This course explores the role of contemporary media in shaping our understandings of migration and border politics. Thinking beyond the concept of the border as a geographical boundary between nation-states, we will consider a wide range of agents and circumstances that enable and ratify territorialization as both idea and practice. Taking a look not only at cinema, but also photography, digital artworks and other forms of cultural expression, the course investigates how today's geographies continue to be shaped by racial capitalism and regionalized discourses. Combining practice and theory, topics of our study will revolve around the contentious and often devastating politics of inclusion/exclusion in present-day US and Europe, with a specific focus on methods of representation pertaining to technologies of surveillance, asylum foreclosure, mobility, detention, sanctuary and displacement. To expand our understanding of contemporary media surrounding these topics, we will draw from interdisciplinary scholarship including sociology, geography, anthropology, history, media, cultural and critical race studies. For their final projects, students can choose either a research paper or creative media project such as film/video, sound installation, or multimedia/performance. .