Prospectus

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Thesis Seminar (Religious Studies)

Course
2023-2024

Admission requirements

This course is open only to students in the 2EduMA Religie en Levensbeschouwing.

This course is identical to the module ‘Thesis Seminar’ in the 5EC course Thesis Seminar and Job Market Orientation (Religious Studies), which is part of the MA Religious Studies. Students in the 2EduMA Religie & Levensbeschouwing follow the 2EC course Thesis Seminar (Religious Studies). If they wish, they may also follow the module ‘Job Market Orientation’ as an extracurriculair activity.

Please note: To write an MA thesis in the spring semester, students must be simultaneously enrolled the MA Thesis Seminar (Religious Studies). To write an MA thesis in the following fall semester, students must have successfully completed the respective seminar in the spring semester before writing their thesis.

Description

The course supports the thesis writing process. It consists of six sessions in which we discuss how to formulate a good research question, how to manage the work process, and how to structure the argument of the thesis. The module also includes an advanced library workshop.

Course objectives

Knowledge, insight, and content-bound skills

After successfully completing the MA Thesis Seminar students have demonstrated their ability to formulate a research problem regarding a chosen topic, to set up a research design employing the most suitable methods and theories from the study-of-religion toolbox, and to carry out and report on their research according to the standards of the study of religion.

Timetable

The timetables are available through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

Seminar

Assessment method

Assessment and weighing

The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighed average of two marks:

  1. Thesis seminar portfolio (thesis idea; analysis of sample article, chapter-by-chapter outline and in class presentation): 75 %
  2. Class Participation: 25%

To pass the course, students must obtain at least a sufficient mark (5.5) as the weighed average of the two marks.

Resit

Students who score an insufficient mark for the Thesis Seminar Portfolio may retake the assignment by submitting a new version of the assignment.

Students who score an insufficient mark on “Class Participation” can resit this portion of the class by turning in a substitute written assignment. Students should be in touch with the lecturer to determine the topic of the substitute written assignment.

Inspection and Feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Reading list

  1. Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald, The Craft of Research, fourth edition. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 2016.
  2. Articles/assignments uploaded to Brightspace

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory. General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website

Contact

For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.

For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Vrieshof.

Remarks

None