The purpose of this course is to provide students with skills and tools to enhance their academic writing. Over the course of four sessions, students will engage in a variety of tasks, including writing assignments, reading assignments, group discussions and debate, and oral presentations.
During this course, students will learn how to:
- Structure ideas in academic writing: academic writing as ‘storytelling’
- Understand the various types of writing and how this affects style, vocabulary and content
- Discuss research in appropriate language for various audiences (scholarly and general)
- Critique academic writing and how to respond to academic criticism (providing suggestions, accepting suggestions, defending decisions)
- Present qualitative and quantitative analyses in a way that is meaningful and accessible
- Writing concisely, accurately, and accessibly to communicate complex ideas
Relevant high-quality sources on academic citations/referencing, writing style guides, guides to presenting statistics, etc. will be provided.
- Instructor: Sara Beth Mitchell
Economics of Migration 2019/20
Modul 11: Wissenstransfer / URI III / Modul 23
From Brexit to the border wall, closed ports to migrant camps, “bad hombres” to “expats”— the issue of migration is a highly relevant topic. Migrants play an important role both in the country of origin and in the recipient country. Market forces and political conditions significantly influence global migration, and the political response remains a political challenge.
In this seminar, we will explore the causes and effects of migration, both from a microeconomic perspective (e.g. the individual migration decision) and from a macroeconomic perspective (e.g. local labour market conditions and country conditions). Students will learn how to evaluate these current economic policy debates from a scientific perspective.
At the end of the seminar, we expect a written paper and presentation. Students can largely decide which particular topic they find most interesting. However, it is essential that topics are analysed using state-of-the-art scientific literature, as well as empirical analysis. Ultimately, we want to carry out an empirical project in student groups on a topic to be chosen by the students.
Potential areas of interest could be:
- Models for individual / family migration — who migrates? Why and where? Who stays?
- How can we determine the impact of migration on countries of origin and destination?
- Are there models to explain the migration of asylum seekers?
- What do we know about the migration of “highly-skilled labour”?
- What characterises a meaningful migration policy?
Please note that this seminar will be conducted in English, and all presentations and assignments must be submitted in English.
- Lecturer: Sara Beth Mitchell