2nd Progress Report MA Restructuring
Wil Hout, 4 July 2008
1. General issues
The Academic Registrar is currently studying what are the conditions under which a
name change of the MA programme into International Development Studies can be
implemented for the Academic Year 2009-10.
2. Foundation Courses
Various discussions have taken place with teaching staff of current Introductory Courses
and with staff who have expressed an interest in teaching on one of the new Foundation
Courses. The result is that in all three ‘columns’ of the Foundation Courses three courses
will be offered. Two of these courses will be at the ‘intermediate’ level – specifically
designed for students without prior exposure to a particular discipline –, while one
(‘advanced’) course will serve students with an undergraduate degree that contained
substantial exposure to a discipline.
The following table offers an overview of the Foundation Courses that will be offered in
Academic Year 2008-9:
intermediate
intermediate
advanced
economics
1106: Introduction to
Economics (Van
Staveren)
1103: A Critical
Introduction to Modern
Economic Thought
(Nicholas)
1107: Micro and
Macroeconomic analysis
of Development
(Grimm)
politics
1102: State,
Government and Society
(De Wit)
1111: Politics in the
Developing World:
Democracy, Conflict
and Rights (Hintjens)
1104: Political Theory
and Power (Salih)
sociology
1101: Analysis of Social
Structure and Change
(Berner)
1101: Analysis of Social
Structure and Change
(Gomez)
1110: Sociology and
Development (Vazquez)
As it is expected that 40-50 students will have a prior degree in one of the three
disciplines – and thus take an advanced course – the teaching of two intermediate
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Foundation Courses per discipline has the advantage that the number of students per
course will be manageable (70-75 students per course).
The second intermediate course and the advanced course in sociology have been
organised to fill the gaps in that column. For the Academic Year 2009-10, a structural
solution for the Foundation Courses in sociology will be in place.
The intermediate course Politics in the Developing World: Democracy, Conflict and
Rights is equally a temporary solution, as the preferred option of offering an intermediate
course focusing on law and rights appeared not feasible for 2008-9. The organisation of
such a course will, in all likelihood, be possible for the next Academic Year. The new
intermediate course in politics (1111) may then be cancelled or be brought to the
advanced level and merged with the existing Political Theory and Power (1104).
After the summer, I will invite the Task Force MA Restructuring to discuss the learning
objectives of all Foundation Courses in order to bring the course offerings in line with the
learning objectives that have been formulated in the annexe to my 1st Progress Report.
3. Core Courses
Some progress has been achieved with respect to the Core Courses. In addition to the
changes indicated in the 1st Progress Report, it is now clear that a Core Course will be
organised by the HDS and PAD specialisations, and one by G&D and IPED.
The content and learning objectives of the Core Courses for 2009-10 will be discussed in
the Task Force in the Fall. I intend to make a proposal on the Core Courses by the end of
2008, so that decision-making in the Academic Council can take place in early 2009.
The proposal on the Core Courses will be accompanied by a review of term 2 and term 3
courses. In its advice of January 2008, the Teaching and Learning Committee had already
indicated that the specialisation and optional courses of terms 2 and 3 show substantial
overlaps. These overlaps will need to be addressed, and reduced wherever possible in
order to enhance the efficiency of our teaching.
Moreover, as indicated in discussions on the STAP system, many staff members feel that
too many courses are offered in terms 2 and 3, and that reductions are needed to curb
work pressure. It is obvious that the level of modularisation of our programme is quite
limited – calculations by Marc Wuyts have shown that the current number of courses is
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close to the number of courses that would need to be offered for fully self-standing
specialisations – and that efficiency gains can be obtained by organising teaching
activities better.
4. Research Methodology Workshop and Research Techniques Courses
The Convenor for Research Methodology and Research Techniques has started
discussions with representatives of specialisations and/or clusters on the organisation of
Research Methodology Workshops as of November 2008.
The reorganisation of the Research Methodology Courses into Research Techniques
Courses in underway. The Convenor has proposed a substantially revised offering of
courses, most of which are drawing on the current RMD Courses. The following courses
are planned for Academic Year 2008-9:
Course no.
Course name
ECs
3101
Research techniques for social scientists
7
3102
Techniques for understanding quantitative secondary data using Excel
3.5
3103
Regression and data analysis (offered in Term 1b)
3.5
3104
Doing your own survey
7
3105
Topics in regression analysis
3.5
3106
Exploratory data analysis with STATA
3.5
3107
Interviewing techniques and the use of ATLAS/ti for archiving and analysis
3.5
3108
Ethnographic techniques and cross-cultural reflexivity in case studies
3.5
3109
Group data collection and analysis techniques through PRA and focus groups
3.5
4112
Development research: comparative epistemologies and methodologies
7
4221
Discourse analysis: principles and techniques
7
N.B.
Course names and numbers are subject to revision
Communication to students will include a matrix that discusses possible choices, in
particular related to the need to achieve 7 ECs from the 3.5 EC courses. Only a few of the
combinations will be marked as undesirable in terms of pedagogic development or
elements of overlap.
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3102
3102
3103
3105
3106
3107
3108
N.B.
3103
N
3105
N
R
3106
N
R
N
3107
Y
Y
R
R
3108
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
3109
Y
Y
R
Y
N
N
N = not recommended, Y = positively possible, R = recommended
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