:$ 45.6 k / program
251–300 place StudyQA ranking: 1961
Study mode:On campus Languages: English
Local:$ 45.6 k / program Foreign:$ 45.6 k / program
251–300 place StudyQA ranking: 836
Study mode:On campus Languages: English
Local:$ 8.83 k / Year(s) Foreign:$ 17 k / Year(s)
StudyQA ranking: 4807