Migration Studies (Graduate Minor)
Overview
The Migration Studies graduate minor is offered through The New School for Social Research, the Schools of Public Engagement, and the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility.
This graduate minor uses a multidisciplinary approach to critically engage with the causes, processes, and outcomes of human mobility. Students explore the economic, political, and social causes and contexts of mobility as well as the effects of human mobility on origin, transit, and destination communities. Students also learn about various practical responses of individuals, organizations, and policymakers that shape the experience and narratives of mobility and migration, displacement, and containment. Students also expand their knowledge of migration from the mobility perspective, including the way infrastructure and technology shape the movements of people, nonhuman species, and things.
Curriculum
This graduate minor requires successful completion of 9 credits. The required core course for this minor is Boundaries and Belonging. In addition to taking the core course, students must select two electives from the chart below.
Course availability may vary from semester to semester. Some courses may be in development and offered at a later time. Students seeking to pursue alternative coursework in other subject areas to fulfill the minor should consult with their advisors.
Fall 2026 courses are listed below. Please consult this spreadsheet for an archive of past courses.
| Subject Area | Course Options | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Core Course | NINT 5888: Boundaries and Belonging (spring only) | 3 credits |
| Electives | NINT 5471: Human Rights in Practice NINT 5142: Reimagining Security GPOL 7005: Political Economy in Turbulent Times NINT 5000: Decolonizing International Affairs GANT 6162: Indigenous Lands and Peoples: Settler Colonialism and the Politics of Violence GPSY 6436: Global Mental Health | 6 credits |
Learning Outcomes
A student who has completed this graduate minor should be able to demonstrate:
- A theoretical understanding of the causes of various forms of migration, considering economic, social, environmental and political dimensions
- The ability to distinguish between different forms of migration and the various concepts, practices, and research methods that emerge from different disciplines, interests, ideologies, and traditions
- The employment of different methodologies to conceptualize migration and mobility at a variety of scales—from everyday practices to regional systems to global networks and flows
- An understanding of the ethics and responsibility of conducting research on and working directly with migrant and refugee populations
- Application of critical analysis to primary sources such as policy reports, agency reports, media, interviews, observations, literary texts, photographs, films, and data sets
- The ability to recognize debates around migration and mobility as sites of engagement and contestation over governance, rights, citizenship, sovereignty, identity, borders, and social justice
Faculty
Mira Siegelberg, Associate Professor of Politics; Director, Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility
Everita Silina, Assistant Professor, International Affairs
Eligibility
The Migration Studies graduate minor is available to graduate degree students across The New School.
The Migration Studies graduate minor requires an application for admission.
Students can retroactively count successfully completed courses toward a minor upon declaring or applying. After students successfully complete the minor’s requirements, the completed minor will appear on their academic transcripts at graduation.
For questions about this minor, please contact Mira Siegelberg, Associate Professor of Politics and Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility, at siegelbm@newschool.edu.
Take the Next Step
Contact your Student Success advisor to discuss how a minor will fit with your degree requirements.
Declare or change a minor in Stellic. From your Progress view, select "Requests" and then "Declare, Change or Add Minor" from the drop down options.
