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78202-01 - Seminar: Artifical Intelligence, Border Control and Politics of Mobility (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers |
Daniel Kunzelmann (daniel.kunzelmann@unibas.ch, Assessor)
Remo Reginold (remo.reginold@unibas.ch) |
| Content | 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 |
| Comments | 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. |
| Admission requirements | 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". |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 18.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 25.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Fasnachtswoche |
| Wednesday 04.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 11.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 18.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 25.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 01.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 08.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 15.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 22.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 29.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 06.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 13.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 20.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 27.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Modules |
Modul: Digital Humanities, Culture and Society (Master's degree subject: Digital Humanities) Modul: Methoden und Felder der Kulturanthropologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Cultural Anthropology) Modul: Research Lab Kulturanthropologie (Master's degree subject: Cultural Anthropology) Modul: Theorien der Kulturanthropologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Cultural Anthropology) Modul: Theorien und Methodologien der Kulturanthropologie (Master's degree subject: Cultural Anthropology) Module: Conflicts and Peacebuilding (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) Module: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Migration, Mobility and Transnationalism (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) Module: The Urban across Disciplines (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) Specialization Module Global Europe: Work, Migration and Society (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: Statehood, Development and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Gesellschaftswissenschaften |