The School of Public Policy’s Global Policy Academy kicked off the spring term with a new course on migration policy in Europe. “This course brings together practitioners and academics on a very relevant topic these days: contemporary migratory dynamics in Europe,” explained Dr. Rainer Münz, SPP Visiting Professor.
“We want students to be able to engage critically with current migration policies and structures,” added Dr. Bernhard Knoll-Tudor, director of the Global Policy Academy. “Our first cohort includes students from Central European University as well as professionals from international and governmental organizations. All of them are benefiting from the expertise of both instructors and fellow classmates alike.”
Students learn about key facets of European migration policy including its implications for development, labor markets, ethnic diaspora, border control policies, and asylum policies. “The course is a refreshing mix of students from various departments at CEU as well as practitioners and activists coming from the non-profit sector, government bodies, and grassroots organizations. There are different points of view and comments during class discussions and Q&A, and this adds to the various dimensions we cover on the vast topic of migration,” said Marija Stojanovska Rupcic (MPA ’15).
To give students a chance to view policy in practice, the course includes a trip to a Hungarian reception center for asylum seekers and culminates with visits to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development in Vienna.
This course is funded by the Open Society Foundations International Migration Initiative.