Prospectus

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Fieldwork NL

Course
2023-2024

Important Note on the Course Fieldwork NL

Fieldwork NL is a regular course and expenses of Fieldwork NL are covered neither by the tuition fee for the bachelor’s programme nor by additional grants. In choosing a topic and writing the research design, and in their choice of research methods and research location, students are therefore strongly advised to anticipate the budgetary aspects of their proposed research.

N.B.: Having finished fieldwork in this course is required to start with the second-year course Multivariate Analysis. Completing this course is required to register for the third-year course Personal and Professional Impact

Admission Requirements

The following two categories of students are entitled to participate:

  1. Bachelor's students of CADS who have passed the following first-year courses:
  • Anthropological Research in Practice

  • Statistics in Practice

  • Academic Writing and (Re-)Presentation

  • Ethics in Contemporary Ethnographic Research

  • Academic Discourse

  1. Archaeology students from the bachelor’s programme Heritage and Society who have successfully passed Social Scientific Research in Practice.

Language of Instruction

This course is taught in English and uses English as its language of communication. Students are however permitted to write their Fieldwork NL research reports in Dutch.

Course Description

In this course, students will learn how to undertake research, related to a theme specific to their bachelor specialization (Suso or DAE). In the first week of September students will indicate their preference for one of the themes suggested by the supervisors. Students will work in theme groups specific to their specialisation to develop a research design on the basis of mandatory tutorials and assignments.

After their research designs have been approved, students will undertake research for three weeks in the Netherlands. Ideally, students will be accommodated during their research by host families. Each student will write a research report and present their findings at the closing Fieldwork NL conference. More detailed information to follow on Brightspace.

Course objectives

The objective of this course is to learn how to undertake research independently but within a team. Participants in this programme will complete all phases of the research, which means that among other things they must:

  • elaborate a chosen research theme

  • develop a theoretical framework

  • write a design

  • collect research data

  • analyse and report on their data

  • present their work at the closing conference

Schedule

  • The course has two mandatory lectures: an introductory lecture and a post fieldwork lecture.

  • The course has mandatory tutorials, divided over two semesters

  • The course closes with a conference

  • Fieldwork itself takes place in weeks 2 to 4 of 2022.

Dates and times of the lectures, tutorials and the conference can be found on the website.

Mode of Instruction

This is a 10 ECTS course, which means 280 hours of study (1 ECTS is equivalent to 28 study hours or sbu's). These 280 study hours are composed from the following components:

  • Lectures: 2 x 2 = 6 hours x 1,5 = 6 sbu

  • Tutorials: 12 x 2 = 24 hours x 2 = 48 sbu

  • Closing conference = 8 sbu

  • Assignments resulting in the research design and final report = 104 sbu

  • Fieldwork (three weeks full-time) = 114 sbu - see also the important note on top of this page

Assessment Method

In addition to the written work described below attendance is mandatory at all tutorials, lectures, and the closing conference. There are two assessment moments for the written work in this course:

1) Testing of research design:

  • Joint contribution: 20% of final mark

  • Individual contribution: 25% of final mark

N.B.: Permission to begin fieldwork will be given only if both marks are satisfactory

2) Review of research and final report:

  • Joint contribution: 30% of final mark

  • Individual contribution: 25% of final mark

Only the final mark is registered in uSis and tests may be re-taken if grades are inadequate (grade 5 and lower).

Each year, the Prof. Dr. J.D. Speckmann Prize is awarded to the best Fieldwork-NL report.

Registration in My Studymap

Registration for the lectures in My Studymap is mandatory for all students. Registration closes 5 days before the start of the course. Carefully read all information about the procedures and deadlines for registering for courses and exams.

NB. Attendance at the first lecture is mandatory. During this meeting, different themes will be explained and students will be instructed how to sign up for thematic tutorials.

NB. Once the workgroup division is determined by the course coordinator, the SSC will enroll the students to the specific workgroups they are assigned to. After this, the schedules in MyTimetable will also show the dates, times, and rooms of the tutorials.

Confirming your exams

Students need not register for the examination via My Studymap, because this course does not include a single final examination.

Brightspace

Brightspace is the digital learning environment of Leiden University. Brightspace gives access to course announcements and electronic study material. Assignments will also be submitted in Brightspace. Students are advised to check Brightspace daily for information about rooms, schedules, deadlines, and details of assignments. Lecturers assume that all students read information posted on Brightspace.

  • How to login

The homepage for Brightspace is: Brightspace

Please log in with your ULCN-account and personal password. On the left you will see an overview of My Courses.

For access to courses in Brightspace you must be registered for those courses in My Studymap.

Contact

Dr. E. Bähre - Coördinator