Admission Requirements
Only students who are admitted to the master’s programme Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology specialisations Global etnography and Sociology of Policy in Practice can take part in this course.
Students cannot start their field research unless the following conditions have been met:
Proficiency of the language has to be approved by the supervisor
The Research Proposal has to be completed and graded sufficient by the supervisor.
A Letter of Liability has to be sent to the Coördinator of studies.
A Pre-departure form has to be sent to the Coördinator of studies.
An Ethics form has to be sent to the Coördinator of studies.
Course Description
Depending on the specialisation, students have to perform an Ethnographic Fieldwork or an Policy orientated Research Internship .
Ethnographic Fieldwork (6494RP, specialisation Global Ethnography):
If approved by the institute, the individual field research may be conducted anywhere in the world provided that the location is safe and not afflicted by armed conflict.
This fieldwork is arranged by students themselves. It is expected that the student will independently establish the necessary contacts with local authorities, acquire research permission and affiliation as well as accommodation in the country of research. Supervision during this preparatory period if provided by the thesis advisor in Leiden. It is expected that the student will be locally affiliated with an institute or a person willing to take (partial) responsibility for their fieldwork, because the Leiden supervisor will not be able to visit the student in the field. Nevertheless, the student remains under the supervision of his/her Leiden based supervisor the entire time. Supervision of the processing and reporting on field data is the responsibility of the staff in Leiden.
Policy Oriented Research Internship (6494PRI17, specialisation Sociology of Policy in Practice):
The Sociology of Policy in Practice specialisation offers students the opportunity to work on an own personal three-month research project at an NGO, government agency, small or large-scale company, museum or knowledge institute, either in the Netherlands or abroad.
A list of topics for both specialisations is available on our website and is being pemanently updated, although students can also follow their own ideas in choosing a topic.
Financial Matters
Performing the fieldwork or internship can be a costly endeavour for the student, as it will usually involve travel and the costs of additional accommodation.These expenses are not covered by the tuition fee for the master's programme.
To ease the financial strain various funds can be applied for:
Funds, made available by our external partners within some research projects.
Scholarships & grants offered by Leiden University.
Funds from the home country (in case of international students).
Also check the Dutch study grant provider DUO for additional information.
If planning research outside The Netherlands, also check the university's website for other practical matters regarding studying abroad.
Assessment Method
Throughout your research, you will write three Fieldwork/Internship reports.
Report 1: Operationalization in the field, to be submitted to your supervisor after 3 weeks in the field)
Report 2: Reflection on the fieldwork experience, to be submitted to your supervisor after 6 weeks in the field
Report 3 (final): Preliminary Analysis/Interpretation of the data.
The fieldwork is rated “pass” based on performance in the research setting.
Schedule
April, May, June 2021.
NB: A later starting date is also an option, since there are no lectures to be followed before September, but this must be approved by the supervisor.
Contact
Master's programma coördinator Dr. Erik de Maaker