September 16-20, 2024 | 3rd Edition

Call for applications: December 1, 2023 - May 21, 2024, via the VIU website

The Summer School on Migration and Gender: Legal, Sociolinguistic and Literary Perspectives offers an interdisciplinary approach to the ways in which migration intersects with gender. Gender is a constitutive element of migration. The course will discuss both this idea, and reversing the formula, it will examine the role of migration in shaping gender, understood as relational and performative. A particular focus will be on identity in relation to human rights and law, language, labor and culture. The course is an innovative exploration among three scholars in legal studies, literature and sociolinguistics, and the students.

Each discipline brings a unique perspective on the problem and set of instruments to analyze and deepen our understanding of migration and gender.

The program is particularly timely in this moment of history, in which migration is transforming societies and shaping gender. The course will model the ways in which the humanities and the imagination as well as the social sciences might inform legal processes or contour legal decisions. This will play out in two ways: first in our class discussions, and second through the students’ experiences of rewriting a legal decision from the perspective of what they have learned and discussed. In short, we hope that this course will educate a young generation of lawyers, academics and activists by raising awareness of many issues at the intersection of gender, migration and law.

Methodology and structure
The course will examine migration as a global phenomenon defined by gender, culture, socioeconomic conditions and climate, and focus on the international law which defines migration and the right to apply for asylum. The legal, sociological and sociolinguistic perspectives will be supplemented with the perspectives of two authors who examine the psychological and subjective dimensions of migration and gender in fiction.

The final session will focus on the question of how gender is shaped by migration. The class will be divided into groups to work on this idea, and the groups will present their theses in a symposium at the conclusion of the class.

Learning outcomes
- How to read and critically examine novels on the topic of gender and migration;
- How to connect the legal aspects to the literary ones, and how to draw them out from a reading, that is, which questions transcend the particular circumstances of plot or culture;
- How to analyze judgments and decisions from a legal point of view.

Faculty
Sara De Vido, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
Laurie Shepard, Boston College, USA
Francesco Goglia, University of Exeter, UK

Guest Speaker
Sabrina Marchetti, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

Who is it for?
Applications are welcome from current MA and PhD Students in Sociology, Gender Studies, Literature, Human rights, Law, Labor and Cultural Studies.

Credits
Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2
A Certificate of attendance will be issued at the end of the course.

The Program will admit 20 student participants.

Fees
Students of VIU member universities:
€ 300 incl. VAT.
Students of other universities:
€ 600 incl. VAT.

The fees will cover tuition, course materials, lunches in the VIU cafeteria and social events.
Student participants will be responsible for covering their own travel expenses to and from Venice, accommodation and local transportation.

VIU Alumni are eligible for a reduced fee.

PhD candidates and post-docs from EU universities may be eligible for Erasmus+ mobility grant support. Candidates should consult the International Office in their own university for information about the calls for applications for funding. VIU will provide any supporting documentation requested for such applications.
Contact VIU Erasmus office: erasmus@univiu.org

Accommodation
Further information about the costs of accommodation is available in the Brochure and Application form.

Applicants must submit the application form, a short motivation letter, a curriculum vitae, and a photo.

For further information: summerschools@univiu.org