Admission requirements
This course is open for students of BA International Studies only. The number of participants is limited to 25.
Description
This seminar is devoted to the main systematic normative positions in political philosophy. The emphasis will be on the question what a just society and a just world order requires of its institutions and citizens. Topics that will be dealt with include freedom, equality, (distributive) justice, authority, and identity. We will look at the main theories of liberal democracy, libertarianism, communitarianism, multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism and global justice. The main authors whose work we will study include J.S. Mill, I. Berlin, John Rawls, Robert Nozick, Charles Taylor, Will Kymlicka, Jeremy Waldron, and Thomas Pogge.
All course materials and readings will be made available through blackboard
Additionally, the students will work through W.C. Booth, G.G. Colomb, J.W. Williams, The Craft of Research, third edition, Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Course objectives
The elective courses for International Studies are designed to teach students how to deal with state-of-the-art literature and research questions. They are chosen to enhance the students’ learning experience by building on the interdisciplinary perspectives they have developed so far, and to introduce them to the art of academic research. They are characterised by an international or comparative approach.
Academic skills that are trained include:
Oral presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course
a. in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation;
b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
c. using up-to-date presentation techniques;
d. aimed at a specific audience;
3. to actively participate in a discussion following the presentation.
Collaboration skills:
1. to be socio-communicative in collaborative situations;
2. to provide and receive constructive criticism, and incorporate justified criticism by revising one’s own position;
3. adhere to agreed schedules and priorities.
Basic research skills, including heuristic skills:
1. to collect and select academic literature using traditional and digital methods and techniques;
2. to analyze and assess this literature with regard to quality and reliability;
3. to formulate on this basis a sound research question;
4. to design under supervision a research plan of limited scope, and implement it using the methods and techniques that are appropriate within the discipline involved;
5. to formulate a substantiated conclusion.
Written presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course
a. in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation;
b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
c. using relevant illustration or multimedia techniques;
d. aimed at a specific audience.
Timetable
The timetable will be available on the BA International Studies website this autumn.
Mode of instruction
Tutorials and supervised research.
Assessment method
Weekly assignments, and a final paper of approx. 6,000 words (excluding tables and bibliography).
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used. Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course.
Reading list
A reader. Details will be provided on Blackboard.
Registration
Students are requested to register through uSis, the registration system of Leiden University for this course. General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable.
Remarks
Students will be required to write weekly reading responses and at least once give a presentation of the main arguments of the reading of that week.