European Studies: Epistemological Approaches and Research Design

The course covers important theoretical, philosophical and methodological issues and perspectives relevant to European studies - such as positivism, hermeneutics, critical theory, and theories that challenge these traditions such as post-structuralism, gender theory and post-colonial theoretical perspectives. In this context, a historiographic review of the subject is also presented. The focus moves on to how epistemological perspectives and choices connect to different methods and theories, to allow us to gain knowledge in the social sciences in general, and European studies in particular. The third aspect of the course is a more direct preparation for the writing of Bachelor thesis in European Studies (the final course on the program, ES165L), in which each student begins a specialized literature review, the definition of a research problem, and the search for relevant source material and suitable methods and concepts. This course is a continuation of the basic course in methodology and thesis writing of term 3 in the Bachelor programme of European Studies (ES131L).

Syllabus spring 2024

Earlier syllabuses

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).