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Success or Failure? Migrants and social-economic networks in cities 1750-2000

Vak
2014-2015

Admission requirements

-

Description

How can we explain why migration to cities leads to the inclusion or exclusion of newcomers? Why are some groups successful in establishing social and economic networks, and others not? In this course we examine the ways in which migrants and ethnic groups could rely on social, economic and cultural networks and to what extent newcomers had access to urban institutions. The course will include a discussion of the most important and recent theoretical views about ‘open access societies’ and survival strategies of newcomers to explain success and failure, and inclusion and exclusion of newcomers. The course also includes the examination of primary sources on the access of newcomers to urban institutions and their social, economic and cultural networks (judicial records, law and legislation, guilds, documents of poor relief instituties, urban policicies on migration, laws and legislation, newspapers, interviews).

Course objectives

Objectives of the course are that students acquire:

  • The ability to independently identify and select sources

  • The ability to independently formulate a clear and well-argued research question

  • The ability to analyze and evaluate literature and sources for the purpose of producing an original scholarly argument

  • The ability to interpret a corpus of sources

  • Knowledge and comprehension of the specialisations Migration and Global Interdependence and its historiography specifically:

  1. The manner in which migrations (of people, goods and ideas) between and within states have led to shifts (in cohesion, ethnic composition, policies, imaging, culture, and power relations) in the period 1750-2000, with a focus on (urban) networks (within and across borders);
    1. The interdisciplinary approach (application of theories and methods from social sciences), the comparative perspective (diachronic and synchronic) and working with a large variety of primary sources;

Specific objectives of Succes or Failure:

  • Familiarize with some key debates in the field of migration, socio-economic networks, and urban institutions.

  • Learn how to analyse and contextualise a historical discussion.

  • Learn how to discuss and analyse such a debate succinctly.

  • Learn how examine primary sources.

  • Learn how to write a research note in which primary sources are related to a historical discussion.

Extra course objectives for Res Master Students:

  • Learn how to interpret a potentially complex corpus of sources

  • Learn how to identify new approaches within existing academic debates

  • Knowledge of the interdisciplinary aspects of the specialisation

Timetable

Timetable History

Mode of instruction

  • Research seminar

Course Load

Total course load for the course: 280 hours.

  • Hours spent on attending lectures and seminars: 25 hours.

  • Time for studying the compulsory literature: 30 hours.

  • Time to prepare presentation: 55 hours.

  • Time to write a paper (including reading / research): 180 hours.

Assessment method

  1. A Research note of 7000 words (60%) demonstrating the following skills:
  • The ability to independently identify and select literature

  • The ability to give a clear written report of the research results in English.

  • The ability to link research results to historiographical debates on migration, institutions and socialeconomic networks in cities.

  • The ability to independently identify and select sources

  • The ability to independently formulate a clear and well-argued research question

  • The ability to analyze and evaluate literature and sources for the purpose of producing an original scholarly argument

  • The ability to interpret a corpus of sources

  1. A Presentation (20%), demonstrating the following skills:
  • The ability to give a clear oral report on the research results in English

  • The ability to link research result to a historiographical debate

  • The abilitiy to apply source criticism

3.Participation in class discussion (20%), demonstrating the following skills: *Active participation in the discussion of the literature and the work in progress of other students.

  • The ability to provide constructive academic feedback

The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average of the above assessments.

Additional requirements for the ResMa students: The paper has to be based on more extensive archival research or research based on primary sources. The student has to show (especially in the paper) innovative insights.

‘Should the overall mark be unsatisfactory, the paper is to be revised after consultation with the teacher.’

Blackboard

Blackboard is used for:

  • Information about the course, such as timetable, literature, assessments, and announcements..

  • Giving feedback on work in progress

  • Providing extra information about literature, analyzing methods and sources.

Reading list

The reading list used in this course will be put on Blackboard a week before the course starts.

Registration

via uSis

Contact

mw. Prof.dr. M.P.C. van der Heijden