COURSE HUMR 5190 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND THESIS DEVELOPMENT Autumn 2009 SYLLABUS

Transcription

1 1 COURSE HUMR 5190 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND THESIS DEVELOPMENT Autumn 2009 SYLLABUS LECTURE 1 Monday, 31 August, 10:15-12, Room 365 Domus Nova Instructors: Stener Ekern (course leader) and Jan Helgesen (1 st week, week 36) Introduction to the Course - Presentation of the course. - Social science: What is an explanation? Around what is a thesis in the social sciences constructed? - Law: What is a legal interpretation? Around what is a thesis in law constructed? - Formal requirements Instructors: Stener Ekern, Jan Helgesen -- Elster: Explaining Social Behaviour: More Nuts and Bolts (Cambridge 2007, pp1-66). -- Dessler, David: Beyond Correlations: Toward a Causal Theory of War, Int. Studies Quarterly 35, 3 (1991) ppp Dworkin, Ronald: Law, Philosophy and Interpretation in Atria, Fernando and D. Neil MacCormick Law and Legal Interpretation, Ashgate, 2003, ch 1. LECTURE 2 Friday, 4 September, Instructor: Head librarian Betty Haugen (1 st week) Exploring the sources and using them in your thesis There will be three parallell hands-on training workshops/seminars on 22, 29 and 30 September (Workshops I, II and III (see further below). Students choose only one workshop. LECTURE 3 Monday, 7 September, 10:15-12 (2 nd week, week 37) Research Questions and Legal Problems

2 2 Instructor: Stener Ekern and Malcolm Langford - Formulating a research question (with a lawyer s comments) - Formulating a legal problem (case discussion with comments from a social scientist) -- McConville, Mike and Wing Hong Chui, Research Methods for Law, Edinburgh Univ. Press, Trachtenberg, Mark, The Craft of International History: A guide to method, Princeton University Press, 2006, chs Collier, Jane F., Analyzing Witchcraft Beliefs, in June Starr and Mark Goodale, Practicing Ethnography in Law, Palgrave Macmillan 2002, pp LECTURE 4 Friday, 11 September Instructors: Stener Ekern and Malcolm Langford (2 nd week) Research Questions and Legal Problems (continued) - Formulating a research question (with a lawyer s comments) - Formulating a legal problem (case discussion with comments from a social scientist) -- Same as above -- Cowan, Jane K., Marie-Bénédicte Dembour and Richard A. Wilson, Introduction in Jane K. Cowan, Marie-Bénédicte Dembour and Richard A. Wilson, Culture and Rights. Anthropological Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp LECTURE 5 Monday, 14 September, 13:15-15 Room 540, DN Instructors: Knut Asplund and Stener Ekern (3 rd week, week 38) Case Study: Reporting about Human Rights in Indonesia and Elswhere - Case study: Indonesia (and others?) Readings: Handouts LECTURE 6 Friday, 18 September, (3 rd week) Merging Law and Social Science Methodologies

3 3 Instructor: Malcolm Langford -- Edward Anderson and Malcolm Langford, Testing the fiscal capacity defence: assessing compliance with the right to water and sanitation with econometric modelling in The Right to Water and Sanitation in Theory and Practice: Drawing from a Deeper Well? (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). (Recommended reading) -- Chamberlin, Bill F., Popescu, Cristina., Weigold, Michael F. and Laughner, Nissa: "Merging Legal Research and Social Science Methodologies: Comparing State Access Laws" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Sheraton New York, New York City, NY, Online. Beth A. Simmons, "Should States Ratify? Process and Consequences of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR" in "Perspectives on a New Complaint and Inquiry Procedure: The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights", Nordic Journal of Human Rights Vol. 27, No.1 (2009), pp available at (Recommended reading). LECTURE 7 Monday, 21 September 14:15-16 Instructor: Senior Researcher Henrik Urdal, PRIO (4 th week, week 39) How to Read Statistics Readings: Tuesday 22 September 10:00-12:00 Faculty of Law Library, Domus Bibliotheca. Hands-on session/workshop I Please note: There are three parallell hands-on sessions. Students choose only one. How to find the location: Students meet up in the reception inside the Library. The librarian will guide you to the room, which is located in the basement of the DB building.

