Latin American Studies - Bachelor's Course

Module 1 - Social Science Methods, 7,5 credits
The course deepens the knowledge which was acquired at the level of the intermediate course and surveys the interdisciplinary perspective and its methods as well as gives an more profound understanding of Latin American social theory.
The course deals with among other things the following areas:
-the interdisciplinary perspective and its method
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- Different social science foci and their application to Latin America; e.g. ethnographic method, source
critique, feminist and post-colonial thought.
-Method that in the first instance is research strategy, that is to say principles and approach to formulation and solution of research tasks.

Module 2 - Thematic and Geographical Specialization, 7.5 ECTS
The aim of the module is to analyse Latin America from the perspective of human geography. It discusses on how nation-states have been formed in relation to itheir territories. Particular attention is paid to how geographical conditions have affected processes of urbanization, state structures, societal structures, cultural characteritics and demographical change. These themes are analyzed from regional (Latin America) and subregional (e.g. Central America) perspectives, also considering historical processes. It also highlights geographical macro perspectives, with an orientation towards how broad geographical structures have been integrated or ended up in conflict with national and sub-national units. Apart from Human Geography, the module also include perspectives taken from disciplines such as political science, economic history and anthropology.

Module 3 - Independent project, 15 ECTS
The course comprises an independent project for the Degree of Bachelor. The project is carried out as a limited research the end result of which is a scientific paper. In the initial stages of the examination project students acquire a deeper knowledge in the design of a scientific research.
The course deals with among other things:
- the approach for formulating and solving the research problem,
- placing the work in a theoretical context,
- choosing an appropriate method (design and more specific method) in relation to the problem
formulation,
- logic (red thread/logical connection from problem via purpose, research questions, method, result to
conclusion,
- readability (structure, typographical design, and language use)
The course shall provide training to increase the ability to carry out a limited research task with a certain degree of independence.

Together, the three modules comprise lectures , seminars, group work and individual tutoring. Each module has its own combination of formats. Module 3 is a series of interactive seminars on the process of writing an academic dissertation. 

Module 1
Oral presentation, written papers
Module 2
Short papers, oral presentation
Module 3
Essay

Magnus Lembke
Thaïs Machado Borges
Andrés Rivarola Puntigliano

Magnus Lembke, Thaïs Machado-Borges and Andrés Rivarola