If you wish to complete the course during the academic year 2018-2019, contact the teacher no later than March 15, 2019.

This module (54 hours) is online apart from individual teacher-student tutorials for discussion of the submitted thesis extract. The work consists of readings, group analysis tasks and thesis writing work. Students should take the module after their research proposal has been accepted by their programme and they are about to embark upon the writing of their thesis.

We see and hear about globalization all the time: in the media, in statements by politicians, and buzzing around our social networks. We have a broad sense that politics, cultures, people, and organizations are all connected around the world. Yet, most people are hard-pressed to define what, precisely, globalization means. This course provides students with the basis for making sense of globalization and transnational connections in the contemporary world. It will go beyond popular, political and media rhetoric about globalization, and build a basis for students to gain a critical understanding of transnational connectivity. We will understand how events and forces outside national borders inform local trends, by examining global aspects of politics, policies, economics, environment, migration, history, popular culture, and religion. To do this, the course will unpack the three major social theoretic perspectives on making sense of globalization in these areas of modern life, with a spotlight on the emerging, cutting-edge, World Society Theory. We will also focus on the global-local interface: on how the local becomes global and how the global in turn, shapes what we think about as entirely local. By the end of the course, students will be able to describe how globalization impacts their own life, and to apply social theories of globalization to an empirical case of their interest.

In order to be able to participate in the course, students are required to complete either
(a) the lectures (5 ECTS), or (b) the lectures plus seminars (10 ECTS). It is not possible to attend only the seminars.

Students of the Master's Degree Programme on Global and Transnational Sociology are required to complete full course (10 ECTS).

Please note that you must enroll separately for the lectures and the seminar.

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

We see and hear about globalization all the time: in the media, in statements by politicians, and buzzing around our social networks. We have a broad sense that politics, cultures, people, and organizations are all connected around the world. Yet, most people are hard-pressed to define what, precisely, globalization means. This course provides students with the basis for making sense of globalization and transnational connections in the contemporary world. It will go beyond popular, political and media rhetoric about globalization, and build a basis for students to gain a critical understanding of transnational connectivity. We will understand how events and forces outside national borders inform local trends, by examining global aspects of politics, policies, economics, environment, migration, history, popular culture, and religion. To do this, the course will unpack the three major social theoretic perspectives on making sense of globalization in these areas of modern life, with a spotlight on the emerging, cutting-edge, World Society Theory. We will also focus on the global-local interface: on how the local becomes global and how the global in turn, shapes what we think about as entirely local. By the end of the course, students will be able to describe how globalization impacts their own life, and to apply social theories of globalization to an empirical case of their interest.

In order to be able to participate in the seminar, students are required to complete the lecture part of this course. It is not possible to attend only the seminars.

Students of the Master's Degree Programme on Global and Transnational Sociology are required to complete full course (10 ECTS).

Please note that you must enroll separately for the lectures and the seminar.

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

This course is designed to familiarise students with conceptual tools relating to the sociology of knowledge that they need for studying topics such as global and transnational sociology. The course begins by examining varied respects in which human beings have observed connections between different cultures and the ways in which their inhabitants see the world; it then traces developments in the analysis of language and meaning that have led to specific understandings of social construction in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  In later stages of the course, students will be encouraged to collect and analyse examples from their own reading and experience.

Lectures + field trip to a museum (to be confirmed).

Max 16 students. Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

This course examines the ways in which certain forms of behavior are defined as being outside the bounds of the "normal" or acceptable, and the ways in which members of social groupings attempt to control such behavior.  Among the issues we will consider are the effects of deviant labels on identity, pathways to deviance, and alternative constructions of deviance. 

A variety of forms of deviance will be discussed, including deviance related to crime, sex, religion, drugs, body art, and mental illness.  We will pursue these topics from a sociological framework which seeks to understand the meaning of such behavior for the people involved.  No effort will be made to pass moral judgment on the behaviors or the people engaged in them.

Unfortunately this course is cancelled for the autumn semester 2018

Islamism is one of the most important political ideologies and social movements of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Propagated as a “revival” by its proponents, and labeled as “fundamentalist” by its opponents, it is also often described as “political Islam” or “Islamism.” This course has three main objectives: (1) To understand the historical, socio-economic, political and cultural context in which the Islamicate world has gone through a significant change and has produced Islamist contention. (2) To understand why Islamism is a populist movement, its relationship with Western hegemony over the world, globalization and global political economy, especially its relationship with social classes and economic and political struggles. (3) To understand why and how a jihadist version emerged, that is to say, a version of Islamism which employs violence and terror as a political instrument; the role of globalization and technology in jihadism; the relationship between violence and politics in jihadist ideology.

Keep in mind that we will not approach Islamism as an isolated, self-contained object, some sort of evil worldview without any social context, or simply and exclusively rooted in the religion of Islam. On the contrary, we will see Islamism as an opportunity to unfold, analyse and discuss a number of social, economic and political problems we have on a global level, from social and economic inequalities to questions of secularism and religion, or the relationship between violence and politics. The main idea of the course is precisely that this is the healthiest way to understand Islamism.

Weekly Schedule:

10.9.2018 Meeting 1: Introducing the Course

• A short introduction to Islam; some history; secularism and religion.

12.9.2018 Meeting 2: Islam and Colonialism

• S.V.R. Nasr: “European Colonialism and the Emergence of Modern Muslim States”
• F. Fanon: A Dying Colonialism, excerpts.

24.9.2018 Meeting 3: Orientalism and Colonialism

• Edward Said: Orientalism, Introduction.

• Gayatri Spivak: “The Rani of Sirmur” pp. 253-254.

26.9.2018 Meeting 4: Islam, Modernity and Secularism  

• Mahmut Mutman: “Under the Sign of Orientalism”
• Jamal Elias: “Early Reformists”

 Suggested further reading:

Sayyid Qutb: Milestones, excerpts.

