6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1020442ANR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Partnership Agreement
Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Communication Sciences
Educational team
Serena D'Agostino
Terhi Marjaana Kangas
Fatima Zahid Ali
Anna Luo
Silvia Almenara Niebla (course titular)
Alicia Navarro Hernández
Akim Said Aalou
Activities and contact hours
26 contact hours Lecture
6 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
148 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

This seminar integrates the knowledge covered in the introductory courses in sociology, political science and communication studies, as well as the insights and skills acquired in the lectures of the seminar and other courses. The seminar includes a multidisciplinary component made visible to the student through the exploration of a current issue from the perspective of three academic fields, namely a sociological, a political and/or a communication studies perspective. This seminar aims to develop students' multidisciplinary awareness in the study of contemporary and international social challenges and also to introduce students to basic academic skills (finding literature, evaluating sources, building scientific arguments based on a literature review).

More specifically, each academic year in this seminar, we will select a specific cross-cutting and topical theme that touches on the three fields of social sciences. The chosen topic will serve as a starting point for the whole course and for a series of written and oral exercises/assignments. The general topic allows for the articulation of a range of interrelated issues about areas of tension that are susceptible to different angles of enquiry, theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches from political science, sociology and communication studies perspectives. It also teaches basic literature study skills that students will need to apply in developing a paper on the seminar's current topic.

 

Course material
Digital course material (Required) : Powerpoint slides to accompany the introductions of concepts and debates, as well as basic skills for academic research (literature study)
Practical course material (Required) : Text material to support lecture content, provide examples and illustrations of presented content, and initiate debate among the students
Additional info

Presence of the students is required in case of a (guest) lecture and during the debate seminars.

The course is organized as an intensive seminar module. A detailed course description including an overview of lectures, guest lectures and assignments will be posted on Canvas and discussed in the first session (and updated during the semester in case of changes).

Teaching Methods

- Lecture: collective contact-dependent moments during which the lecturer engages with learning materials
- Seminar, Exercises or Practicals (Practical): collective or individual contact-dependent moments during which the students are guided to actively engage with learning materials
- Independent or External Form of Study (Self): independent study

This description of the teaching methods is indicative, in order to assess the expected study load.

Lecture: 26 hours

  • Introduction: 2 hours
  • Lectures on basic skills of literature study: 12 hrs (6 x 2 hours)
  • Lectures introducing each block: 6 hours (3 x 2 hours)
  • Guest lectures per block: 6 hours (3 x 2 hours)

Practical: 6 hours

  • Debate & presentation seminars: 6 hours (3 x 2 hours)

Self: 148 hours

  • Preparatory reading of texts: 18 hours (3 x 6 hours)
  • Preparation of assignments: 130 hours
Learning Outcomes

General Competences

By making use of different working forms and assignments, students

  • are informed of authors, theories and concepts prevalent in sociology, political science and communication sciences on the topic;
  • gain experience in how to conduct exploratory reading, including how to read and evaluate valuable scientific literature;
  • learn how to gather and process scientific literature and data, study literature and conceptualize key terms;
  • critically investigate and problematize current issues;
  • report their synthesis of investigated topics in both written and oral form.
  • develop a critical and scientific attitude towards scientific analysis.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

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

  • Assignments with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

    Note: Further information on the assignments and grading is included in the seminar's guidelines that will be published on Canvas.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Students are not allowed to use generative AI to generate output related to the evaluation assignment.
For the submission of the assignments and the paper, students will be expected to respect fixed deadlines. These deadlines will be announced at the start of the academic year.

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 Social Sciences: Communication Studies
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Political Sciences
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Sociology
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Startplan