Admission requirements
This course is part of the (Res)MA History Programme. Students from within the specialization the course belongs to have right of way. It is not accessible for BA students.
Description
Cities are often portrayed as more dangerous and unhealthy environments than rural areas. Regarding crime, cities might have offered greater opportunities and dangers. Regarding health, urban communities initially faced a penalty (epidemics, unhealthy environment) although this might have been replaced by an urban advantage, when cities took up a pioneering role in the spreading and adopting of new ideas (i.e. public health measures). How credible is the image of dangerous cities? How did state formation processes from the eighteenth century have an impact on both health and crime and to what extent did patterns of health and crime reflect inequalities among urban populations? In this course we examine the risks of living in cities by looking at patterns of crime and health in the period between 1750-2000. The course will include a discussion of the most important and recent theoretical views about urban crime and health and initiatives by governments to reduce crime and improve health. The course also includes the examination of primary sources on patterns of crime and health, the actions of urban governments and civil societies.
There will be an entry test (review on 2 articles). The literature will be put on Brightspace before the course starts.
Course objectives
General learning objectives
The student has acquired:
The ability to independently identify and select literature, using traditional and modern techniques;
The ability to independently identify and select sources, using traditional and modern techniques;
The ability to analyse and evaluate a corpus of sources with a view to addressing a particular historical problem;
The ability to analyse and evaluate literature with a view to addressing a particular historical problem;
The ability to independently formulate a clear and well-argued research question, taking into account the theory and method of the field and to reduce this question to accessible and manageable sub-questions;
The ability to independently set up and carry out an original research project that can make a contribution to existing scholarly debates;
The ability to give a clear and well-founded oral and written report on research results in correct English, when required, or Dutch, meeting the criteria of the discipline;
The ability to participate in current debates in the specialisation;
The ability to provide constructive feedback to and formulate criticism of the work of others and the ability to evaluate the value of such criticism and feedback on one’s own work and incorporate it;
(ResMA only:) The ability to participate in a discussion of the theoretical foundations of the discipline.
Learning objectives, pertaining to the specialisation
The student has acquired:
Thorough knowledge and comprehension of one of the specialisations or subtracks as well as of the historiography of the specialization Cities, Migration and Global Interdependence, focusing particularly on the manner in which migrations (of people, goods and ideas) between and within states have led to shifts (in cohesion, ethnic composition, policies, imaging, culture, and power relations) in the period 1600-2000, with a focus on (urban) networks (within and across borders).
Thorough knowledge and comprehension of the theoretical, conceptual and methodological aspects of the specialisation Cities, Migration and Global Interdependence, with a particular focus on the interdisciplinary approach (application of theories and methods from social sciences), the comparative perspective (diachronic and synchronic) and working with a large variety of primary sources.
Learning objectives, pertaining to this Research Seminar
The student:
Students have familiarized themselves with some key debates in the field of crime, health and urban institutions.
Students have acquired the ability to employ an interdisciplinary approach (application of theories and methods from social sciences).
Students have acquired the ability to work with a large variety of primary sources.
ResMA only – Students have acquired the ability to interpret a complex corpus of (qualitative and quantitative) sources; the ability to identify new approaches within existing academic debates.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar (compulsory attendance)
This means that students have to attend every session of the course. If you are not able to attend, you are required to notify the teacher beforehand. The teacher will determine if and how the missed session can be compensated by an additional assignment. If specific restrictions apply to a particular course, the teacher will notify the students at the beginning of the semester. If you do not comply with the aforementioned requirements, you will be excluded from the seminar.
Assessment method
Assessment
- Written paper (6000 words, based on research in primary sources, excluding title page, table of contents, footnotes and bibliography)
measured learning objectives: 1-15
- Entry test
measured learning objectives: 4, 11-13
- Oral presentation
measured learning objectives: 1-15
- Assignment 1 (Entry note: write a review of 2 articles)
measured learning objectives: 4, 9, 11-13
Weighing
Written paper: 60%
Oral presentation: 30%
Assignment 1: 10%
The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average with the additional requirement that the written paper must always be sufficient.
Deadlines
Assignments and written papers should be handed in within the deadline as provided in the relevant course outline on Brightspace.
Resit
Should the overall mark be unsatisfactory, the paper is to be revised after consultation with the instructor.
Inspection and feedback
How and when a review of the written paper will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the results, a review of the written paper will have to be organised.
Reading list
The reading list used in this course will be put on Brightspace a week before the course starts.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For course related questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
Not applicable