4 ECTS credits
100 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 8023170INR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (I) Postgraduate - specialised level.
This course provides an advanced analysis of the origins, the policy-making process and major policy issues in cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs at the Union level. The course will focus on the practice of decision-making in the Union institutions and the identification of the key factors determining the development of EU cooperation in the various policy fields covered by both Title IV TEC and Title VI TEU (“the Third Pillar”), including specific priorities and problems of individual Member States. The course will also provide an analysis of the Schengen system, the relevant provisions of the current Treaties, the state of implementation of the Hague Programme, specific problems of the enlargement process, the growing international dimension of EU justice and home affairs and the prospects offered by the new EU Treaty of Lisbon and the successor programme to the Hague programme from 2010 onwards (Programme of Stockholm).
Course summary:
This course is provided digitally on the IES Structure on-line Canvas platform. This may change in future to the VUB Canvas platform, however it will remain as an on-line course.
This module will be taught through a combination of online lectures and collaborative seminars. Lectures will provide an introduction to the key aspects of the module, laying the foundations for tutorial work. In the standard teaching version of seminars, these will foster students’ direct engagement with the topic through critical discussions of the key literature and its application to concrete cases. Regarding distance learning, the foundation for delivery is CANVAS, the Institute’s virtual learning environment (VLE). Using this as a content platform, each module site is organised into weekly packages. These contain ‘bundles’ of files. Although the exact content will vary, they normally include explanatory text, audio podcasts, directed readings, additional readings, and a variety of internal and external links. We provide our learners with the opportunity to interact with one another and their tutors through asynchronous discussion boards addressing seminar questions. Experience has shown that this mode provides a more equal opportunity for engagement than synchronous discussions. For some modules student blogs within the VLE are also used.
Knowledge and Understanding
On successful completion of this module students will be able to demonstrate:
1. An understanding of the context and history of justice and home affairs in Europe;
2. An ability to comprehend several different EU Member States and EU institutions responses to differing internal security threats;
3. An ability to explore the difficulties that democracies face in balancing the requirements of security and civil liberties;
4. An ability to appreciate the changing nature of security and consider possible future directions of the phenomenon
Transferable/Key Skills and other attributes
Upon completion of this module, students will have had the opportunity to:
1. learn to manage time pressure, and make concise explanation of their arguments through the essay research and writing process, which also provides students with the opportunity to:
a. demonstrate the development of research skills;
b. demonstrate subject specific research techniques;
c. apply a range of methodologies to complex political problems.
2.develop their critical capabilities to assess both political and documentary evidence, and to make written arguments in a coherent, structures and persuasive way;
3. develop their IT skills (word processing and the use of the internet for research purposes);
4. perform their cultivated inter-personal skills and oral and written communication skills through seminar participation (in the standard teaching format), and increase their confidence in making oral arguments and giving short presentations before an audience. The seminar format will further encourage discussion and debate of differing viewpoints;
5. In the distance learning format of online tutorials, students will have had the opportunity to:
a. Perform inter-personal skills with a long-distance medium;
b. Enhance their written communication skills.
6. Identify and define the information required on a given topic and use research skills to identify relevant information resources.
7.Manage and critically evaluate the information found and reference appropriately.
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Each of the six modules comes with an assignment, each differing in format (from individual to collaborative work, to peer review). The successful completion of each assignment is individually graded and counts for 10% of the final grade. At the end of the course students are required to submit a substantial final research paper that is a case study (previously assigned to them). This counts for 40% of the final grade.
In practice:
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Postgraduate Certificate European Policy Making: Default track