300693 Transnational Studies (RC: Transnationalisierung und Sozialanthropologie) (S) (SoSe 2024)

Research Class – Kommentar
This seminar focuses on social formations emerging out of sustained cross-border processes (transnational social spaces), their consequences (transnationalization), and corresponding social practices (transnationality). In this seminar participants discuss (1) work-in-progress dealing with cross-border perspectives on issues relating to migration and citizenship, and (2) work-in-progress which broadly deals with questions of the global social order. At the core are issues of transnational social policy, international migration and inclusion/exclusion, inequalities and equalities, democracy and citizenship. This seminar identifies questions for further research and offers some methodological venues for the study of cross-border transactions.
In particular, this seminar is meant to help doctoral candidates to conceptualize their thesis papers, conduct research and write the final version. Among other things participants learn to select relevant literatures, develop a research design and evaluate empirical data.
The core of the seminar is the presentation of work-in-progress by all participants. The papers discussed are accepted dissertation proposals (for beginners), or drafts of individual chapters from the ongoing dissertation (for advanced dissertation writers). Registered participants are required to upload their papers to ekVV Lernraum ca. ten days in advance. Please consult Emails for concrete dates. Papers distributed after the announced deadline will not be considered for discussion. The length of papers is ca. 20 pages. If you submit longer papers, you have to indicate which sections to read.
All papers are introduced by a statement on the overall project and how the particular paper fits into the overall dissertation project (ca. half page). Also, the participants will indicate the questions they wish to be discussed in the seminar.
We will devote in between 45-90 min to the discussion of each paper. There will be no oral presentation by the author prior to the discussion. We will delve into the discussion of the paper right away. The authors of the papers discussed should keep their answers as short as possible. All participants required to comment on other papers. Minor comments (e.g. typos) should be communicated to the author of the paper in a private email.
Each paper will have one discussant. The discussant will provide an oral comment on the respective paper; no more than ca. 10 minutes. These comments will be given before the general discussion of the respective paper. For more discussion, participants should also use (online) meetings of the respective peer groups.
Once the schedule is established, the instructor will assign formal commentators for each paper. In case a participant misses a session, s/he is expected to give written comments to the author of the paper, send these notes to the instructor as well, and upload the comments to the ekVV Lernraum.
All participants are required to join a peer group consisting of around 4 persons (more or less). The groups will function as a venue of exchange among doctoral candidates outside the regular full class viz. plenary sessions. This format is meant to enable participants in the Research Class to raise issues of concern and get the suggestions and advice from their peers.

Bibliography

Faist, Thomas. 2019. The Transnationalized Social Question: Migration and the Politics of Social Inequalities in the 21st Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.