What is 'Home'?

Dealing with the concept of home.

During the past few weeks I have been giving a course in cultural studies to a group of international exchange students.

Part of their exam assignment was to present a paper and a project outlining their ‘sociological’ perspectives on the theme home. The students were given few recent ‘state of the art’ articles, a couple of lectures and some tutoring time. Otherwise they were left on their own. They had to overcome the cultural barriers seperating them in order to work in groups. In addition they had of course to read, think, to be critical and above to be innovative.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of discussing their ‘projects’, most of which are presented as blogs. While some of these blogs are being re-worked/improved, all of them challenge one’s established ways and help directing one's eyes towards some new ways of looking at the simple word, home.

Below are some presentations:

1) Greenland "Kalaallit Nunaat" as a home


2)Is “HOME” a place or a feeling or a practice or an imagination or ? And is “HOME” related to house or identity or gender or ?

and this


3)How does moving travelling affect the way young people percieve home?

and this


4- How Greenlanders living in Copenhagen relate to angerlarsmaffik (home in Inuit language) and the problems of homelessness.



5)The feeling of being home while in a state of inverted Diaspora.


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As I prepare myself to spend the Christmas holidays in Bahrain, I certainly would ponder on the new meanings of home that my students taught me.





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