4 4 LECTURE 8 & 9 Friday, 25 September, 10: Instructor: Hugo Stokke Tuesday 29 September 10:00-12:00 Faculty of Law Library, Domus Bibliotheca. Instructors: Librarians from the NCHR Wednesday 30 September 14:00-16:00 Faculty of Law Library, Domus Bibliotheca. Instructors: Librarians from the NCHR (4 th week) Human Rights Methodology (Operationalisation and Measurement) - Operationalisation and measurement (human rights methodology) Comparative Research Design - Comparative research design -- Landman, Todd, Protecting Human Rights. A Comparative Study, Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2005, chs Risse, Thomas and Kathryn Sikkink, The socialization of international human rights norms into domestic practices. Introduction in Thomas Risse, Stephen C. Ropp and Kathryn Sikkink, The Power of Human Rights. International Norms and Domestic Change, Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp UNDP, Indicators for Human Rights Based approaches to Development in UNDP Programming: A User s Guide, New York: UNDP 2006, 23 pp. Hands-on session/workshop II Please note: There are three parallell hands-on sessions. Students choose only one. How to find the location: Students meet up in the reception inside the Library. The librarian will guide you to the room, which is located in the basement of the DB building. Hands-on session/workshop III Please note: There are three parallell hands-on sessions. Students choose only one. How to find the location: Students meet up in the reception inside the Library. The librarian will guide you to the room, which is located in the basement of the DB building. LECTURE 10 (5 th week, week 41)

5 5 Monday, 5 October, : Instructor: Jan Helgesen Legal Method in Scandinavian Law - Legal method in national (Scandinavian) law None LECTURE 11 Friday, 9 October, Instructor: Malcolm Langford (5 th week) Modes of Reasoning - Construction of arguments, constructions of evidence, making recommendations, policy-making -- Jeremy Waldron, The Core of the Case Against Judicial Review, The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 115 (2006), pp BM Morgan, 'Turning Off the Tap: Urban Water Service Delivery and the Social Construction of Global Administrative Law', European Journal of International Law, 17 (1), (pp ). -- Human Rights Watch, Rain of Fire: Israel s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza, 25 March LECTURE 12 Monday, 12 October 10:15-12 Instructor: Stener Ekern and Malcolm Langford (6 th week, week 42) Sources: A Critical Review - Data, interviews, statistics. Cases, secondary literature, documents, observations, fieldwork, archival material -- Robben, Antonius C.G.M., The Politics of Truth and Emotions among Victims and Perpetrators of Violence in Carolyn Nordstrom and Antonius C.G.M. Robben, Fieldwork under fire: Contemporary studies of violence and survival, California University Press 1995, pp Kidder, Robert L., Exploring Legal Culture in Law-Avoidance Societies in June Starr and Mark Goodale, Practicing Ethnography in Law, Palgrave Macmillan 2002, pp LECTURE 13 (6 th week)

6 6 Friday, 16 October, Instructor: Jan Helgesen Legal Method in International Law Reading: Ian Brownlie: Principles of Public International Law, 7th Ed, 200, pp and SEMINARS 14, 15, 16 & 17 Friday, 23 October, 09: , Instructor: Lynn P Nygaard (7 th week, week 43) One-day Workshop (6 hrs) in Academic Writing Instructor: Lynn P Nygaard (from PRIO) -- Lynn P Nygaard, Writing for Scholars. A Practical Guide to Making Sense and being Heard, Oslo: Universitetsforlaget SEMINARS 18, 19, 20 & 21 Monday, 26 October 10:15-12 Students present theses outlines in smaller groups (4 groups with 10 students en each, one group per seminar) Friday, 30 October Monday, 2 November, 10: Friday, 6 November,