Migrations and forced population displacements are crucial phenomena in the contemporary world. The mass movements of migrants and refugees dominate the political debate and agenda at a global level. Socially, they have redefined entire societies, opening up fractures and opportunities, and putting to test national codes of belonging. Migrant and refugee voices and narratives have often been undervalued by governments and international and local institutions. Collecting, preserving, and giving voice and value to migrant and refugee stories – as individuals, families, and communities – is the very first step to promoting politics of relief, empowerment, inclusion and participation.

This concept is at the base of ITHACA, a project funded by the European Commission, focusing on narratives on migrations in the past and in the present. ITHACA’s research team analysed migration through a rigorous historical framework and an interdisciplinary methodology, as well as adopting a comparative and transnational approach. The project created a digital platform bringing together migration narratives from the late Middle Ages to the present. 

ITHACA includes three main training sessions, expanded by this Massive Open Online Course, offering theories and methods of archival analysis and historical appraisal of narratives on and of migration, as well as approaches to interpret, study and narrate migration narratives in the present. 

The course is divided into three different sections.

The topic of the first is “Archives Concepts and Models”. Starting from the meaning of “archive”, ITHACA addresses how the sustainability of information and knowledge allows us to stand the test of time.

The topic of the second section is “Methods of collecting and preserving migration narratives through the experience of potential migrants”.

The third section is dedicated to “Concepts and methods for the transmission and critical analysis of migration memories”.