Duration
Seminar : 30h Th
Language support module : 8h Pr, 15h AUTR
Number of credits
| Bachelor in political sciences : general | 3 crédits | |||
| Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...) (Faculté de Droit, de Sciences politique et de Criminologie) | 3 crédits |
Lecturer
Seminar : Antonios Vlassis
Language support module : Frédéric Depas
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
Seminar
"Seminar: Classics in political science" combines the analysis of works considered as classics of political science, with the gradual introduction of a foreign language (English) in the process of understanding and assimilating the work by the students.
Students are asked to write an essay and to orally present an argued point of view related to the authors they have read (in english, see readings).
Language support module
The purpose of this module is to provide customized English language support to help students improve their academic writing and presentation skills in the context of their class on classics in political science.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
Seminar
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- analyse fundamental political science texts using a reading method;
- master different concepts by authors;
- explain texts seen in class, compare them with other authors and develop a critical view;
- develop an argument in english.
Language support module
At the end of the module, students should be able to write an academic-level essay in English and should be able to present it orally in a clear and intelligible way. The CEFRL objective level of the module is C1.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Language support module
Students are expected to have a good level of general English before the start of the class.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Seminar
The course is comprised of four stages that will allow students to gradually understand and analyse the authors:
- introduction to the seminar, given at the beginning of the academic year, defining the seminar's objectives (01st October 2021);
- individualised support for students to help them prepare their work and their presentation in English (with the possibility of using French in case of difficulties);
- following lessons focusing on drafting and oral expression in english (with a teacher form the ISLV);
- writing a short essay in English;
- oral defense in English.
Language support module
Thursday, February 24th:
The first class will be organized for the whole group of students. This class will deal with the vocabulary necessary to write an argumentative essay in English, with the structure of essays, and with some formal issues.
Students also have to hand in their research question on that day.
Thursday, March 4th:
Students will be required to email the outline of their essays to F.Depas@uliege.be by the end of that day at the latest.
Thursday, March 10th:
Students can present the outline of their essay in smaller groups during the second class, and they can obtain feedback about it.
Thursday, March 31st:
The purpose of the third class is to help students improve their presentation skills in English. The whole group will be present.
Students will also have to hand in the introduction of their essays during that class.
From Thursday, April 21st to Thursday, April 28th:
In groups of 4 to 6, students will obtain feedback on their introductions and will be given the opportunity to rehearse their exam oral presentation.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Seminar
The course is organised as individual meetings and seminars. Students are expected to actively participate in every session.
Language support module
This is a face-to-face module, but the students will have to hand in the outline of their papers by email.
Recommended or required readings
Seminar
Compulsory reading (one of these readings must be chosen) :
Immanual Kant, Perpetual Peace. A Philosophical Sketch, Hackett Classics, 2003 [1795], 64 p.
Charles Tilly and Tarrow Sidney, Contentious politics, Oxford University Press, 2012, 224 p.
Joseph H. H. Weiler, The Constitution of Europe : 'Do the New Clothes Have an Emperor ?' and Other Essays on European Integration, Cambridge University Press, 1999, 384 p.
James A. McAdams and Alejandro Castrillon (eds) Contemporary Far-right thinkers and the future of liberal democracy, Routledge, 2021 and Mark Sedgwick, Key Thinkers of the Radical Right: Behind the new threat to Liberal Democracy, Oxford University Press, 2019.
Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society. A Study of Order on World Politics, London, Macmillan, 4th edition, 1995, 329p.
Bruno Latour, Politics of Nature: How to Bring the Sciences into Democracy, Harvard University Press, 2004, 320p.
The readings are available on : http://hdl.handle.net/2268/262874
Language support module
Course notes will be available on eCampus at a later date.
Assessment methods and criteria
Seminar
Any session :
- In-person
written exam AND oral exam
- Remote
written exam AND oral exam
- If evaluation in "hybrid"
preferred remote
Additional information:
The assessment is based on several tasks.
First of all, students must read the texts themselves and work the subject of their essay and their oral presentation. As part of this task, they must meet regularly one member of the teaching team. If students fail to do so, one point will be removed every time they fail to turn up.
Secondly, students must write a short essay in english. The essay should be maximum 5 pages long (Times, 12, 1.5 line spacing, excluding the cover page, table of contents and the bibliography) and is worth 50% of the final grade.
Thirdly, students must do an oral presentation in English within the framework of a panel discussion. The defense will last maximum 15 minutes and is worth 50% of the final grade.
Depending on the evolution of the health situation, the oral presentation can be organized as a videoconference.
The followed criteria are applied to the assessment: 1) originality of the subject, 2) inclusion of the authors, 3) structure of the presentation and the essay, and 4) quality of the argument.
For the second session, students are invited to contact the professor.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Seminar
The course is held during the second session.
NOTICE: to allow students to properly organise their time and their reading programme, an introductory session will be held at the beginning of the first session (01st October, 1.30-3.30pm).
Language support module
A list of the different groups and a detailed timetable for each group will be available on eCampus before the first class.
Contacts
Seminar
Dr. Antonios Vlassis
Senior Lecturer, Political Science Department
Bât. B31 Relations internationales
Quartier Agora
place des Orateurs 3
4000 Liège 1
Belgique
office R.81, level 0
email: avlassis@uliege.be
Language support module
Frédéric Depas
bureau des enseignants de l'ISLV
B33 - niveau -1
Email: F.Depas@uliege.be