Admission requirements
To be admitted to the thesis process, students need to have finished one of the Urban Studies thesis seminars. These are only available for students in the BA Urban Studies, who have obtained 100 EC of the Urban Studies programme, including two Methodological and two Thematic Electives.
Alongside this Thesis you will follow the Urban History and Development Research Lab and the Urban History and Development Thesis Seminar.
Description
The BA Thesis is the final and most important written assignment of the programme. It is a research paper of 10,000 words and is the result of independent research and writing, starting from the thesis proposal that you have developed during the thesis seminar, and that has been approved by your supervisor.
In your thesis you analyze a research question that is rooted in current academic debate within the field of urban studies, broadly defined, and focuses on one of the four themes of the programme – cultural diversity, safety, health, and sustainability. You use the methods and techniques that are common in the field of your thesis supervisor and apply these to your city or cities of choice – or to the city in general.
Following on the collective supervision during the seminar, students will receive individual guidance, specifically focused on the subject of their research. Students will have four individual meetings with their supervisor during block 4.
Papers need to be between 9,000 and 11,000 words in length, excluding front page, table of contents, footnotes and bibliography.
Deadline for the submission of the Thesis in semester 1 is January 10, 2025.
Deadline for the submission of the Thesis in semester 2 is June 6, 2025.
Students will be assigned a supervisor through their thesis seminar. You follow the thesis seminar in the semester in which you plan to write your thesis.
Course objectives
The students can:
1) execute a research project of limited size and complexity in the field of urban studies using the methods and techniques in one of the disciplines involved in the programme;
2) independently gather and analyze academic literature related to one of the four themes of the programme and use this to assess the intellectual context of the thesis project, and to define a scientific problem and a research question;
3) independently collect and analyze a coherent set of sources or data and use these to to address the research question
4) report on their studies and research in a neatly structured and coherent text of around 10.000 words in length;
5) schedule the project so that it is finished by the submission deadline
6) reflect critically on their approach and use feedback from supervisors and peers to strengthen their project.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Individual supervision. Students will have four meetings with their supervisor; it is mandatory to submit written work 48 hours in advance of these meetings.
Assessment method
Assessment
- Written Thesis (9.000 – 11.000 words, excluding front page, table of contents, bibliography and foot- or endnotes)
-measured general learning outcomes: 1-2, 4-11, 13-21, 25-26
-measured course objectives: 1-4
Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Thesis | 100% |
End grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:
The grade for the thesis needs to be a 6.0 or higher.
If the evaluators of the thesis agree on a grade between 6.0 and 6.5, the Board of Examiners will appoint a third reader who will double check whether the thesis meets the criteria for passing.
Thesis evaluators will mark a (re)submitted thesis within four weeks of its submission (six week in the months of July and August).
Resit
Students who have submitted a fully developed Thesis on time but scored an overall insuffient mark are entitled to a resit. For the resit, the students are given a chance to hand in an improved version of the Thesis based on the feedback from the Thesis Assessment Form. Students have ten working days to revise their thesis, starting the day after they have received the mark of their thesis. If the thesis after the resit is again marked insufficient, the student will have to write a new thesis on a new topic with a new supervisor.
If students need to retake any course for a second time, they are required to retake all elements of the course assessment, and may not carry over individual assessment grades from previous years.
Reading list
Not applicable.
Registration
In the course of block 2, students will receive an application form to enroll for the thesis seminar in semester 2. In the form, students elaborate on their preference for a particular seminar. The specifics of the procedure will be distributed amongst students as soon as possible during semester 1.
Students will be assigned a supervisor through their thesis seminar. You follow the thesis seminar in the semester in which you plan to write your thesis.
Do not register for this course in MyStudymap.
Registration Exchange
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.**
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Student Affairs Office for BA Urban Studies
Remarks
All other information.