1.10.2018 Meeting 5: Islamism as a Political Movement

• Sami Zubaida: “Trajectories of Political Islam: Egypt, Iran and Turkey”

 Suggested further reading:
Deniz Kandiyoti: “The Travails of the Secular: Puzzle and Paradox in Turkey”
Sami Zubaida: “Islam and Nationalism: Continuities and Contradictions”

3.10.2018 Meeting 6: The Political Economy of Islamism

• Joel Beinin: “Political Islam and the New Global Economy”

 Suggested further reading:

Evren Hosgör: “Islamic Capital/Anatolian Tigers”
Evren Hosgör: “The Question of AKP Hegemony”

8.10.2018 Meeting 7: Jihadism, Globalisation and Network Theory

• Faisal Devji: Landscapes of Jihad, excerpts.
• Olivier Roy: “Lure of the Death Cult”

• Faisal Devji: “ISIS: Haunted by Sovereignty”
• Mahmut Mutman: “Islamophobia”

 Suggested further reading:

Antoine Bosquet: “Complexity Theory and the War on Terror”
Nafeez Ahmed: “Follow the Oil, Follow the Money”

10.10.2018 Meeting 8: Jihadism, Media and Technology

• Handout: Religion and Technology
• Film: The Clanging of Swords

• Jihadist Press. Dabıq

15.10.2018 Meeting 9: Jihadism, Politics and Violence  

• Thomas Keenan: “A language that needs no translation”

 Suggested Further Reading:

Nasser Hussain: “The Sound of Terror”

17.10.2018 Week 10: Review and Discussion

Office Hours: Wednesday 2.00-3.00 pm. You are welcome to ask questions about any aspect of the course and discuss the subject further in the office hours. If the office hour is in conflict with your own schedule, please feel free to make an appointment with me.

The thesis is defined as a student's independent work in which s/he can show her/his ability in selecting a topic, setting up research questions, mastering methodology and capability in a critical and consistent manner. The purpose of an Master's thesis is to allow the student to prove her or his ability to carry out academic research independently and in a substantively and methodologically correct manner.

The purpose of the Master's thesis seminar is to assist students through all stages of the Master's thesis.

The students of the programme are expected to, firstly, produce a concrete Master's thesis research plan. The Master's thesis seminar supplies guidance in the process of revising the Master's thesis proposal and moving from the proposal towards conceptual and empirical work on the Master's thesis itself. The classroom-section of the Master's thesis seminar provides a forum for the presentation and in-depth discussion of the Master's thesis proposals and the chapter drafts of the thesis.

Credits from the Master's thesis are recorded in four parts.
The supervisor of the thesis is responsible for the registration of the credits.

1. Thesis studies I (10 ECTS)
The topic of the work is clearly focused and it has been operationalized into a relevant research question and tasks. There is a clear plan concerning the execution of the work and its schedule and the work is demonstrated to be well on its way. Relevant literature has been identified and considerable part of it has been read and thought through. In the case of empirical work, the materials and methods of the study have been identified and collection of materials and evidence is on the way. Preliminary text, length approx. 6000 words.

2. Thesis studies II (10 ECTS)
The work is progressing according to the plan and this has been demonstrated in seminar sessions. The research task, relevant literature and specific research questions have been clarified. In the case of empirical work, the gathering of source materials or data has progressed and first interpretations about them have been drafted. Preliminary text, length approx. 12 000 words.

3. Thesis studies III (10 ECTS)
The work has been drafted into full length manuscript which clearly shows its structure and allows the readers to judge its evidence and coherence of its interpretation and main arguments. The student receives final feedback and advice from the supervisor before starting the final review of the thesis. Preliminary text, length approx. 18 000 words.

4. Thesis studies IV (10 ECTS)
The thesis has been submitted in a publishable and finalized form. The student has taken the required maturity test and passed it. The text has been cleared through the plagiarization test. The thesis is reviewed and graded. Final manuscript length, approx. 18 000 words.

The Thesis studies IV include a thesis conference organized in collaboration with the student group at the University of Turku. During the conference the student shortly presents her or his thesis and acts as on opponent to another student.

The course is an introduction to scholarship that discusses how gender and sexuality have shaped global politics in the past, and how the category gender is an integral element of contemporary global debates today. The course offers the student a robust understanding of the scholarship that views debates about contemporary phenomena such as migration, development aid and homonationalism through gender. The student learns how gender intersects with other categories of analysis such as race, class and nation. Theoretical debates are introduced through empirical case studies addressing various world regions such as Europe, the Middle East and the African continent.

Thursdays 12-16, not on week 37. 

Seminar Sessions:

6.9.2018 Introduction & Colonial Legacies I

20.9.2018 Colonial legacies II 

27. 9.2018 The Power of Representations and Revolutions: The Middle East

4.10.2018 Gender, Development and “Africa”

11.10.2018 Gender, Race and Global Migration 

18.10.2018 Headscarves and homonationalism:  Migration discourses in Europe

If you wish to complete the course during the academic year 2018-2019, contact the teacher no later than March 15, 2019.

This module (54 hours) is online apart from individual teacher-student tutorials for discussion of the submitted thesis extract. The work consists of readings, group analysis tasks and thesis writing work. Students should take the module after their research proposal has been accepted by their programme and they are about to embark upon the writing of their thesis.

The course gives an introduction into the methodology and practices of quantitative research, ways of analyzing quantitative data, deeper understanding about one specific quantitative research method and practices of analyzing data. This course focuses on quantitative research methods in general, and on specified methods such as regression and variance analysis.

The course has three parts:
1) Introduction focuses on the methodology of quantitative research. Different ways to examine the data and understand results are discussed. Students learn how the research questions and findings are related to the scientific assumptions on which the research methods are based.

2) Students will examine one specific, established quantitative research method (regression analysis/ variance analysis/ factor analysis etc.). The focus will be on the methodological basis and the ways of analysing the data. The selection of the covered quantitative methods will be based on the interests of the students.

3) The analysis of the data will be exercised. Basic rules of quantitative research method are practiced with a data by step-by-step process. The end result will be a well-grounded argument based on the analysis.

Only for the students of the following programmes:

- MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

- MDP in Global and Transnational Sociology

- MDP in Public Choice

- MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare

- MDP in Gender Studies

We see and hear about globalization all the time: in the media, in statements by politicians, and buzzing around our social networks. We have a broad sense that politics, cultures, people, and organizations are all connected around the world. Yet, most people are hard-pressed to define what, precisely, globalization means. This course provides students with the basis for making sense of globalization and transnational connections in the contemporary world. It will go beyond popular, political and media rhetoric about globalization, and build a basis for students to gain a critical understanding of transnational connectivity. We will understand how events and forces outside national borders inform local trends, by examining global aspects of politics, policies, economics, environment, migration, history, popular culture, and religion. To do this, the course will unpack the three major social theoretic perspectives on making sense of globalization in these areas of modern life, with a spotlight on the emerging, cutting-edge, World Society Theory. We will also focus on the global-local interface: on how the local becomes global and how the global in turn, shapes what we think about as entirely local. By the end of the course, students will be able to describe how globalization impacts their own life, and to apply social theories of globalization to an empirical case of their interest.

