General eligibility for university studies and English 6 + 30 credits within Social Science

The course is not part of a main field of study.

This course develops knowledge and understanding of central issues in international migration and ethnic relations (IMER). It draws on ongoing research at the department and the expertise of the teaching researchers. The aim is both to develop an understanding of state of the art knowledge in the field and to examine how such knowledge is and can be produced. In so doing, the course consistently combines and integrates theoretical and methodological queries. No previous IMER courses are required, but rather a general acquaintance with key scientific criteria and academic literacy in the social sciences.

The course’s underlying pedagogical philosophy is that the generic intellectual skills of critical thinking and independent analysis are best developed in delimited thematic contexts, in which the connection between knowledge about (findings and theories) and knowledge how (methodology) are most visible and open for scrutiny. To this end, the course is focused on key problems and questions in contemporary IMER research, and benefits from the expertise and current research in the department. Apart from offering students in-depth knowledge on a selected set of subjects in the IMER field, it also develops a more profound and general understanding of what it means “to know” something and how such knowledge is produced in the social sciences.

The course is divided in two modules (15 + 15 credits), each of which consists of one general (7.5 credits) and one specific (7.5 credits) part. The first introduces the field, key concepts and theories, important findings and main controversies through a series of lectures and seminars with assigned readings. The second, specific part consists of individual work on a more specific topic within the wider area, in which students in dialogue with the teacher(s) select and review a particular research field. The reviewed material can be either secondary or primary. Teaching in the second part is organized as a series of supervision workshops where students and teacher(s) meet and discuss selection and assessment of their respective research fields.

The aim of the course is to offer first-hand, research-embedded knowledge by experts in the field, which means that the exact content every year will depend on the teaching researchers. The exact content of the course, including readings, is announced every Fall, at least two months before the course starts.

Upon completion of the course the student shall be able to demonstrate:

• In-depth knowledge of key problems and questions within the IMER field, including familiarity with state of the art knowledge and debates.
• Knowledge of the multidisciplinary foundation of IMER and of the methodo-logical considerations connected to different subjects and problems.
• Ability to describe and review key problems and questions in IMER on the basis of existing research and independent assessment.
• Enhanced understanding of the connection between methodology and findings in the social sciences with particular emphasis on IMER.
• Ability to find, collect, summarize and review academic literature and data independently.
• Ability to summarize and discuss research fields and data within IMER in a clear, accessible and independent fashion, orally as well as in writing.

The course is designed to facilitate students’ introduction and participation in the research fields in question. To this end, four types of learning activities are emphasized as spelled out below:

• Lectures that introduce the field, main problems and questions, findings and controversies through selected readings.
• Seminars where students discuss research (secondary or primary material), which is distributed, read and analyzed beforehand.
• Supervision workshops, in which students read and comment on each other’s paper drafts, and discuss them with the supervisor.
• Individual overview and assessment of a selected research subject on the basis of a selected material (secondary or primary) and presented in writing and/or orally.

The course examines the student’s performance through a combination of obligatory seminar assignments and written assignments.

The course examinations are constructively aligned with the overarching purpose and activities in the following ways. The obligatory seminars develop and examine the student’s ability to overview, summarize and critically assess published research findings on the subjects of the course. The written assignments examine the student’s acquired ability of independent and critical assessment of delimited subfields within the overall subjects of the course. In both seminars and papers, the connection between knowing about (findings and theories) and knowing how (methodology) is consistently examined. Additionally, the two forms of examination develop and examine the student’s ability to present arguments and analyses in an academically correct and stringent format, in writing as well as speech.

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

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.

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.