Understanding Key Concepts in Social and Political Life

Knowledge

A student who has completed this module will:

• account for how the discourse around shared values is based on implicit understanding of certain concepts;
• have a thorough understanding of the importance of conceptual analysis for the debate on democracy and sustainability;
• identify a constellation of concepts associated with democracy and sustainability;
• elaborate on informed arguments in debates relating to a range of key concepts, including sustainability and democracy.

Skills

A student who has completed this module will be able to:

• appreciate and be able to think through the historical, disciplinary and cultural contingency of various definitions of key concepts that underpin social and political practices
• develop a heightened sense of civic engagement and participate meaningfully in the various debates taking place in our democratic societies
• prepare and deliver a coherent and clear presentation of textual data to a group of peers and experts, to a high standard and in good timing.
• use corpus analysis tools effectively to analyse textual data and key concepts that underpin the sustainability agenda;

General competence

A student who has completed this module will:

• be able to promote and take part in an informed discussion of common values and how they shape our future.
• learn how to work in interdisciplinary teams and constructively collaborate across disciplines on topics pertaining to democracy and sustainability

This course will be taught in a series of eight blended-learning seminars held simultaneously at the five different participating institutions.

A minimum of 80 percent attendance is required of all students.

The course will consist of a series of hybrid (online & face-to-face) research seminars. The seminars will be delivered face to face for students and staff in the partner institution delivering the seminar on any given week and online for the remaining cohort of students in other partners institutions. Students in each institution will meet in person to join an online seminar, accompanied by the key contact at the institution, who will be in charge of facilitating discussion and supervising student progress. Students will work towards a presentation to be delivered online to the entire cohort in the last week of the course.