In order to be able to participate in the course, students are required to complete either
(a) the lectures (5 ECTS), or (b) the lectures plus seminars (10 ECTS). It is not possible to attend only the seminars.

Students of the Master's Degree Programme on Global and Transnational Sociology are required to complete full course (10 ECTS).

Please note that you must enroll separately for the lectures and the seminar.

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

We see and hear about globalization all the time: in the media, in statements by politicians, and buzzing around our social networks. We have a broad sense that politics, cultures, people, and organizations are all connected around the world. Yet, most people are hard-pressed to define what, precisely, globalization means. This course provides students with the basis for making sense of globalization and transnational connections in the contemporary world. It will go beyond popular, political and media rhetoric about globalization, and build a basis for students to gain a critical understanding of transnational connectivity. We will understand how events and forces outside national borders inform local trends, by examining global aspects of politics, policies, economics, environment, migration, history, popular culture, and religion. To do this, the course will unpack the three major social theoretic perspectives on making sense of globalization in these areas of modern life, with a spotlight on the emerging, cutting-edge, World Society Theory. We will also focus on the global-local interface: on how the local becomes global and how the global in turn, shapes what we think about as entirely local. By the end of the course, students will be able to describe how globalization impacts their own life, and to apply social theories of globalization to an empirical case of their interest.

In order to be able to participate in the seminar, students are required to complete the lecture part of this course. It is not possible to attend only the seminars.

Students of the Master's Degree Programme on Global and Transnational Sociology are required to complete full course (10 ECTS).

Please note that you must enroll separately for the lectures and the seminar.

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

The course departs from the idea that the media is one of the central actors through which national actors become aware of far-away events and through which these events become integrated with domestic policy discourses. However, this process is a complex one. On one hand, the journalists are central players in it as they decide what is topical or newsworthy for domestic audiences. They also frame the events so that they make good sense to domestic addressees. On the other hand, in domestic contexts there are many other actors that aim to influence the public understanding of the reported events. These actors bring far-way events into their political argumentation in their attempts to advance their own political interests and desires. Interpretations that appear widely convincing are typically taken up and reported by the media.
Starting from these premises, the course suggests, the media serve not merely as an arena through which far-away events are introduced to local audiences. If anything, the media can be seen as a political arena in which different accounts of the reported events meet thus constructing public understanding of these events. Sooner or later, these understandings convert into domestic policy decisions and practices.
The course approaches the above phenomenon especially from the perspective of the traditional news media institution, i.e. of how the national media serve as a forum through which foreign news events are incorporated into domestic policy discourses. Additionally, the course discusses the role of social media in processes in which far-way news events are brought into local political argumentation, thus affecting domestic policies.

14.1. Course Overview/Introductory Lecture: World as mediated: historical developments and effects on societies (Marjaana Rautalin, TaSTI)

15.1. Journalism cultures and globalization (Heikki Heikkilä, COMS)

29.1. News framing and domestication of the foreign (Marjaana Rautalin, TaSTI)

5.2. Foreign news reporting – professional’s perspective (Tom Kankkonen, YLE)

12.2. Sociatization, interaction and media (Hanna Rautajoki, TaSTI)

19.2. Mediatization of politics (Esa Reunanen, COMS)

 26.2. No lecture – Winter break!

5.3. Climate change communication: between globalization and domestication of science (Dmitry Yagodin, Aleksanteri Institute)

12.3. Social media and public understanding of (global) news events (Marjaana Rautalin, TaSTI)

19.3. Closing lecture: Media in synchronization of national policies (Marjaana Rautalin, TaSTI)

9.4. Essay deadline (based on the lectures)

In order to be able to participate in the course, students are required to complete either
(a) the lectures (5 ECTS), or (b) the lectures plus seminars (10 ECTS). It is not possible to attend only the seminars.

Students of the Master's Degree Programme on Global and Transnational Sociology are required to complete full course (10 ECTS).

Please note that you must enroll separately for the lectures and the seminar.

Max. 40 students. Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

The course departs from the idea that the media is one of the central actors through which national actors become aware of far-away events and through which these events become integrated with domestic policy discourses. However, this process is a complex one. On one hand, the journalists are central players in it as they decide what is topical or newsworthy for domestic audiences. They also frame the events so that they make good sense to domestic addressees. On the other hand, in domestic contexts there are many other actors that aim to influence the public understanding of the reported events. These actors bring far-way events into their political argumentation in their attempts to advance their own political interests and desires. Interpretations that appear widely convincing are typically taken up and reported by the media.
Starting from these premises, the course suggests, the media serve not merely as an arena through which far-away events are introduced to local audiences. If anything, the media can be seen as a political arena in which different accounts of the reported events meet thus constructing public understanding of these events. Sooner or later, these understandings convert into domestic policy decisions and practices.
The course approaches the above phenomenon especially from the perspective of the traditional news media institution, i.e. of how the national media serve as a forum through which foreign news events are incorporated into domestic policy discourses. Additionally, the course discusses the role of social media in processes in which far-way news events are brought into local political argumentation, thus affecting domestic policies.

In order to be able to participate in the seminar, students are required to complete the lecture part of this course. It is not possible to attend only the seminars.

Students of the Master's Degree Programme on Global and Transnational Sociology are required to complete full course (10 ECTS).

Please note that you must enroll separately for the lectures and the seminar.

Maximum of 12 students are accepted to the seminar in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

This course is designed to familiarise students with conceptual tools relating to the sociology of knowledge that they need for studying topics such as global and transnational sociology. The course begins by examining varied respects in which human beings have observed connections between different cultures and the ways in which their inhabitants see the world; it then traces developments in the analysis of language and meaning that have led to specific understandings of social construction in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  In later stages of the course, students will be encouraged to collect and analyse examples from their own reading and experience.

Lectures + field trip to a museum (to be confirmed).

Max 16 students. Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

This module examines intersectional approaches to human mobility in peace and conflict research. Violent conflicts, ethnic, religious and gender-based discrimination, and human rights abuses produce forced  displacement. In this course, we will explore the global phenomenon of human mobility in a two-fold manner. The course introduces multiple critical perspectives and actors together with key theoretical and methodological debates. These debates are reflected in the local context of Tampere via close cooperation with a civil society organization that focuses on civic action and different dimensions of masculinity. Other field sites will also be visited during the course.

