210124 SE M9: East European Studies (2020W)

1) Regular presence and active participation in class discussions (10%)
2) Regular fulfilment of and a full engagement with the article question homework (25%)
Before the class, a student should read the assigned text and send one question to professor, one day until the midday before the class at the latest. The question will be discussed in the course and other students will be required to answer them. The questions should not be all-encompassing but should focus on one aspect of the article (theoretical framework, argument, methods and methodology, contributions to academic debates etc.).
3) Research paper (50%)
The students should write a research paper in a group of max three people. The research topic should be about some aspect of the political economy of ESEE and it should have sufficient recent empirical content (without downsizing the theoretical discussion).
The students should respect the following deadlines and assignments:
• By 30 October 2020, students should submit a topic statement – max 1/2 page.
The topic statement is a brief summary of the topic students intend to research. The purpose of the topic statement is to make sure that students have a topic that is doable, and that fits course themes. The following should be included in the topic statement: a tentative title, the topic, and how the research paper plans to contribute to relevant discussion.
• By 20 November, students should submit the research proposal – max 2 pages.
The research proposal is a more developed plan for your paper. In the proposal, students should restate their topic and indicate how they intend to contribute to the existing academic literature on this topic. The research proposal should contain a clear “why question” and some kind of answer to this question or an argument, and indicate why students’ arguments or analysis are of interest (for instance, that they challenge the prevailing view or that they reveal an important and hitherto unrecognized relationship between social actors or phenomena). Students should provide evidence (a bibliography of at least five scholarly works) showing that they have checked the relevant sources of information in order to ascertain the availability of information on your topic.
• By 20 December 2020, students should submit their final research paper – max 3000 words plus references.
In grading the research paper, the following criteria of an academic quality of the paper will be evaluated: (a) a clear statement of the »why question« and argument in the introduction; (b) a clear structure, i.e. exposition of the argument in the following chapters; (c) a clear theoretical exposition and conceptual discussion; (d) the variety and quality of scholarly and non-scholarly resources engaged; (e) a clear identification of the contributions of the paper to the existing relevant debates; (f) an engaging and adequately proofread writing; and (g) team collaboration, if applies.
4) Research paper presentation and engagement with received comments (5%)
5) Research paper feedbacks (10%)
Students will be required to engage with other students’ research paper work. They will be required to provide feedback on the research paper proposals of other students. They should also read the final research papers and provide feedbacks in the form of comments or questions. The students will not be required to provide feedback on all the research papers from their peers, but only on the assigned ones. The feedbacks on the final paper research paper should be uploaded by 07 January 2021. The author(s) of the paper will be required to provide answers to the received questions and comments during the presentation.