Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2025 - IS 230 D100

Beyond the Nation-State: Identity and Belonging in a Globalized World (3)

Class Number: 4206

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Dec 4, 2025
    Thu, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

This course surveys the diverse ways people have fashioned identities and social relations that do not easily conform to the boundaries of nation-states. Explores how, in the context of transnational movements of people and ideas, individuals and communities construct and contest new identities, aspirations, and forms of belonging. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course draws on interdisciplinary materials—including texts and visual media—to examine how borders and belonging are deeply interconnected. While borders demarcate national territories, they also shape curated national imaginaries and forms of belonging. These processes often simultaneously construct “the other” through immigration rhetoric, citizenship regimes, and nationalist discourse. We examine the political, social, and affective dimensions of how identity and belonging are produced, contested, and experienced across multiple scales—from the local to the global. Key topics include borders, migration, sovereignty, territory, nationalism, refugeehood, diaspora, and identity.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

  • Describe how communities globally negotiate identity, belonging, and bordering practices in their everyday lives.
  • Discuss how national identities are constructed through the production of a discursive “other.”
  • Analyze transnational narratives, global solidarities, and the lived experiences of diasporic communities.
  • Critically evaluate how power and privilege shape our positionalities and access to mobility.

Grading

  • Engagement and Participation 20%
  • Collaborative Mapping/Zine Project (includes research and group writing) 35%
  • Reflection Essay (based on two course readings and one film; approx. 1000 words) 15%
  • Final Exam 30%

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

All course materials will be available on Canvas.

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.