The course will offer the students a possibility to connect large-scale phenomena to their local manifestations and implications. The course seeks to facilitate understanding on how theories and abstract concepts shape, direct and resonate with people’s self-conceptions, and how forced migration enters into different people’s lives in multiple ways. What kinds of connections are formed between peaceful societies and conflict zones through human mobility?

Student of MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research can include this course either to "PEACE045 Understanding Conflicts and Violence in Global Society" or to "Professional and Transferable Skills".

Max. 25 students. Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in Global and Transnational Studies, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students (Master's level exchange students will be given priority)

Identities of enmity and belonging create a crucial role in conflicts and violence as well as in peace. Identities and the related subject positions, however, do not emerge naturally, but are socially and politically constructed, in discursive as well as material practices. This module provides an advanced introduction to questions and theories of identity, subjectivity and representation, addressing them through practical cases and examples in the field of peace and conflict research. The course is a combination of lectures and seminar work, where the students learn to apply the theories in and perspectives in concrete cases of peace and conflict.

The students are expected to participate in the lectures and seminars, read the assigned weekly readings, and do the related course work in the Moodle platform’s discussion forums. The main assignment of the course consists of a group project, handed in as a written research report, and presented and debated in a small student conference at the end of the course.

Max 25 students.

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in Global and Transnational Studies, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Gender Studies, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

-Uncertainty, risk and reward
-Welfare theory: efficiency and justice
-Strategic behaviour and game theory
-Imperfect information

There are some places for master level exchange students. Previous studies in microeconomics, macroeconomics and mathematical economics is required.

Compensation in Economics: KATTAS21B Advanced Course in Microeconomics II 5 ECTS

This course examines the ways in which certain forms of behavior are defined as being outside the bounds of the "normal" or acceptable, and the ways in which members of social groupings attempt to control such behavior.  Among the issues we will consider are the effects of deviant labels on identity, pathways to deviance, and alternative constructions of deviance. 

A variety of forms of deviance will be discussed, including deviance related to crime, sex, religion, drugs, body art, and mental illness.  We will pursue these topics from a sociological framework which seeks to understand the meaning of such behavior for the people involved.  No effort will be made to pass moral judgment on the behaviors or the people engaged in them.

The thesis is defined as a student's independent work in which s/he can show her/his ability in selecting a topic, setting up research questions, mastering methodology and capability in a critical and consistent manner. The purpose of an Master's thesis is to allow the student to prove her or his ability to carry out academic research independently and in a substantively and methodologically correct manner.

The purpose of the Master's thesis seminar is to assist students through all stages of the Master's thesis.

The students of the programme are expected to, firstly, produce a concrete Master's thesis research plan. The Master's thesis seminar supplies guidance in the process of revising the Master's thesis proposal and moving from the proposal towards conceptual and empirical work on the Master's thesis itself. The classroom-section of the Master's thesis seminar provides a forum for the presentation and in-depth discussion of the Master's thesis proposals and the chapter drafts of the thesis.

Credits from the Master's thesis are recorded in four parts.
The supervisor of the thesis is responsible for the registration of the credits.

1. Thesis studies I (10 ECTS)
The topic of the work is clearly focused and it has been operationalized into a relevant research question and tasks. There is a clear plan concerning the execution of the work and its schedule and the work is demonstrated to be well on its way. Relevant literature has been identified and considerable part of it has been read and thought through. In the case of empirical work, the materials and methods of the study have been identified and collection of materials and evidence is on the way. Preliminary text, length approx. 6000 words.

2. Thesis studies II (10 ECTS)
The work is progressing according to the plan and this has been demonstrated in seminar sessions. The research task, relevant literature and specific research questions have been clarified. In the case of empirical work, the gathering of source materials or data has progressed and first interpretations about them have been drafted. Preliminary text, length approx. 12 000 words.

3. Thesis studies III (10 ECTS)
The work has been drafted into full length manuscript which clearly shows its structure and allows the readers to judge its evidence and coherence of its interpretation and main arguments. The student receives final feedback and advice from the supervisor before starting the final review of the thesis. Preliminary text, length approx. 18 000 words.

4. Thesis studies IV (10 ECTS)
The thesis has been submitted in a publishable and finalized form. The student has taken the required maturity test and passed it. The text has been cleared through the plagiarization test. The thesis is reviewed and graded. Final manuscript length, approx. 18 000 words.

The Thesis studies IV include a thesis conference organized in collaboration with the student group at the University of Turku. During the conference the student shortly presents her or his thesis and acts as on opponent to another student.

Identities of enmity and belonging create a crucial role in conflicts and violence as well as in peace. Identities and the related subject positions, however, do not emerge naturally, but are socially and politically constructed, in discursive as well as material practices. This module provides an advanced introduction to questions and theories of identity, subjectivity and representation, addressing them through practical cases and examples in the field of peace and conflict research. The course is a combination of lectures and seminar work, where the students learn to apply the theories in and perspectives in concrete cases of peace and conflict.

The students are expected to participate in the lectures and seminars, read the assigned weekly readings, and do the related course work in the Moodle platform’s discussion forums. The main assignment of the course consists of a group project, handed in as a written research report, and presented and debated in a small student conference at the end of the course.

Max 25 students.

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in Global and Transnational Studies, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Gender Studies, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

If you wish to complete the course during the academic year 2018-2019, contact the teacher no later than March 15, 2019.

This module (54 hours) is online apart from individual teacher-student tutorials for discussion of the submitted thesis extract. The work consists of readings, group analysis tasks and thesis writing work. Students should take the module after their research proposal has been accepted by their programme and they are about to embark upon the writing of their thesis.

The course gives an introduction into the methodology and practices of quantitative research, ways of analyzing quantitative data, deeper understanding about one specific quantitative research method and practices of analyzing data. This course focuses on quantitative research methods in general, and on specified methods such as regression and variance analysis.

The course has three parts:
1) Introduction focuses on the methodology of quantitative research. Different ways to examine the data and understand results are discussed. Students learn how the research questions and findings are related to the scientific assumptions on which the research methods are based.

2) Students will examine one specific, established quantitative research method (regression analysis/ variance analysis/ factor analysis etc.). The focus will be on the methodological basis and the ways of analysing the data. The selection of the covered quantitative methods will be based on the interests of the students.

