NPTEL Course: Refugee, Migration, Diaspora by IIT Roorkee | Humanities & Social Sciences
Course Details
| Exam Registration | 242 |
|---|---|
| Course Status | Ongoing |
| Course Type | Elective |
| Language | English |
| Duration | 12 weeks |
| Categories | Humanities and Social Sciences, English |
| Credit Points | 3 |
| Level | Undergraduate/Postgraduate |
| Start Date | 19 Jan 2026 |
| End Date | 10 Apr 2026 |
| Enrollment Ends | 02 Feb 2026 |
| Exam Registration Ends | 20 Feb 2026 |
| Exam Date | 24 Apr 2026 IST |
| NCrF Level | 4.5 — 8.0 |
Refugee, Migration, Diaspora: An NPTEL Course Exploring Displacement & Identity
In an increasingly interconnected yet fractured world, understanding the forces of human displacement is more critical than ever. The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) offers a profound academic journey into this complex terrain with its course, Refugee, Migration, Diaspora. Designed and instructed by Prof. Sarbani Banerjee of IIT Roorkee, this 12-week course provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing one of the most pressing issues of our time.
Course Overview & Instructor Profile
This undergraduate/postgraduate level course falls under the categories of Humanities and Social Sciences and English. It is designed to familiarize students with the core conceptualizations of migration studies, refugee narratives, and diasporic literatures.
The course is led by Prof. Sarbani Banerjee, an accomplished scholar with a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Western Ontario. Her expertise spans Postcolonial literatures and theory, Canadian literature, Post-Partition Bengali literature and cinema, Diasporic literatures, and Women’s studies. As a former Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Post Doctoral Fellow and currently an Assistant Professor at IIT Roorkee, she brings rigorous academic insight and a nuanced understanding of displacement narratives to the curriculum.
Who Should Enroll?
The course is intended for a wide audience, including:
- Students and scholars from all academic backgrounds (BE/ME/MS/BA/MA/B.Ed./BSc/MSc/PhD).
- Professionals from service and non-service sectors interested in migration issues.
- Anyone seeking a deeper, theoretical, and cultural understanding of global migration patterns, refugee crises, and diaspora formations.
By the end of the course, participants will gain crucial insights for understanding migration in a global context, analyzing literary and cinematic representations, and engaging with contemporary debates.
Detailed 12-Week Course Layout
The course is meticulously structured to build knowledge from foundational theories to specific case studies and contemporary applications.
| Week | Topics Covered |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Introduction: Theorizing Migration; Defining Refugee, Migrant, Exile; Types of Migration; Push-Pull Factors. |
| Week 2 | Politics of Space, Spatio-temporality; Refugee and Heterotopia; Integration, Alienation, and Affect. |
| Week 3 | Recent Migration Scenarios; Theorizing Borderland Discourse: Nation-State, Frontier, 'Home'. |
| Week 4 | Case Studies - South Asian Borders: Literary texts on Partition (Manto, Khushwant Singh), India-Bangladesh enclaves (Ganguly, Nasreen), Open borders with Nepal (Wagle), Sri Lankan conflict (Selvadurai), Myanmar (Amitav Ghosh), Tibet (Brauen). |
| Week 5 | Gendered Borderlands: Identity/Body Politics, Displacement & Trauma via works by Chughtai, Sidhwa, and Pritam. |
| Week 6 | Diaspora & Transnationalism: Discourses, Communities, Romanticization, Double Displacement. |
| Week 7 | Historicizing Global & South Asian Diaspora; Case studies from Rushdie, Gunesekera, Anam, Shamsie, Ali, Mistry, Thapa, Budhos. |
| Week 8 | Food & Multiculturalism in Diaspora (Mootoo, Lahiri); Introducing Digital Diaspora (e.g., TibetBoard). |
| Week 9 | Diaspora and Cinema: Analysis of films like The Namesake, Bride and Prejudice, Bend It Like Beckham, Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway. |
| Week 10 | Indentured Labour & Coolie Diaspora: Double Displacement; works by Espinet, Vassanji, V.S. Naipaul. |
| Week 11 | Displacement of Indigenous Populations: Case study of Santhal tea tribes via Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar and Regina Marandi. |
| Week 12 | Conclusion: Challenges, Future Scopes of Refugee Studies, Problematics of Diaspora Experience. |
Key Texts & References
The course engages with seminal texts that form the backbone of migration and diaspora studies, including:
- New Perspectives on the Indian Diaspora edited by Ruben Gowricharn (Routledge, 2021)
- Beyond Bollywood: The Cultural Politics of South Asian Diasporic Film by Jigna Desai (Routledge, 2003)
- The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies by Fiddian-Qasmiyeh et al. (Oxford UP, 2014)
- Migration, Recognition and Critical Theory by Gottfried Schweiger (Springer, 2021)
Why Take This Course?
This NPTEL course stands out for its interdisciplinary approach, blending literary analysis, critical theory, historical context, and contemporary case studies. It moves beyond headlines to explore the human stories, cultural productions, and complex identities shaped by displacement. Whether you are a student of literature, sociology, political science, or a concerned global citizen, this course offers the tools to think critically and empathetically about the journeys that define our modern world.
To explore a related course by the same instructor, visit: Partition of India in Print Media and Cinema.
Enroll in "Refugee, Migration, Diaspora" on the NPTEL portal to begin your exploration of these vital global narratives.
Enroll Now →