Refugees, Forced Migration and Belonging, CERT

Overview

Displaced persons are on the move, on a global scale. Respond with understanding, skills, and experience.

The Clark University Department of Sustainability and Social Justice offers certificate programs that evaluate local and global perspectives to develop just and equitable best practices for displaced population support in North America, Europe, and other key refugee-receiving regions.

Our Philosophy

Rather than focus solely on emergency management or international refugee policy, we believe that understanding global migration - voluntary or forced - requires a comparative and historically-grounded approach that includes the perspectives of different actors.

Students benefit from Clarks’ culturally rich, diverse, international learning community as they grow their understanding of displacement and forced migration issues, and the study of the complex social, political, economic, and environmental factors shaping population movement.

We take a participatory, community-based, and refugee-centered approach to our work. We prioritize the experiences of affected populations, including migratory and settled groups, and we work to identify strategies to remake belonging.

One of our key areas of focus is connecting migration, forced migration, and refugee studies to debates about development and environmental change.

Refugees, Forced Migration, and Belonging Certificate Requirements

Students complete 3 units to earn a certificate. There is one required course and two elective units.

Core Courses (1 Unit)

• SSJ 30297 - Refugees, Forced Migration, and Belonging  

Electives (2 Unit) 

• SSJ 30108 Research Methods for Forced Migration  
• SSJ 314 - Education and Youth in a Global Context  
• SSJ 330 - Theory and Methods in Genocide and Human Rights Studies  
• SSJ 383 - Cultures of Exile  
• SSJ 347 - Human Rights Strategy, Tactics, and Practice  
• SSJ 30107 - Forced Migration and the City  
• SSJ 30154 - Mega Development: Exploring The Nexus Between Natural Resource Extraction, Infrastructure Development and Environment  
• SSJ 30231 - Humanitarian Assistances in Complex Emergencies/Disasters  
• SSJ 30235 - Trafficking: Globalization and Its Illicit Commodities 30235   
• SSJ 30397 People on the Move Research Studio  
• SSJ 30243 - Seeing Like a Humanitarian Agency  

Students interested in taking all ONLINE COURSES should take the following 3 course sequence. Starting in the fall 2024 semester these courses will be offered asynchronously.

SSJ 30297 - Refugees, Forced Migration, and Belonging  

SSJ 30107 - Forced Migration and the City  

SSJ 30108 - Research Methods for Forced Migration  

Core Faculty in the Refugees, Forced Migration, and Belonging Program

Cynthia Caron

Anita Fabos

Jude Fernando

Ken Maclean

Sustainability and Social Justice Program Faculty

David Bell, Ed.D.

Ramón Borges-Méndez Ph.D
Nigel Brissett, Ph.D.
Cynthia Caron, Ph.D.

Timothy Downs D.Env.
Anita Fábos, Ph.D.
Jude Fernando, Ph.D.
Ellen Foley, Ph.D.
Denise Humphreys Bebbington Ph.D.

Eman Lasheen, Ph.D.
Ken MacLean, Ph.D.

Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger Ph.D.
Margaret Post, Ph.D.
Laurie Ross, Ph.D.

Morgan Ruelle, Ph.D.