3) The analysis of the data will be exercised. Basic rules of quantitative research method are practiced with a data by step-by-step process. The end result will be a well-grounded argument based on the analysis.

Only for the students of the following programmes:

- MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

- MDP in Global and Transnational Sociology

- MDP in Public Choice

- MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare

- MDP in Gender Studies

An introduction into methodology of qualitative research and ways of analysing qualitative data. Deeper understanding about one specific qualitative research method and practices of analysing data.

The course has three parts:
1) Introduction focuses on the methodology of qualitative research. Different ways to interpret the reality and understand knowledge are discussed. Students learn how the research questions and findings are related to the scientific assumptions on which the research methods are based.
2) Students will examine one specific, established qualitative research method (discourse analysis/ narrative analysis/ ethnography etc.). The focus will be on the methodological basis, the forms of data and the ways of analysing the data. The selection of the covered qualitative methods will be based on the interests of the students.
3) The analysis of the data will be exercised. Basic rules of qualitative research method are practiced with a data by step-by-step process. The end result will be a well-grounded argument based on the analysis.
As an outcome students will have methodological skills needed in her/his masters thesis writing.

Detailed instructions on how to pass the course:
1) Attending and participating the lectures in the beginning of February 2019 (attendance obligatory)
2) Finishing the two exercises on time
3) Giving comments on the exercises of another group
4) Revising the papers based on the feedback received
5) Writing feedback on how the group worked during the exercises

1) Each lecture consists of three parts: a) the actual lecture b) group work and c) discussion.

2-3) Two different kinds of exercises which are made in groups, in pairs or as individuals:
a) Introducing one of the following qualitative research method: ethnography, narrative method, rhetoric analysis or discourse analysis. Writing as a group approximately 20 pages, 12 point Times New Roman font, 1,5 line spacing.
b) Use of the selected method and writing an approximately 20 pages (12 point Times New Roman font, 1,5 line spacing) where the use of method is illustrated. Data to be used is given by teachers.

4) Rewriting the paper based on received comments.

5) One page description on the division of work and working methods during exercises. This paper is handed over at the same time as the second exercise paper.

This course is only for the degree students of the Global Society programmes (MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies, MDP in Peace,Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Global and Transnational Sociology, MDP in Public Choice).

The course departs from the idea that the media is one of the central actors through which national actors become aware of far-away events and through which these events become integrated with domestic policy discourses. However, this process is a complex one. On one hand, the journalists are central players in it as they decide what is topical or newsworthy for domestic audiences. They also frame the events so that they make good sense to domestic addressees. On the other hand, in domestic contexts there are many other actors that aim to influence the public understanding of the reported events. These actors bring far-way events into their political argumentation in their attempts to advance their own political interests and desires. Interpretations that appear widely convincing are typically taken up and reported by the media.
Starting from these premises, the course suggests, the media serve not merely as an arena through which far-away events are introduced to local audiences. If anything, the media can be seen as a political arena in which different accounts of the reported events meet thus constructing public understanding of these events. Sooner or later, these understandings convert into domestic policy decisions and practices.
The course approaches the above phenomenon especially from the perspective of the traditional news media institution, i.e. of how the national media serve as a forum through which foreign news events are incorporated into domestic policy discourses. Additionally, the course discusses the role of social media in processes in which far-way news events are brought into local political argumentation, thus affecting domestic policies.

14.1. Course Overview/Introductory Lecture: World as mediated: historical developments and effects on societies (Marjaana Rautalin, TaSTI)

15.1. Journalism cultures and globalization (Heikki Heikkilä, COMS)

29.1. News framing and domestication of the foreign (Marjaana Rautalin, TaSTI)

5.2. Foreign news reporting – professional’s perspective (Tom Kankkonen, YLE)

12.2. Sociatization, interaction and media (Hanna Rautajoki, TaSTI)

19.2. Mediatization of politics (Esa Reunanen, COMS)

 26.2. No lecture – Winter break!

5.3. Climate change communication: between globalization and domestication of science (Dmitry Yagodin, Aleksanteri Institute)

12.3. Social media and public understanding of (global) news events (Marjaana Rautalin, TaSTI)

19.3. Closing lecture: Media in synchronization of national policies (Marjaana Rautalin, TaSTI)

9.4. Essay deadline (based on the lectures)

In order to be able to participate in the course, students are required to complete either
(a) the lectures (5 ECTS), or (b) the lectures plus seminars (10 ECTS). It is not possible to attend only the seminars.

Students of the Master's Degree Programme on Global and Transnational Sociology are required to complete full course (10 ECTS).

Please note that you must enroll separately for the lectures and the seminar.

Max. 40 students. Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

The course departs from the idea that the media is one of the central actors through which national actors become aware of far-away events and through which these events become integrated with domestic policy discourses. However, this process is a complex one. On one hand, the journalists are central players in it as they decide what is topical or newsworthy for domestic audiences. They also frame the events so that they make good sense to domestic addressees. On the other hand, in domestic contexts there are many other actors that aim to influence the public understanding of the reported events. These actors bring far-way events into their political argumentation in their attempts to advance their own political interests and desires. Interpretations that appear widely convincing are typically taken up and reported by the media.
Starting from these premises, the course suggests, the media serve not merely as an arena through which far-away events are introduced to local audiences. If anything, the media can be seen as a political arena in which different accounts of the reported events meet thus constructing public understanding of these events. Sooner or later, these understandings convert into domestic policy decisions and practices.
The course approaches the above phenomenon especially from the perspective of the traditional news media institution, i.e. of how the national media serve as a forum through which foreign news events are incorporated into domestic policy discourses. Additionally, the course discusses the role of social media in processes in which far-way news events are brought into local political argumentation, thus affecting domestic policies.

In order to be able to participate in the seminar, students are required to complete the lecture part of this course. It is not possible to attend only the seminars.

Students of the Master's Degree Programme on Global and Transnational Sociology are required to complete full course (10 ECTS).

Please note that you must enroll separately for the lectures and the seminar.

Maximum of 12 students are accepted to the seminar in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

The course deepens the students' understanding of the functioning of world society and the role of epistemic governance in it. In addition to showing how world culture is seen in the global spread of world models, the course approaches the circulation of global ideas from the perspective of national actors, especially policymakers. In the national political fields, actors justify new policies by international comparisons and by the successes and failures of models adopted in other countries. Consequently, national policies are synchronized with each other. Yet, because of the way such domestication of global trends takes place, citizens retain and reproduce the understanding that they follow a sovereign national trajectory. The lectures introduce the key ideas of the neoinstitutional global sociology coupled with perspectives from studies on epistemic governance.

