Description
Students choose (one of) the thesis seminar(s) offered within their specialisation. It is strongly recommended that students start thinking about the topic of their thesis before the start of the classes. Attendance is compulsory for all classes. Detailed information about the study material and the writing process can be found on Brightspace.
Course Objectives
Objective 1: To deepen the understanding of theories and methods related to research on the theme of the Master Specialisation.
Objective 2: Applying them to a specific topic as part of the student’s Master thesis project.
General information session
See 'Information and Deadlines' for the time and date of the information session.
Thesis seminar Themes:
Theme 101: Global North-South contestations in international politics (Dr. L. Demarest)
Global governance processes touch upon an increasing range of fundamental political issues, including trade, economy, food security, environment, migration, human rights, and health. International negotiations and agreements around these topics often involve reconciling diverse interests and norms across vastly different political, economic, and cultural contexts. Yet, this does not necessarily occur with countries standing on equal footing. Cleavages between 'North and South', 'developed and developing countries', or the 'West and the rest' have long produced power imbalances in global governance — shaping not only negotiation outcomes but also which issues reach the agenda in the first place.
In this thesis seminar, students are encouraged to engage critically with such power imbalances and their consequences. Guiding questions include: Can generally weak Global South countries exercise meaningful influence at the global level, and through what strategies? Have broader international power shifts away from Western dominance influenced the rules, norms, and institutions of global governance? Do liberal democratic principles — with their emphasis on individual rights, freedom, and non-discrimination — come into tension with respect for indigenous governance systems and customary law? How do authoritarian states engage with and seek to reshape international organisations and global governance goals?
The seminar takes a broad thematic scope, welcoming research on areas such as international trade and finance, climate negotiations, global health governance, food security, migration regimes, and human rights frameworks. Students may use quantitative as well as qualitative methods, including analysis of meeting debates, voting records, official statements, or policy documents, many of which are publicly available through international organisations. For feasibility reasons, interview-based theses are not generally recommended unless students already have well-established prior contacts.
Theme 102: The Politics of Mobilization and Repression (Dr. S. Rezaeedaryakenari)
The substantive focus of this seminar is on the dynamics of contentious collective actions, where dissidents in society challenge the status quo, and the state responds to these challenges. Therefore, a broad range of research questions on the dynamics of mobilization and repression can be explored. Participants can explore topics like how popular uprisings start, turn into a movement, and then succeed or demobilize; how dissidents collectively challenge the status quo; how dissidents mobilize resources and recruit new members; whether the methods of resistance, violent or nonviolent, matters for the success of a movement; why states use repression against dissidents; whether state repression is effective; why elites and security forces defect during a movement; and so forth. Conflict events from the French Revolution to the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter and Climate Movement are within the scope of this seminar.
Since this seminar's primary goal is helping participants prepare for writing their MA thesis, besides the substantive focus on the dissent-repression nexus, it provides reading materials and discussions on commonly used research methods in this literature and the required academic skills. Although this seminar is open to different epistemological and methodological approaches, it best suits those students interested in the scientific study of politics, which requires developing an empirical analysis (quantitative or qualitative) to evaluate their theoretical arguments.
Additional Information
Please note that for some seminars there will be no additional substantive readings than the ones discussed in the courses they build on.
Registration
See 'Information and Deadlines'.
Examination
The thesis seminar is composed of a research proposal (first 8 weeks) and a thesis (remaining of the course). The research proposal ensures that the student is on the right track to carry out the research and write the thesis. It must be approved by both readers (see below), but is not awarded a grade. The grade of the thesis corresponds to 100% of the grade of the thesis seminar.
Research Proposal
The research proposal includes a problem statement, theoretical foundation, conceptualization as well as a sound explanation of the methods and techniques for data collection and analysis. The proposal must be approved by the supervisor and a second reader. The second reader will be designated by the Director of Studies. Please note that teachers are not obliged to provide thesis supervision if the proposal is not approved. The research proposal is not graded, it receives only a pass/revise/fail evaluation.
Master Thesis
The MSc thesis needs to comply with high standards of academic research. The formal requirements of the Master thesis are stated on the page ‘Thesis seminar information and deadlines’. The thesis evaluation form with the evaluation criteria will be published on Brightspace.
Students that drop or fail the course have to retake the complete thesis seminar (in the 2nd semester of the next academic year). Students should contact the Exam Committee if they are unable to complete the master thesis by the deadline due to circumstances beyond their control.
Timetable
See 'MyTimetable'.