6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 2 with catalog number 1023004ANR for all students in the 1st semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Law and Criminology
Department
Metajuridica
Educational team
Frederik Dhondt (course titular)
Rodrick Van Der Smissen
Marlies Heirstrate
Activities and contact hours
30 contact hours Lecture
4 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
4 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
126 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The interactive lectures cover the Political History of Belgium since the Revolution to the present day in six chapters, thematically divided into socio-economic and philosophical evolutions and the political strife between the language communities. The use of audio-visual material and the possibility of indicating one's preference via Wooclap ensure that the main points are clear. 

Due to corona measures, we may only be able to physically teach for small groups. The lectures are broadcast live by streaming through Panopto and are available as a recording afterwards.

The working lectures go through the material in a thematic way. From the beginning of the academic year, students are actively introduced to the textbook, which they summarize at home. Through guided discussions in small groups, under the direction of the assistant, they master the structure of the handbook.

Course material
Digital course material (Required) : Slides bij de hoorcolleges (PDF), Canvas
Handbook (Required) : Politieke geschiedenis van Belgiƫ, Van1830 tot heden, E. Witte, D. Luyten & A. Meynen, Antwerpen: WPG/Manteau, 9789022333235, 2016
Digital course material (Recommended) : Video-opnames hoorcolleges via Panopto, Panopto
Additional info

Lecture (75%)
The lectures follow the structure of the textbook. The most important developments are explained to the students in an interactive way and illustrated with pictures, first-hand testimonies (mémoires, speeches, press), and video material. Whenever possible, reference is made to current events and students are questioned. In this way, students are encouraged to follow the news and focus on the concepts in the historical material.  Weekly multiple-choice questions via Wooclap allow the material covered to be placed within the totality of the subject matter, and the student already processes the material during the lecture. 

The lectures will be made available live via streaming on Panopto if coronation measures necessitate hybrid forms of instruction.

For working students, 6 hours of evening lectures will be arranged. Additional contact moments via MS Teams can be arranged upon student request.

Practical sessions (25%)

The substantive practical sessions guide the learning process. Students become familiar with the textbook through guided self-study and group discussion (E. Witte, D. Luyten & A. Meynen, Politieke Geschiedenis van België van 1830 tot heden, Antwerp: WPG/Manteau, 2016). If corona measures make it necessary, physical sessions are replaced by sessions via MS Teams.

Furthermore, the partial exam (week 8) actively stimulates the learning process by generating feedback at an early stage. The partial exam provides an opportunity for the lecturer to assume actual acquired knowledge and understanding during the lectures. The students receive collective feedback on Canvas and can refer to the assistants for the review of their copy.

If corona measures make the physical organization of the sub-exam impossible, this will be a digital sub-exam with multiple-choice questions via Canvas. 

In a first practical sessions, students prepare a piece from the textbook themselves, following suggestions from the assistant. In the actual tutorial, the students present their own contribution. The assistant brings the group in an interactive way to an understanding of their own study method. This is done both to summarize an academic text and to clarify the thematic coherence throughout the chronologically structured and lectured course.

In a second practical session, the theme “socio-economic developments” (Chapters 4-5) are discussed in a small group. The students are obliged to prepare this beforehand at home.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

  • The student apprehends the connection between societal developments and Belgian institutions.
  • The student is able to reformulate an important academic synthesis in his own terms, and engage in a discussion with his fellow students.
  • The student acquires a sufficient understanding of the most important political, economic and ideological developments to have occurred within the Belgian state and its constitutive communities from 1830 up to the present.
  • The student is able to contextualize the principal actors and events within a framework of societal divides, as developed in the course book and during the classroom lectures.
  • The student grasps all relevant terminology and is able to correctly employ it when necessary.
  • The student can trace the wider historical roots of contemporary societal, political and institutional developments, and indicate the relativity of these evolutions.
  • The student can demonstrate his ability to organize the study process.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 75% of the final mark.
PRAC Teamwork determines 25% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Examen Schriftelijk with a relative weight of 15 which comprises 75% of the final mark.

Within the PRAC Teamwork category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Deelexamen en werkcollege with a relative weight of 5 which comprises 25% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

 Lectures (75%)

Written exam containing multiple choice questions, conceptual questions and open questions. If physical exams are not possible due to the corona measures, the exam will be online (Canvas) and consist of multiple choice questions only.

If a student cannot attend the exam due to circumstances beyond his or her own control, the principal instructor and student determine, in common agreement, an alternative moment (conformably to the modalities foreseen in art. 111 of the Teaching and Exam Rules).  If this exam cannot take place physically, the catch-up exam will become digital.

Practical Exercises (25%)

Students take a partial exam in week 8, marked for 4 out of 20 (25%). If the corona measures do not allow physical exams, the partial exam will consist of multiple choice questions on Canvas  

If a student cannot attend the partial exam due to circumstances beyond his or her own control, the principal instructor and student determine, in common agreement, an alternative moment (conformably to the modalities foreseen in art. 111 of the Teaching and Exam Rules). If this oral exam cannot take place physically, this will be an online exam.
Active participation in the practical exercises counts for 1 point (5%).

Scores for the partial exam and practical exercises can be transferred to the second exam session if superior to 2,5/5. If the student desires to renounce his or her earlier score, he or she will contact the assistants through inbox on Canvas, at the latest on 15 July.

Scores for the partial exam and practical exercises can be transferred to the following academic year if superior to 2,5/5. If a student wishes to take part (again) in the partial exam and the practical exercises, he or she has to contact the assistants through inbox on Canvas, at the latest in the first week before the start of practical exercises. 

Preceding the second exam session, a special written test is organised. The score obtained at this test will count as the score for both partial exam and practical exercises.

Presence and active participation in the practical exercices is mandatory, and constitutes an integral part of the learning process leading the student tot the learning results for the present course.

In case of absence, students contact the assistants through inbox on Canvas. If a proof of force majeure is lacking for one session only, the student will be downgraded 0,5/20. If the student fails to produce a legitimate reason for not turning up on all sessions and the partial exam, he or she will be excluded from participating in the first exam session. Participation in the special written test is compulsory to be admissible to the exam in the second session. 

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Adult Education: Profile Social Studies (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Adult Education: Profile Cultural Studies (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Adult Education: Initial track (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Laws: default (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Criminology: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)