Max 15 students. Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

The global geo-political context of terrorism and war is analysed with the central focus directed to the evolution of global terrorism and the forms it has taken in the post WWII and post Cold War era. Terrorism is one of many challenges to the sovereign power of nation-states and the most pressing of the political problems associated with this ‘global crisis’ of terrorism will be evaluated. Students explore this challenge essentially through themes inclusive of terror organizations/movements and their development, the complex relationship between terrorism groups and insurgency movements, and the response of modern nation-states and the international community to various types of terrorist organizations. Students apply critical reasoning to complex issues through independent and collaborative research.

Course Content

The course content will be drawn from but not restricted to:

1. Discussions of the socio-political origin of terrorism as a means of achieving certain ends.

2. The conceptual understanding of different types of terrorist organizations and movements including differences and similarities in sacred and secular terror and the various ideological justifications that have been employed to sanction armed insurgency and terror.

3. Case studies of specific terrorist and insurgency movement in South/South Asia, Middle East and Europe.

4. The public policy response to terror including most significantly the US response to 9/11

5. The relationship between terrorist organizations and the mass media

6. The relationship between national liberation struggles and terrorist organizations

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in Global and Transnational Studies, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students (Master's level exchange students will be given priority)

The aim of this course is to provide the students with analytical tools to tackle the issue of primary bonds and their impact on conflicts in the Arab worlds. Primary bonds can be defined through various concepts, all related to primordial identities, such as ethnicity, tribalism or sectarianism. From Lebanon yesterday to Iraq and Syria today, primary bonds are most often presented as the cause of conflicts in the Middle East region. This insistence on identities generates a dilemma for the researcher. How to understand local conflicts in their specificities without giving ground to essentialist theories? Is the mobilization of identity categories by the actors themselves to describe their motivations enough to qualify a conflict as an identity conflict? In practice, this dilemma can be summarized by a tension between over-theorization (the use of models unable to grasp the complexity of local situations) and under-theorization (the mere observation of the situations without critical analysis). This course proposes some avenues for tackling this dilemma and shedding a critical light on contemporary conflicts in the Arab worlds.

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in Global and Transnational Sociology, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

The course introduces the latest methodological developments related to causal inference in the social sciences. The course begins with the basics of the formal theory of causal reasoning (by Judea Pearl) and its philosophical foundations. We will then explore more specific issues and methodologies, such as the concept of social mechanism, how to construct a good causal variable, quasi-experimental designs, field and laboratory experiments in the social sciences, and case-based process tracing. The course format is a reading seminar with recent methodological research articles as course material. In addition, each student will make a short presentation on an empirical research article related to the methodological topic in question. Default example articles are provided by the teacher, but students can also make suggestions based on their interests (such as their thesis topic).

Course outline:

1. Introduction
2. Foundations of Causal Inference I
3. Foundations of Causal Inference II
4. Foundations of Causal Inference III
5. Causal Mechanisms and social theory
6. Mechanistic thinking and statistics
7. What is a good causal variable?
8. Quasi-experimental strategies
9. Qualitative evidence and process tracing I: within-case
10. Qualitative evidence and process tracing II: comparative process tracing
11. Experimental social science: field experiments
12. Experimental social science: laboratory experiments

Target audience: masters and PhD students in the social sciences and philosophy students interested in philosophy of science. Maximum number of participants: 12.

The thesis is defined as a student's independent work in which s/he can show her/his ability in selecting a topic, setting up research questions, mastering methodology and capability in a critical and consistent manner. The purpose of an Master's thesis is to allow the student to prove her or his ability to carry out academic research independently and in a substantively and methodologically correct manner.

The purpose of the Master's thesis seminar is to assist students through all stages of the Master's thesis.

The students of the programme are expected to, firstly, produce a concrete Master's thesis research plan. The Master's thesis seminar supplies guidance in the process of revising the Master's thesis proposal and moving from the proposal towards conceptual and empirical work on the Master's thesis itself. The classroom-section of the Master's thesis seminar provides a forum for the presentation and in-depth discussion of the Master's thesis proposals and the chapter drafts of the thesis.

Credits from the Master's thesis are recorded in four parts.
The supervisor of the thesis is responsible for the registration of the credits.

1. Thesis studies I (10 ECTS)
The topic of the work is clearly focused and it has been operationalized into a relevant research question and tasks. There is a clear plan concerning the execution of the work and its schedule and the work is demonstrated to be well on its way. Relevant literature has been identified and considerable part of it has been read and thought through. In the case of empirical work, the materials and methods of the study have been identified and collection of materials and evidence is on the way. Preliminary text, length approx. 6000 words.

2. Thesis studies II (10 ECTS)
The work is progressing according to the plan and this has been demonstrated in seminar sessions. The research task, relevant literature and specific research questions have been clarified. In the case of empirical work, the gathering of source materials or data has progressed and first interpretations about them have been drafted. Preliminary text, length approx. 12 000 words.

3. Thesis studies III (10 ECTS)
The work has been drafted into full length manuscript which clearly shows its structure and allows the readers to judge its evidence and coherence of its interpretation and main arguments. The student receives final feedback and advice from the supervisor before starting the final review of the thesis. Preliminary text, length approx. 18 000 words.

4. Thesis studies IV (10 ECTS)
The thesis has been submitted in a publishable and finalized form. The student has taken the required maturity test and passed it. The text has been cleared through the plagiarization test. The thesis is reviewed and graded. Final manuscript length, approx. 18 000 words.

The Thesis studies IV include a thesis conference organized in collaboration with the student group at the University of Turku. During the conference the student shortly presents her or his thesis and acts as on opponent to another student.

If you wish to complete the course during the academic year 2018-2019, contact the teacher no later than March 15, 2019.

This module (54 hours) is online apart from individual teacher-student tutorials for discussion of the submitted thesis extract. The work consists of readings, group analysis tasks and thesis writing work. Students should take the module after their research proposal has been accepted by their programme and they are about to embark upon the writing of their thesis.

An introduction into methodology of qualitative research and ways of analysing qualitative data. Deeper understanding about one specific qualitative research method and practices of analysing data.

