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 12.
Description
A bachelor’s thesis is the students’ largest and most important piece of work in the program. It is a research paper of substantial size, which to a considerable extent is the result of research and writing that is independently done. Collective supervision is provided in thesis seminars. The aim of the thesis seminar is to guide students through the process of designing a research question; collecting literature, sources, data, and other materials that are necessary for answering the question; bringing logic and persuasive order in the material and in the arguments supported by it; and designing appropriate research methods. In addition, attention is paid to the relevance of the students’ research to a wider academic or non-academic audience.
In this thesis seminar, we will study changing conceptions and practices of citizenship in contemporary society. Citizenship can be defined as consisting of three components: a legal status (the right to have rights), political activity, and identity. Traditionally, all three components have been tied to the (Western) nation state. Yet today, this premise is increasingly challenged. Both the internal diversification of societies due to migration flows, and the pressure on the nation state due to political and economic globalization have made exclusively national models of citizenship obsolete. In response, theorists have formulated concepts of multicultural, European and post-national citizenship. Yet to what extent do these often high-minded formulations reflect empirical reality? And to which extent should they?
Students in this seminar will become familiar with political theory on citizenship, and will investigate this concept empirically in their bachelor’s theses. As citizenship is a broad concept, it can be studied in a variety of (post-)national settings and domains, both Western and non-Western. As debates on contemporary citizenship intersect with a host of other debates, such as those on the multicultural society, the welfare state, education, migration, Europeanization and transnationalism, students can choose from a variety of research topics to study from the perspective of citizenship. The concept of citizenship, lastly, can be studied from more than one disciplinary angle, allowing students to write a thesis that is more historically oriented, or one that is more within a social scientific discipline, such as political science or policy studies.
Course objectives
Based, and further elaborating on the knowledge and skills acquired, students will prove themselves to be able to:
work with research techniques that are current in the discipline(s) applied by them;
comprehend sophisticated academic debates;
report on their studies and research in good written English;
work and write under time-pressure, and deal with deadlines.
report on their studies and research in good spoken English;
participate in debates in an active, prepared and informed way, respecting other people’s convictions and emotions;
understand fundamental cultural differences and divisions.
The general academic skills covered by these aims are:
collect and select specialised literature using traditional and electronic methods and techniques;
analyse and evaluate this in terms of quality and reliability;
formulate a well-defined research problem based on this;
set up, under supervision, a study of limited size, taking into consideration the traditional and electronic methods and techniques relevant for the discipline;
formulate a reasoned conclusion on the basis of this;
explain research findings in a clear and well-argued way, both orally and in writing.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website.
Mode of instruction
Eight seminar meetings of two hours, spread over semester.
Course Load
Attendance: 16 hrs.
Collective presentation: 12 hrs.
Individual presentation: 8 hrs.
Literature review: 80 hrs.
Relevance note: 12 hrs.
Total: 140 hrs.
Assessment method
Common presentation: 10 %
Individual presentation 1: 10%
Individual presentation 2: 20%
Literature review, chapter 1: 40%
Relevance note: 20%
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used. For tutorial groups: please enroll in blackboard after your enrolment in uSis
Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course.
Reading list
T.B.A.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable.
Remarks
In addition to the thesis seminars, there will be individual supervision. However, no thesis can be submitted that has not been written in the context of a thesis seminar.
Contact
Dr. A. van Veen, email a.vanveen@uu.nl