ASOA05048U Danish Society – A sociological perspective

Volume 2015/2016
Education

BA/MA Elective course - only Exchange BA-Undergraduates and Exchange MA-level students can sign up for this course

Content

This course is designed for foreign students so they become acquainted with sociological theories and empirical studies

in relation to different issues in the Danish Welfare State. The course will offer in depth analyses of key institutions in the Danish Society.  Different topics will be presented: the Scandinavian models of welfare, and comparisons between different welfare systems, also with regard to discourses on gender, citizenship and family friendliness. The labour market, industrial relations, employment relations, flexicurity, youth unemployment and the crisis. National health and care policies, health inequalities and elder care. Environmental issues, sustainable city building. Penal relations and prison treatment. Religions and believers.  Alternative, utopian communities. These topics will be analyzed in lectures and readings and there will be an excursion to one of the alternative communities in Copenhagen, Christiania.  The students will meet some of the best scholars in these various fields.

Learning Outcome

The aim is for students to develop a critical understanding of the underlying values and political ideas in the Danish society, and how the society is re-shaping itself. More broadly, the course aims to draw the students’ attention to the complexities, problems and ambiguities of the ’Danish Model’. In addition to a basic understanding of the areas of Danish society covered in the course, the students should be able to exercise sociological reflection, and demonstrate skills in formulating research questions concerning sociological issues related to the functioning of Danish society.

By the end of the course students should

- select and formulate a research question within one of the course themes

- structure and argue convincingly in accordance with the defined research question

- describe historical and current traits of the chosen topic

- include relevant literature from curriculum such as essential concepts, sociological theories and empirical documentation.

- include supplementary literature if the research question invites to further investigation.

- apply competing sociological concepts and theories if relevant to the defined research question

- discuss the applied literature independently and critically.

lectures (and an excursion)
BA/MA Elective course - only Exchange BA-Undergraduates and Exchange MA-level students can sign up for this course
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 28
  • Exam
  • 123,5
  • Preparation
  • 123,5
  • Total
  • 275,0
Credit
10 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Individual/group. Free written take-home essays are assignments for which students define and formulate a problem within the parameters of the course and based on an individual exam syllabus. The free written take-home essay must be no longer than 15 pages. For group assignments, an extra 7½pages is added per additional student. Further details for this exam form can be found in the Curriculum and in the General Guide to Examinations at KUnet.
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Internal examiners
Exam period

Submission dates and time will be available at KUnet, www.kunet.dk. Exchange students and danish full degree guest students please see the homepage of Sociology; http://www.soc.ku.dk/english/education/exams/ and http://www.soc.ku.dk/uddannelser/meritstuderende/eksamen/

Criteria for exam assesment

See learning outcome