The course has three parts:
1) Introduction focuses on the methodology of qualitative research. Different ways to interpret the reality and understand knowledge are discussed. Students learn how the research questions and findings are related to the scientific assumptions on which the research methods are based.
2) Students will examine one specific, established qualitative research method (discourse analysis/ narrative analysis/ ethnography etc.). The focus will be on the methodological basis, the forms of data and the ways of analysing the data. The selection of the covered qualitative methods will be based on the interests of the students.
3) The analysis of the data will be exercised. Basic rules of qualitative research method are practiced with a data by step-by-step process. The end result will be a well-grounded argument based on the analysis.
As an outcome students will have methodological skills needed in her/his masters thesis writing.

Detailed instructions on how to pass the course:
1) Attending and participating the lectures in the beginning of February 2019 (attendance obligatory)
2) Finishing the two exercises on time
3) Giving comments on the exercises of another group
4) Revising the papers based on the feedback received
5) Writing feedback on how the group worked during the exercises

1) Each lecture consists of three parts: a) the actual lecture b) group work and c) discussion.

2-3) Two different kinds of exercises which are made in groups, in pairs or as individuals:
a) Introducing one of the following qualitative research method: ethnography, narrative method, rhetoric analysis or discourse analysis. Writing as a group approximately 20 pages, 12 point Times New Roman font, 1,5 line spacing.
b) Use of the selected method and writing an approximately 20 pages (12 point Times New Roman font, 1,5 line spacing) where the use of method is illustrated. Data to be used is given by teachers.

4) Rewriting the paper based on received comments.

5) One page description on the division of work and working methods during exercises. This paper is handed over at the same time as the second exercise paper.

This course is only for the degree students of the Global Society programmes (MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies, MDP in Peace,Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Global and Transnational Sociology, MDP in Public Choice).

The course deepens the students' understanding of the functioning of world society and the role of epistemic governance in it. In addition to showing how world culture is seen in the global spread of world models, the course approaches the circulation of global ideas from the perspective of national actors, especially policymakers. In the national political fields, actors justify new policies by international comparisons and by the successes and failures of models adopted in other countries. Consequently, national policies are synchronized with each other. Yet, because of the way such domestication of global trends takes place, citizens retain and reproduce the understanding that they follow a sovereign national trajectory. The lectures introduce the key ideas of the neoinstitutional global sociology coupled with perspectives from studies on epistemic governance.

Max 15 students. Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP Global and Transnational Sociology

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

This course is an introduction to conflict analysis and peace mediation as an approach to conflict resolution in the international political sphere. We will look at the practices of conflict analysis and mediation, their methods and analyze the opportunities and challenges in applying these in peace processes. The course seeks to simplify the field and bridge theoretical approaches with more practice oriented approaches on the one hand and equip students with practical tools and skills in conflict analysis and mediation that can be applied in diverse policy fields on the other.

Lectures: Each lecture gives an introduction and presents different aspects of a given topic. Students are expected to have done the recommended reading and engage in the discussion.

Seminar & small group discussion: In this round, students will discuss together with the instructors the subject matter and raise questions for consideration. Students are expected to read relevant newspapers and other social media and to come prepared to discuss current affairs.

Conflict Analysis Exercises: Students will be asked to form smaller groups and work interactively.

Role-plays:  These are meant to practice the lessons learned in the lectures and seminars.

Degree students of the Peace programme can either include this course in the module PEACE046 Practices of Peace or compensate the course PEACE047 Peace Mediation and Dialogue Processes within "Professional and Transferable Skills".

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in Global and Transnational Sociology, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

The global geo-political context of terrorism and war is analysed with the central focus directed to the evolution of global terrorism and the forms it has taken in the post WWII and post Cold War era. Terrorism is one of many challenges to the sovereign power of nation-states and the most pressing of the political problems associated with this ‘global crisis’ of terrorism will be evaluated. Students explore this challenge essentially through themes inclusive of terror organizations/movements and their development, the complex relationship between terrorism groups and insurgency movements, and the response of modern nation-states and the international community to various types of terrorist organizations. Students apply critical reasoning to complex issues through independent and collaborative research.

Course Content

The course content will be drawn from but not restricted to:

1. Discussions of the socio-political origin of terrorism as a means of achieving certain ends.

2. The conceptual understanding of different types of terrorist organizations and movements including differences and similarities in sacred and secular terror and the various ideological justifications that have been employed to sanction armed insurgency and terror.

3. Case studies of specific terrorist and insurgency movement in South/South Asia, Middle East and Europe.

4. The public policy response to terror including most significantly the US response to 9/11

5. The relationship between terrorist organizations and the mass media

6. The relationship between national liberation struggles and terrorist organizations

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in Global and Transnational Studies, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students (Master's level exchange students will be given priority)

The aim of this course is to provide the students with analytical tools to tackle the issue of primary bonds and their impact on conflicts in the Arab worlds. Primary bonds can be defined through various concepts, all related to primordial identities, such as ethnicity, tribalism or sectarianism. From Lebanon yesterday to Iraq and Syria today, primary bonds are most often presented as the cause of conflicts in the Middle East region. This insistence on identities generates a dilemma for the researcher. How to understand local conflicts in their specificities without giving ground to essentialist theories? Is the mobilization of identity categories by the actors themselves to describe their motivations enough to qualify a conflict as an identity conflict? In practice, this dilemma can be summarized by a tension between over-theorization (the use of models unable to grasp the complexity of local situations) and under-theorization (the mere observation of the situations without critical analysis). This course proposes some avenues for tackling this dilemma and shedding a critical light on contemporary conflicts in the Arab worlds.

Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

1. degree students of the MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research

2. degree students of the other Global Society programmes (MDP in Global and Transnational Sociology, MDP in Public Choice, MDP in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, MDP in Gender Studies)

3. other degree students of UTA

4. exchange students

The course introduces the latest methodological developments related to causal inference in the social sciences. The course begins with the basics of the formal theory of causal reasoning (by Judea Pearl) and its philosophical foundations. We will then explore more specific issues and methodologies, such as the concept of social mechanism, how to construct a good causal variable, quasi-experimental designs, field and laboratory experiments in the social sciences, and case-based process tracing. The course format is a reading seminar with recent methodological research articles as course material. In addition, each student will make a short presentation on an empirical research article related to the methodological topic in question. Default example articles are provided by the teacher, but students can also make suggestions based on their interests (such as their thesis topic).

