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Prerequisites
Language of instruction
Duration
Identical coursesMaster's Thesis (B-KUL-S0D87D)
Cannot be taken as part of a credit contract
N. Aims
Upon completion of their master's thesis, students in social and cultural anthropology are able to:
- critically engage with, and make use of relevant anthropological and social scientific literature
- formulate and operationalise a (set of) research question(s) which guides the fieldwork research
- independently design, conduct and report on a fieldwork-based research project,
- master ethnographic methods and techniques to conduct research of their own;
- demonstrate their understanding and ability to communicate, interact and co-reflect across various boundaries of diversity
- report on both the research process and its results in a reflexive way.
These thesis objectives will be explained during the master's thesis info session at the start of the academic year.
Previous knowledge
At the beginning of this course students are familiar with:
- traditional and contemporary approaches and concept building in social and cultural anthropology (as considered in the Introduction, Basic, and Research Stream courses)
- epistemologies, methods and techniques of ethnographic research (as elaborated in the Research Stream).
- contemporary approaches towards the relation of anthropology to other sciences and to society
Order of Enrolment
Mixed prerequisite:
You may only take this course if you comply with the prerequisites. Prerequisites can be strict or flexible, or can imply simultaneity. A degree level can be also be a prerequisite.
Explanation:
STRICT: You may only take this course if you have passed or applied tolerance for the courses for which this condition is set.
FLEXIBLE: You may only take this course if you have previously taken the courses for which this condition is set.
SIMULTANEOUS: You may only take this course if you also take the courses for which this condition is set (or have taken them previously).
DEGREE: You may only take this course if you have obtained this degree level.
SIMULTANEOUS( S0K35A ) AND SIMULTANEOUS( S0K36A ) AND SIMULTANEOUS( S0K37A ) AND FLEXIBLE( S0K34A )
The codes of the course units mentioned above correspond to the following course descriptions:
S0K34A : Ethnographic Design: Planning and Modelling a Fieldwork Project
S0K35A : Ethnographic Fieldwork
S0K36A : Interpreting Data Anthropologically
S0K37A : Master's Thesis Writing Seminar
Identical courses
This course is identical to the following courses:
S0D46D : Masterproef
Is included in these courses of study
Activities
18 ects. Master's Thesis (B-KUL-S0D87a)
Content
Students choose and develops thesis topic in conversation with the supervisor. During the first year of the Master’s programme in social and cultural anthropology, students write their start report as key assignment in the course S0K34A Ethnographic Design: Planning and Modelling a Fieldwork Project. The start report prepares them for the research they conduct in the second stage of the programme. Their ethnographic research culminates in the master's thesis that consists of the following basic components:
1. Problem statement: theme & motivation/rationale of the thesis;
2. The ethnographic project (empirical focus): sketching the contours of the research site and present the key issues as well as specifying which ethnographic methods and techniques, and other analytical and methodological tools, were employed. Issue of positionality and ethics are also relevant here;
3. Theoretical/conceptual framework (conceptual foci) using concepts and theoretical insights from the (anthropological, etc.) literature;
4. Research question(s);
5. Presenting ethnographic data in a reflexive way, embedded in the literature mentioned under (2) and (3), and driven by the research questions;
6. References.
Course material
Information about the Master’s thesis is available on Toledo.
Format: more information
Students conduct research independently. The supervisor guides the research process during individual appointments.
Evaluation
Evaluation: Master's Thesis (B-KUL-S2D87d)
Explanation
Students write a master’s thesis of minimum 15,000 and maximum 25,000 words.
If an audio-visual production is part of the master’s thesis, there is a minimum of 10,000 and maximum of 15,000 words. The audio-visual production has a play length of minimum 15 and maximum 50 minutes. The word count must to be indicated on the title page of the master’s thesis.
The master's thesis will be evaluated for content, quality of writing, and format. For a detailed overview of the evaluation criteria see “Master’s thesis Regulations Faculty of Social Sciences”.
Deadlines can be found in the student calendar on the student portal of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Additionally, students submit their master’s thesis through the ‘My Master’s thesis’ application in KU-Loket for archiving and possible plagiarism* detection. Students inform the Faculty’s Education and Student Administration that they will submit their master’s thesis during the second examination period (June) alternatively the third examination period (August/September) no later than the date mentioned on the student calendar. Exceptions are only possible upon the approval of the Vice Dean for Education.
The master's thesis concludes with an oral defence. The defence is public and in the language of the programme. The defence takes maximum 30 minutes and consists of an 8-minute presentation by the student, the questioning by the evaluators, and a deliberation at which the student is not present. With regard to content, the student is free to highlight any topics during his presentation. There is no possibility to use power point, overhead sheets or any other devices. The use of a handout is permitted. Both the written dissertation and the oral defence are evaluated by the Master’s thesis committee. This committee consists of the supervisor, the rapporteur and the chairperson.
The defence is a fundamental part of the evaluation of the masters’ thesis. Not taking part in the defence leads to an ‘NA’ (=not attended) for the masters’ thesis course.
Precise guidelines on the layout, format and defence can be found on the student portal of the faculty.
*Students are fully responsible for submitting papers and assignments free of fraud and plagiarism (www.kuleuven.be/english/education/plagiarism/) and are requested to observe the Faculty’s relevant regulations. Plagiarism will be sanctioned with the sanctions mentioned in the University’s Regulations on Education and Examinations (http://www.kuleuven.be/education/regulations/).
While preparing their master’s thesis, students renew their knowledge and competences regarding the prevention of plagiarism. Therefore, they participate in the Faculty’s plagiarism prevention trajectory including an online brush-up course presented by the University Library within the Toledo learning environment and an online test.
Passing this test counts as a formal prerequisite for submitting the start report (initial Master's programmes) or master’s thesis (in the case of advanced Master’s programmes).