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Elective: Comparative Regionalism

Vak
2014-2015

Admission requirements

This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies who have succesfully completed the second year elective course. The number of participants is limited to 25.

Description

For a long time the European Union has prided itself on being an inspiration and even a model for experiments in regional cooperation in other areas of the World. But as the number and scope of regional arrangements has grown, so this intellectual form of neo-colonialism has been increasingly questioned. Even so, there is still no real concensus over an alternative methodology by which different approaches can be compared and contrasted. The field of comparative regionalism is wide-open, and who better to contribute to its development than students of International Studies?

The course will examine critically recent initiatives undertaken in regional cooperation against the framework offered by the development model of the European Union as well as alternative, historical models. It will examine these initiatives through the following comparative perspectives

  • the (relative) starting positions at the inception of the projects (using CtW skills)

  • the framework and process of reaching an agreement

  • the form and content of an agreement

  • the ambition and the outcome of the agreement
    Students will be collabourate in constructing a framework for analysis and will encouraged to choose a regional arrangement from their area of specialization as the central focus of their own paper.

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 written 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 is available on the BA International Studies website.

Mode of instruction

Seminar style discussion
Supervised research
Final conference.

Course Load

Total course load for the course: 10 × 28 hours= 280 EC.

  • Preliminary Reading (2 hours per article) = 10 hours

  • Hours spent on attending seminars (2 hours per week x 10 weeks) = 20 hours

  • Preparing for seminar presentations and interventions (2 hours per week x 10 weeks) = 20 hours

  • Reading for seminars: (2 hours per article) 20 articles=40 hours

  • Research for paper:10 hours

  • Reading for paper (2 hours per article) 20 articles=40 hours

  • Preparing statistical framework for final paper = 20 hours

  • Writing final paper (1000 words per day drafting, 1000 words per day writing)= 80 hours

  • Preparing presentation for final conference = 5 hours

  • Preparing commentaries for final conference = 5 hours

  • Reading conference papers (24×1 hour)=24 hours

  • Attending final conference= 6 hours

Assessment method

Regular Assignments
Final paper of approx. 5,000 words (excluding tables and bibliography).

Note: The maximum possible grade to be obtained for re-submission of the final essay is a 6.0

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used. For tutorial groups: please enroll in blackboard after your enrollment in uSis
Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course.

Preliminary Reading

  • Hameiri, S. (2013). Theorising regions through changes in statehood: rethinking the theory and method of comparative regionalism. Review of International Studies, 39(02), 313-335.

  • Jetschke, A., & Lenz, T. (2013). Does Regionalism Diffuse? A New Research Agenda for the Study of Regional Organizations. Journal of European Public Policy, 20(4), 626-637.

  • Acharya, A. (2012). Comparative regionalism: a field whose time has come?. The International Spectator, 47(1), 3-15.

  • Lombaerde, P. D., Söderbaum, F., Van Langenhove, L., & Baert, F. (2010). The problem of comparison in comparative regionalism. Review of International Studies, 36(03), 731-753.

  • Börzel, T. A. (2011). Comparative Regionalism-A New Research Agenda Working Paper No 28, KFG, Free University Berlin.

Registration

Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.

General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch

The student administration will register all first year students for the first semester courses in uSis, the registration system of Leiden University.

Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs

Not applicable.

Contact

Prof. dr. R.T. Griffiths, email R.T.Griffiths@hum.leidenuniv.nl