Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies programme.
The number of participants is limited to 24.
Description
During the period we traditionally call ‘modernity’, the Western world saw the contemporaneous emergence of the scientific method, industrialized economies, modern bureaucratic states and democratic forms of government. According to the philosophers of the Enlightenment, all of these phenomena form part of a coherent historical development, where the application of reason to human affairs would lead to the overcoming of prejudice and ignorance and would ultimately bring liberty and equality to all. From the mid-19th century onwards, this narrative was increasingly called into question and criticized, both for its supposed Western-centred prejudice and for its optimistic view of human rationality.
To this day, the debate between proponents and opponents of Enlightenment universalism remains unresolved. Is there progress in history? What would it consist in? Is ‘modernization’ a homogenous process or well-defined goal towards which all countries should strive, or is this a Western prejudice? Are there ‘multiple modernities’? Is social and economic development necessarily tied to a specific political system, such as liberal democracy? In this course, we will examine the notion of history and historical development as it emerged in the West in the modern era, and critiques of these notions from both the Western and other philosophical traditions.
Additionally, the students will work through:
W.C. Booth et al., The Craft of Research, fourth edition, Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2016, or;
W.C. Booth et al., The Craft of Research, third edition, Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Course objectives
The Thematic Seminars 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 multidisciplinary 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 and 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:
in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation;
in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
using up-to-date presentation techniques;
using relevant illustration or multimedia techniques;
aimed at a specific audience.
3. To actively participate in a discussion
Collaboration skills:
1. To provide and receive constructive criticism, and incorporate justified criticism by revising one’s own position.
2. To 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 analyse 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.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website.
Mode of instruction
Seminars
Seminars are held every week, with the exception of the Midterm Exam week. This includes supervised research.
Assessment method
Assessment and Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Assignments | 30% |
| Oral presentation | 10% |
| In-class participation | 10% |
| Final Research Essay - 5,000 words (between 4,500 and 5,500) | 50% |
End Grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note that the End Grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of all assessment components.
Resit
Students who score an overall insufficient grade for the course, are allowed resubmit a reworked version of the Final Essay. The deadline for resubmission is 10 working days after receiving the grade for the Final Research Essay and subsequent feedback.
In case of resubmission of the Final Research Essay the final grade for the Essay will be lowered as a consequence of the longer process of completion.
Students who fail to hand in their final essay on or before the original deadline, but still within 5 working days of that deadline, will receive a grade and feedback on their essay. This will be considered a first submission of the final essay, however, the grade will be lowered as a consequence of the longer process of completion.
Students who fail to hand in their final essay on or before the original deadline, and also fail to hand in their essay within 5 working days of that deadline, get 10 working days, counting from the original deadline, to hand in the first version of their final essay. However, this first version counts as a resubmitted essay with consequential lowering of the grade, and there will be no option of handing in a reworked version based on feedback from the lecturer.
Retaking a passing grade
Retaking a passing grade is not possible for this course.
Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2020 – 2021.
Exam review 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 organised.
Reading list
Preliminary reading list, may be subject to change
Condorcet (Progress of the Human Mind)
Kant (Idea for a Universal History)
Hegel (Philosophy of History)
Marx and Engels (Communist Manifesto)
Spengler (Decline of the West)
Adorno & Horkheimer (Dialectic of Enlightenment)
Bauman (Liquid modernity)
Spivak (Deconstructing historiography)
Fukuyama (The End of History)
Pinker (Enlightenment Now)
Rosa (Social Acceleration)
Mahbubani (Has the West lost it?)
Allen (The End of Progress)
Registration
Registration occurs via survey only. Registration opens 14 December 2020:
- On 14 December 2020 you will receive a message with a link to the survey.
- Indicate there which are your 5 preferred Thematic Seminars, in order of preference.
- Based on preferences indicated by 30 December 2020 the course Coordinator will assign you to one specific Thematic Seminar by 20 January 2021.
- Students will then be enrolled for the specific groups by the Administration Office.
- All students are required to enrol for their group in Brightspace to access all course information.
Students cannot register in uSis for the Thematic Seminar courses, or be allowed into a Thematic Seminar course in any other way.
Contact
When contacting lecturers or tutors, please include your full name, student number, and tutorial group number.
Please use your University email-address (uMail) when communicating with any person or department within Leiden University.
Student Affairs Office for BA International Studies
Remarks
The deadline for submission of the Final Essay is Friday 11 June 2021.