Course syllabus spring 2025
Course syllabus spring 2025
Title
Political Science: Thesis
Swedish title
Statsvetenskap: Uppsats
Course code
ST632L
Credits
15 credits
Grading scale
UA / Excellent (A), Very Good (B), Good (C), Satisfactory (D), Pass (E) or Fail (U)
Language of instruction
English
Decision-making body
Faculty of Culture and Society
Syllabus approval date
2024-02-14
Syllabus valid from
2025-01-20
Entry requirements
A Bachelor’s Degree within a social science field, e.g., Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies, International Relations, Human Rights or a related major field. Equivalent of English 6 from Swedish secondary school.
Level
Advanced level
Main field
Political Science
Progression level
A1E
Progression level in relation to degree requirements
The course is part of the main field of study Political Science at advanced level and meets the degree requirements for the degree of Master (one year), main field of study Political Science.
Course contents
The purpose of this course is to write a master’s thesis and to communicate its results, as well as critically examine the results of others.
The course consists of conducting an independent research project in the form of a thesis.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
Following successful completion of the course students should be demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- how the developing tendencies identified in the programme relate to its overarching themes, including a qualified understanding of current research in the field of global politics;
- how different processes on the global level relate to and affect societal changes on the local level
- methodological approaches in the field of global politics and of their consequences for research outcomes.
Competence and skills
Following successful completion of the course students should be able to:
- analyze complex phenomena and issues on the basis of different types of material.
- independently identify gaps in knowledge, formulate issues and design research based on relevant theories and methods.
- communicate research outcomes in speech and writing in a professional way to different audiences and recipients.
- demonstrate the ability to participate in research dialogue and project work.
Judgement and approach
Following successful completion of the course students should be able to:
- identify and reflect on ethical aspects on research.
- evaluate research results on the basis of the parameters of reliability and generalizability for the purpose of estimating the limitations of research.
identify their personal needs for further knowledge and learning
Learning activities
The module incorporates different learning activities, including, but not limited to: individual supervision, seminars and the writing of a thesis to be carried out individually.
A student who has not finished the project work during the course, or has not received a passing grade on the project work at the end of the course, cannot be guaranteed continued supervision after the semester for which they were first enrolled.
Assessment
Examination is in the form of a written thesis (14 credits) and a seminar wherein the student defends his/her work (0.5 credits) and acts as opponent on another thesis (0.5 credit).
Students who do not pass the thesis seminar have an opportunity to sit for additional opposition seminars.
Course literature
The course literature is chosen in consultation with an assigned supervisor.
Course evaluation
The University provides students who participate in or who have completed a course with the opportunity to make known their experiences and viewpoints with regards to the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarize the results of course evaluations as well as informing participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures initiated in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).
Interim rules
If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.
Additional information
The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.
If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format.