Topic outline

  • Sessions & Reading Circles

    The course includes two type of sessions: Contact Sessions (mainly on Tuesdays at 9-12) and Case Study Sessions (mainly on Thursdays at 9-12). You can find materials related to each session below (note that you need to be logged in to MyCourses).

    Contact Sessions cover a specific weekly theme related to each of the case studies, presented by a lecturer who is typically also available for a short discussion with the specific Case Study group. Each Contact Session also has a list of reading material that you should check before the session. 

    Case Study Sessions are organised on Thursdays and most of the sessions include lectures focusing on frameworks and methods related to governance analysis. The sessions also include work on your Case Study with your group as well as discussion with your mentor. Most of the Case Study Sessions also include some reading material.

    Three Tuesday session start with a preparatory Reading Circle with your group (see more below).  

    You will also write short Personal Take-Home Messages from all sessions including a lecture (see more below).


    Table below gives you a general overview for the Sessions and course timetable. 

    Course timetable with themes and lecturers

    Group Work: Reading Circles + Case Study

    The group work during this course thus consists of two parallel processes: three preparatory Reading Circles as well as work on your Case Study. As an Individual Assignment, all students are required to submit a Personal Take-Home Messages from the sessions indicated in the table above.

    Reading Circles take place on selected Tuesdays at 9am-10am i.e. just before the Contact Session. For more information on Reading Circles, see information page below. 

    As the course builds on group work and discussions during the sessions, participation in the Reading Circles, Contact Sessions and Case Study Sessions is compulsory. You can miss one session: after that you have to compensate your absence with Personal Compensatory Task (see below).



    • Page icon
      Reading Circle instructions Page

      Instructions on preparatory Reading Circles, including Reading Circle Brief as well as the roles of Chair and Secretary: read carefully! 

    • File icon
      Work hours for the course File
      PDF document

      This document shows the estimates for the work hours of different tasks (theory + practice i.e. case study) during the course: read carefully to understand what is expected from you and where you should allocate your time to. 

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    • Thu 24.2: Synthesis & Feedback (Marko, Mia, Irina & Thomas)

      The last Contact Session of our course synthesises the key themes of our course, and links them to politics and power. The session will also provide you with an opportunity to reflect your learning as well as to provide feedback to your group as well as generally about the course.


    • Forum icon
      Submission of Personal Take-Home Messages Forum
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      Every student must submit 2-3 Personal Take-Home Messages in bullet-points from all sessions that include a lecture (exceptions: the first and last Contact Sessions). The sessions that you must submit Take-Home Messages are marked with blue stars in session schedule above.

      The Take-Home Messages should be short reflections on your main learning points from that particular session. The aim is to synthesise and reflect on the session's themes, and to put them into a context that is relevant for your own interests as well as your Case Study. They also allow us and the Guest Lecturers' to understand the key themes you have learned from the Sessions. 

      The Take-Home Messages will not be assessed, but you must do all of them to pass the course. 

      Submit your first Take-Home Messages to this Discussion Forum by starting a new discussion with title "MY NAME: Take-Home Messages" and then including your Take-Home Messages as bullet points as a text into the discussion. After that, add each new set of Take-Home Messages as a reply to your original discussion thread: start each entry with a heading that shows the date of the Session. 

      Note that your Take-Home Messages are visible for everyone. It is thus highly recommended also to read and comment other student's reflections! 

      Deadline: within the same week of each session i.e. by Sunday of that week. 

    • Forum icon
      Personal Compensatory Task (compensating a missed session) Forum
      Not available unless: You are a(n) Student

      In order to pass the course, you must participate in all Contact Sessions and Case Study Sessions as well as preparatory Reading Circles (as they form major part of learning and assessment in the course). You can miss one session: after that you must do a Compensatory Task.

      Compensatory Task means writing a Personal Synthesis (800-1000 words) on the topic of the session you missed. The Synthesis should be based on the session material (reading material + presentation), and it must include a summary of the topic as well as your reflection on it from your own view point. 

      Submit your Personal Synthesis to this Discussion Forum by starting a new discussion with title "MY NAME: Personal Synthesis on (topic)", and then including your reflection either as a text or as an attachment. 

      Note that your Synthesis is visible to all students in the course: you can thus also e.g. send its link to your group members.

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Case Studies