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78202-01 - Seminar: Artifical Intelligence, Border Control and Politics of Mobility (3 KP)
| Semester | Frühjahrsemester 2026 |
| Angebotsmuster | einmalig |
| Dozierende |
Daniel Kunzelmann (daniel.kunzelmann@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn)
Remo Reginold (remo.reginold@unibas.ch) |
| Inhalt | Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are exerting an ever-stronger influence across social, economic and political domains. Frequently employed as an umbrella term for very different ideas and concepts, AI gives rise to both utopian and dystopian imaginaries. In recent years, AI technologies have been strategically deployed within the highly sensitive field of border control: from biometric surveillance and predictive risk assessments to automated decision-making in migration management. These applications prompt urgent questions concerning security, mobility, rights and global inequalities. In this seminar, we will address five guiding questions: 1. What is AI? 2. What imaginaries, interpretations and symbols are attached to AI in the context of mobility and control? 3. Which infrastructures, actors and sciences are mobilised around AI-driven border regimes? 4. How is AI strategically employed in border security and migration management, and with what consequences for individuals, societies and states? 5. What counter-strategies and practices are developed by people and groups who are subject to, or resisting, new AI-based border regimes? The first step is to clarify the contested term artificial intelligence. The imaginations and realities of AI are increasingly treated as a political manoeuvring mass, instrumentalised in strategies of power and control. Precisely because ignorance, half-knowledge and myriad projection surfaces abound, AI can be deployed in highly interest-driven ways. Beyond symbolic struggles, AI has also become the concrete object of strategic action by numerous states, organisations and corporations. In the sphere of border control, AI is not only imagined but actively implemented – in biometric screening, predictive profiling and the integration of databases – thereby reshaping mobility regimes and generating new asymmetries of power. At the same time, migrants, activists and civil society actors devise strategies of navigation, resistance and subversion in response to these technologies. The aim of this interdisciplinary seminar is to provide a well-grounded counterpoint to dominant, technocentric AI debates, by situating AI at the intersection of Digital Anthropology, Migration Studies and Geopolitics. Together we will examine how AI, like every cyber-technological development, is socially and politically embedded, culturally contested, and thus dynamic and subject to change. To bridge theory and practice, the seminar will include selected sessions with invited experts from academia and practice. This seminar is supported by the Swiss Institute for Global Affairs (SIGA): www.globalaffairs.ch |
| Bemerkungen | Please note: The seminar starts in Week 3. The first session will therefore be held on 4 March. A compulsory preparatory task for the first session will be made available via ADAM in the first week of the semester. |
| Teilnahmevoraussetzungen | Course places are reserved for students of Changing Societies and Critical Urbanism; any remaining places will be allocated according to the date of registration. Participation is only possible for those who attend the first session in person and complete the preparatory compulsory task. Further information can be found under "Remarks" "Bemerkungen". |
| Unterrichtssprache | Englisch |
| Einsatz digitaler Medien | kein spezifischer Einsatz |
| Intervall | Wochentag | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Mittwoch | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
Einzeltermine
| Datum | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|
| Mittwoch 18.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 25.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Fasnachtswoche |
| Mittwoch 04.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 11.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 18.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 25.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 01.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 08.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 15.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 22.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 29.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 06.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 13.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 20.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Mittwoch 27.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 Uhr | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Module |
Modul: Conflicts and Peacebuilding (Master Studiengang: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources ) Modul: Digital Humanities, Culture and Society (Master Studienfach: Digital Humanities) Modul: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul: Methoden und Felder der Kulturanthropologie (Bachelor Studienfach: Kulturanthropologie) Modul: Migration, Mobility and Transnationalism (Master Studiengang: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources ) Modul: Research Lab Kulturanthropologie (Master Studienfach: Kulturanthropologie) Modul: The Urban across Disciplines (Master Studiengang: Critical Urbanisms) Modul: Theorien der Kulturanthropologie (Bachelor Studienfach: Kulturanthropologie) Modul: Theorien und Methodologien der Kulturanthropologie (Master Studienfach: Kulturanthropologie) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Arbeit, Migration und Gesellschaft (Masterstudium: European Global Studies) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Staatlichkeit, Entwicklung und Globalisierung (Masterstudium: European Global Studies) |
| Prüfung | Lehrveranst.-begleitend |
| An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung | Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Wiederholungsprüfung | keine Wiederholungsprüfung |
| Skala | Pass / Fail |
| Belegen bei Nichtbestehen | nicht wiederholbar |
| Zuständige Fakultät | Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Anbietende Organisationseinheit | Departement Gesellschaftswissenschaften |