This course invites students to critically examine the politics of immigration and the power of borders: how they are imagined, built, enforced, and contested. In an age of global inequality and mass mobility, borders are more than geographical lines—they are instruments of regulation, exclusion, and identity-making. We’ll explore how borders shape, and are shaped by, ideas of belonging, protection, race, class, gender, and national identity. And we’ll ask hard questions: Do borders protect or confine? Why are certain migrants criminalized while others are welcomed? Are “illegal” migrants really breaking the law—or are they caught in systems designed to exclude? We’ll delve into debates surrounding irregular migration journeys, the myths that accompany them, and the policy responses they provoke—especially in Europe and the Mediterranean. From legal categories to lived experiences, from detention and deportation to solidarity and resistance, we will analyze how mobility is governed—and how it is resisted. The course is structured in two parts. The first introduces key theoretical frameworks to understand borders, migration, and human mobility. The second applies these frameworks to real-world case studies. Using scholarly readings, films, news media, and interactive discussions, students will develop the tools to challenge dominant narratives, unpack complex policy debates, and understand one of the most urgent and contested issues of our time. They will also have the opportunity to meet with people working on migration issues and the challenges they face.