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Cursus: ECRMITT
ECRMITT
Institutions Think Tank
Cursus informatie
CursuscodeECRMITT
Studiepunten (EC)5
Cursusdoelen
The Institutions Think Tank provides graduate students from Research Masters programmes related to the Strategic Research Theme “Institutions for Open Societies” with an opportunity for hands-on interdisciplinary research collaboration in connection with Utrecht University's strategic research theme "Institutions for Open Societies."  The course aims to equip students with key conceptual and methodological tools for pursuing research related to how institutions serve function (or fail to function) to addressing key societal issues. The course also provides invaluable experience in working collaboratively. 
 
Inhoud
The course combines seminars with student-led research in addressing key issues relating to "Institutions for Open Societies." One of Utrecht University's four strategic research themes of Utrecht, "Institutions," brings together research into the ways in which formal and informal frameworks for human interaction – laws, customs, networks, organisations, etc. – enable or constrain the realisation of an open, democratic and equitable society, as well as determine a society's ability to absorb shocks and its sustainability. See: http://www.uu.nl/en/research/institutions-for-open-societies.

The course begins with three lecture-seminars devoted to canonical texts and key concepts in this field of research, and with discussions among the five co-instructors (and with the seminar participants) of a series of illustrative proposals for how to do interdisciplinary research into how a “disruptive” development (such as the rise of ride-sharing services or the aging of the population) impacts the “institutional infrastructure”. The texts, concepts, theories, and methods central to these themes form the shared background for the research developed by students in the remainder of the course.

In the second part of the course, students form multidisciplinary research teams to jointly carry out their own research the role of institutions in (failing to) address a specific social challenge. Under the guidance of one of the instructors, each research team produces grant proposal for an interdisciplinary research into a instance of "institutional disruption." The course concludes with a symposium in which the research teams present their results to a jury of experts.
 
Prerequisite knowledge
Enrolled in a Research Master programme, or permission of the course coordinator.

No specific prior knowledge is presupposed, but students should be able and willing to bring the specialized knowledge from their own field to bear on interdisciplinary research on topics central to the Strategic Research Theme “Institutions for Open Societies”.

Prerequisite knowledge can be obtained through
Coursework in the first semester of the relevant RMA programmes.
 
Learning objectives
The Institutions Think Tank provides graduate students from Research Masters programmes related to the Strategic Research Theme "Institutions for Open Societies" with an opportunity for hands-on interdisciplinary research collaboration in connection with Utrecht University's strategic research theme "Institutions for Open Societies." The course aims to equip students with key conceptual and methodological tools for pursuing research related to how institutions serve function (or fail to function) to addressing key societal issues. The course also provides invaluable experience in working collaboratively.
 
Format
Seminar, lecture, workshops
 
Assessment method
•        Student presentations (20%);
•        Take home midterm (30%);
•        Group paper (50%).

In case online access is required for this course and you are not in the position to buy the access code, you are advised to contact the course coordinator for an alternative solution. Please note that access codes are not re-usable meaning that codes from second hand books do not work, as well as access codes from books with a different ISBN number. Separate or spare codes are usually not available.
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