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
Joke Matthieu
Lotte Vermeire
Terhi Marjaana Kangas
Meixuan Li
Bryan Boyle
Florian Stegen
Merel Fieremans
Fatima Zahid Ali
Michael Pakvis
Anna Luo
Sara De Vuyst (course titular)
Akim Said Aalou
Activities and contact hours
12 contact hours Lecture
20 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
148 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

In this seminar,  knowledge treated in the introductory courses of sociology, political science and communication studies as well as insights and skills acquired in the seminar's lectures and other courses, will be integrated. The seminar entails a multi-disciplinary component, which will be rendered visible for the student through the exploration of one current issue from the point of view of three academic fields, namely, a sociological, a political and a communication science perspective. This seminar aims to develop the ‘multi-disciplinary awareness’ of students when studying contemporary and international societal challenges.

More specifically, in this seminar we will, every academic year, select a specific overarching and contemporary theme that touches upon the three domains of social sciences. The selected topic will serve as the point of departure for the whole course and for a series of written and oral exercises / assignments. The general theme allows articulating a set of interlinked topics via fields of tension, prone to various angles of investigation, theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches from political sciences, sociology and communication studies perspectives. In addition, basic skills with respect to literature study are taught, which students have to apply in the developmentr of a paper related to the current issue at the heart of the seminar.

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: 24 hours

  • lecture 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

Detailed information on grading will be presented during the seminar.

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