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2015/2016  BA-BASPO1013U  First Year Project

English Title
First Year Project

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for Asian Study Programme
Course coordinator
  • Nis Høyrup Christensen - Department of International Economics and Management (INT)
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalization and international business
Last updated on 13-08-2015
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors: The First Year Project is the first major group-based student research project in the ASP. The aim is to get students to apply and expand their academic knowledge about theories and methods for analysing society and culture. In order to achieve this, we encourage students to work in groups. Here they must learn to identify and solve a particular problem and handle the challenges and benefits inherent in problem-based project work.

The learning objectives of the First Year Project include research methods, a certain mastery over the substantive area, and organized analysis and writing.

The student must demonstrate the ability to:
  • Define the Project’s research issue or question
  • Present a general understanding of theories and methods relevant for the project
  • Have the ability to select and apply theories and methods systematically and coherently when dealing with specific research issues
  • Structure a plan and present research material in a clear and accessible way both in terms of language and content
Examination
First year Project:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Oral exam based on written product

In order to participate in the oral exam, the written product must be handed in before the oral exam; by the set deadline. The grade is based on an overall assessment of the written product and the individual oral performance.
Individual or group exam Group exam, max. 5 students in the group
The oral exam is in groups with 20 minutes per student though max. one hour total per group.
Size of written product Max. 30 pages
Definition of number of pages:
Groups of
1-2 students 20 pages max.
3-5 students 30 pages max
Assignment type Project
Duration
Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
20 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and second internal examiner
Exam period Summer
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content and structure

The theme for the 1st year as well as the First Year Project is “Comparative Cultural and Social Analysis”. The First Year Project is designed to follow up on course instruction by providing participants the opportunity to work independently, and across disciplines, with those concepts and methods presented during the courses. The teaching during first year focuses primarily on the concepts and methods for analysing society and culture. Through this project, students will be challenged to go beyond mere recollection of facts, concepts, and theory; the project encourages development of a practical sensibility about the deployment of theory and method toward concrete research goals under constraints of time and other resource (praxis).

In Asian Societies from a Comparative Perspective (Sociology), students examine the relationship between the individual and society/culture, between actor and structure/system, with society itself analysed according to three categories: state, market and civil society. Society has been introduced as an economic system regulated by market mechanisms, certain economic structures and a set of politically economic institutions. The course presents concepts and theories for understanding and analysing various forms of “society and culture”. All courses deal with different socio-analytical and cultural themes under the common framework constituted by the concepts of state, market, civil society, communication and culture. From the content of the various courses, students can gather project ideas about political, economic, social and cultural problems – and in particular, problems that cut across such traditional categorisations.

Examples:

  • Projects that focus on the relationship between industrial structure, growth and welfare and which, for example, include macro-economic elements from economics lectures and aspects of Japanese/Chinese welfare and on industrial, economic and social conditions from sociology lectures.
  • Projects that focus on the relations and co-operation between countries and which build on theories about nation, identity, culture and state, on the international component of economics and on a review of foreign policy issues in Japan/China, Denmark, or another country.
  • Projects on economic policy, using macroeconomic theory as a basis, could incorporate analyses of political-economic institutions in Japan/China, Denmark, or another country. The project would then view national structure and activities from a cultural perspective: which values are evident in the structure, and which concepts and values are expressed in their outward communication.
Teaching methods
Introductory lectures are given.
Student workload
Teaching 2 hours
Preparation 203 hours
Examination 1 hours
Further Information

Please see guidelines for First Year Project on E-campus.
Last updated on 13-08-2015