| Detailed information |
| Original study plan |
Master's programme Comparative Social Policy and Welfare 2024W |
| Objectives |
Students will review the major theoretical conceptualizations and analytical approaches to the study of social protection systems and in doing so develop an understanding of the historical development, different institutional forms and normative underpinnings of welfare production in the modern welfare state.
After successfully completing the course, students will be able to
- … recognize and compare the major approaches of conceptualizing the welfare state and explaining welfare state development,
- … identify and analyze the major empirical challenges and normative concerns that characterize specific problems that social policy seeks to address,
- … critically assess, based on their conceptual knowledge, both political and policy dimensions of different welfare state designs or programs,
- … spot potential problem areas or social policy intervention and develop policy solutions, and
- … they show how their own arguments about welfare state development draw on state-of-the-art information sources and AI tools and demonstrate awareness of using these resources responsibly and in an ethically acceptable manner.
|
| Subject |
The course conveys the theoretical background knowledge that allows students to identify and understand different institutional regimes of welfare production, different explanatory theories of welfare state development, and different historical trajectories in the development of social protection systems in their varied social, political, and ideological contexts. It also gives first insights in the principal methodological approaches for studying welfare state development.
|
| Criteria for evaluation |
Active participation during the Intensive Programme and, depending on the teaching methods, a combination of individual written assignments and/or exams and teamwork and/or interactive tasks.
In the retake-option evaluation is based on a written or oral exam.
|
| Methods |
Presentations by the instructor and class discussion during the Intensive Programme at the beginning of the semester. During the semester a combination of independent study of the literature and collaborative descriptive and explanatory projects, in which the conceptual knowledge is applied to specific examples.
The retake option consists of an independent study of a reading list provided by the instructor.
|
| Language |
English |
| Study material |
Readings and assignments are provided by the instructor.
|
| Changing subject? |
No |
| Further information |
Students who have received a failing grade, or who wish to retake the course to improve their grade, must declare their intention to retake the course before the next semester so that a retake opportunity can be offered. They will then repeat the course through independent study, studying the literature independently from a specially prepared reading list, and demonstrating their competence in a written or oral examination at the end of the semester. The retake option is not a substitute for the regular course. It is only offered to students who have received a grade in the regular course.
|
| Corresponding lecture |
929CACSPWPK20: KS Introduction to the Study of the Politics of Welfare Production (Independent Study) (5 ECTS)
|