Course outline:

1. Introduction
2. Foundations of Causal Inference I
3. Foundations of Causal Inference II
4. Foundations of Causal Inference III
5. Causal Mechanisms and social theory
6. Mechanistic thinking and statistics
7. What is a good causal variable?
8. Quasi-experimental strategies
9. Qualitative evidence and process tracing I: within-case
10. Qualitative evidence and process tracing II: comparative process tracing
11. Experimental social science: field experiments
12. Experimental social science: laboratory experiments

Target audience: masters and PhD students in the social sciences and philosophy students interested in philosophy of science. Maximum number of participants: 12.

The term “global” is everywhere, used by everybody for all kinds of different purposes. Yet, “global” only exists when we invoke it and we invoke it necessarily locally, from a certain place and point of view. We tend to think of the global in terms of the image of the earth, i.e. as a generative frame of unity within which local variations can be mapped. But, the seeming universality of the term “global” could be misleading: depending on where people are and what their interests might be, “global” could mean different things. Is the global truly as universal as the photograph of the earth from space would suggest? What are the politics of knowledge that have constructed the global, and continue to do so? What implications does this construction have for knowing and hearing the Global South or East, or alternative epistemologies? How should we think about temporality in the idea of the global? What can new postcolonial research tell us about the construction of “global,” and the “local” where this construction takes place? This unique course will probe these questions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. For the first time students from three faculties in Tampere will have the opportunity to attend lectures by a series of leading, visiting lecturers from around the world probing the “global.” The course is organized by the Tampere Network for Global & Transnational Research (T-Global) network as part of the New Social Research (NSR) Program (https://research.uta.fi/t-global/2019-2/).

The entire course offering will be in English.

The course comprises at least five visiting lectures:

• Dr. Daniel Tröhler, University Professor of Education, University of Vienna, Austria. Lecture title: Claims of universalized nationalism and banal nationalism as resistance. Frontstage and backstage of current education policies across the globe. (Friday, April 26, 1015 to 1200, VIRTA LS 109).
• Dr. Yasemin Soysal, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex, UK. Lecture title: Global Citizens or Global Individuals?  Educational Migrations of Chinese Tertiary Students. (Tuesday, April 30, 1015 to 1200, VIRTA LS 109).
• Dr. Neilesh Bose, Canada Research Chair and Assistant Professor of History, University of Victoria, BC, Canada). Lecture title: Reconciling Religion in Histories of Globalization — India in and of the World (Friday, May 3, 1015 to 1200, VIRTA LS 109).
• Dr. Alex Jeffrey, Reader in Human Geography, University of Cambridge, UK. Lecture title: Decentering international law: enacting war crimes trials in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Wednesday, May 8, 1015 to 1200, VIRTA LS 109).
• Dr. Tom Griffith, Associate Professor of Education and program leader of the Comparative and International Education Group at University of Newcastle, Australia. Lecture title: Re-centering a de-centered global. (Monday, May 20, 1015 to 1200, VIRTA LS 109).

Master’s and doctoral seminars:12 April 9-12 and 23 May at 9-12 in Linna 6017

Doctoral workshop 24 May at 9-15 in Linna 5014

A limited number of seats are available for students at all levels in Tampere University faculties of Social Sciences (SOC), Education (EDU), and Management and Business (MAB). Seats will be allocated by faculty on a first-come, first-served basis by educational level: SOC (15 BA, 10 MA, 10 PhD), MAB (10 MA, 5 PhD), and EDU (5 BA, 5 MA, 5 PhD). Students are advised to register early.

The thesis is defined as a student's independent work in which s/he can show her/his ability in selecting a topic, setting up research questions, mastering methodology and capability in a critical and consistent manner. The purpose of an Master's thesis is to allow the student to prove her or his ability to carry out academic research independently and in a substantively and methodologically correct manner.

The purpose of the Master's thesis seminar is to assist students through all stages of the Master's thesis.

The students of the programme are expected to, firstly, produce a concrete Master's thesis research plan. The Master's thesis seminar supplies guidance in the process of revising the Master's thesis proposal and moving from the proposal towards conceptual and empirical work on the Master's thesis itself. The classroom-section of the Master's thesis seminar provides a forum for the presentation and in-depth discussion of the Master's thesis proposals and the chapter drafts of the thesis.

Credits from the Master's thesis are recorded in four parts.
The supervisor of the thesis is responsible for the registration of the credits.

1. Thesis studies I (10 ECTS)
The topic of the work is clearly focused and it has been operationalized into a relevant research question and tasks. There is a clear plan concerning the execution of the work and its schedule and the work is demonstrated to be well on its way. Relevant literature has been identified and considerable part of it has been read and thought through. In the case of empirical work, the materials and methods of the study have been identified and collection of materials and evidence is on the way. Preliminary text, length approx. 6000 words.

2. Thesis studies II (10 ECTS)
The work is progressing according to the plan and this has been demonstrated in seminar sessions. The research task, relevant literature and specific research questions have been clarified. In the case of empirical work, the gathering of source materials or data has progressed and first interpretations about them have been drafted. Preliminary text, length approx. 12 000 words.

3. Thesis studies III (10 ECTS)
The work has been drafted into full length manuscript which clearly shows its structure and allows the readers to judge its evidence and coherence of its interpretation and main arguments. The student receives final feedback and advice from the supervisor before starting the final review of the thesis. Preliminary text, length approx. 18 000 words.

4. Thesis studies IV (10 ECTS)
The thesis has been submitted in a publishable and finalized form. The student has taken the required maturity test and passed it. The text has been cleared through the plagiarization test. The thesis is reviewed and graded. Final manuscript length, approx. 18 000 words.

The Thesis studies IV include a thesis conference organized in collaboration with the student group at the University of Turku. During the conference the student shortly presents her or his thesis and acts as on opponent to another student.

The course consists of five meetings with pre-assigned reading materials. Each meeting will focus on a specific topic such as media representations of trans, medicalisation of trans bodies, and human rights issues. During the course we will work individually as well as in small groups.

The course workshops will be held at 10-14 

Wed 13.3.2019, Fri 15.3, Wed 20.3, Fri 22.3, and Wed 27.3.

OBS. The course includes also pre-tasks to be done BEFORE the first meeting (15.2-).

Participants are required to have finished SOS4.4 Introduction to Gender Studies or equivalent course(s) before taking the course.

Working language will be English, but the final essay can also be written in Finnish.