MSc Political Economy of Europe Dr Robert Basedow MSc Program - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

MSc Political Economy

• f Europe

Dr Robert Basedow MSc Program Director 22 September 2020 J.r.basedow@lse.ac.uk

Introduction

• Professional staff:

Stephen Jenner, Stephanie Finney, Carl-Ludwig Campbell, Adam Judge

• Academics:

Nick Barr Robert Basedow Iain Begg Valerie Belu Paul De Grauwe (Bob Hancké) Abby Innes Angelo Martelli Fabian Mushövel Bernardo Rangoni Waltraud Schelkle Jimena Valdez

Introduction

• Do you have a background in…
• Economics, finance, business?
• Political science?
• Law?
• History?
• Sociology?
• Other?

Introduction

• The European Institute is a broad church!
• Different approaches: from historical narratives and

sociological accounts to formal and econometric modeling

• Key question: How do politics and economics interact?
• How do politics shape economics?
• How do economics influence politics?

Introduction

• Broad church means that there are many interpretations and

takes on questions !

• We have academic freedom: we can say what we want and

think (within reason obviously).

• You have the same academic freedom: You will never be in

trouble if disagreeing with a lecturer but will be challenged.

• Remember: An opinion without a sound logical argument or

data is merely a prejudice !

Teaching and Learning

Source: Wiki.

Teaching and Learning

• We adhere to socratic learning: We give you the ‘tools’ and

you make up your mind through a dialogue.

• Do not simply repeat what your lecturer says: Try to

understand the reasoning and then agree or disagree

• We will challenge you: Even if your lecturer agrees with

you, you may face a counterargument !

• Do not ever blindly copy what someone else has said!

Plagiarism is a very serious offense at LSE!

• Building blocks of learning at LSE:
• Readings
• Discussion and reading groups
• Presentations
• Essays
• Exam preparations
• Seminars
• Lectures
• Office hours

Teaching and Learning

• Look around you !
• Your new friends and fellow students will be your best

teachers.

• Work together: use your different disciplinary and national

backgrounds to learn and gain new insights !

• Also bear in mind: No grading on the curve at LSE. You can all

get a distinction!

Teaching and Learning

Teaching and Learning

• Do not read everything on the reading lists:
• Read with a question in mind: Why do you think did we add a

piece to the list?

• Read to understand: Did you really get the key message? Can

you summarize a piece in a couple of sentences?

• A rule of thump: In addition to any seminars and lectures, an LSE

degree requires approximately 4 hours (+/-) of focused effort !

• Office hours: Do take advantage and come see us to explore new

ideas also beyond courses! We want to discuss and get to know you and your ideas!

Programme structure

• Basic structure (4 units)
• Core courses: choose at least two of three courses from list in course regulations

(Paper 1)

• Optional courses PoEE: choose two or more optional courses from list in course

regulations (Paper 2)

• Option courses EI: choose optional courses from course regulations (Paper 3)
• MSc Dissertation (Paper 4)
• Note: If your course choice is within the regulations, no need to discuss it with me; if a

choice is not within the regulation you must talk to 1) course convener, 2) your mentor and then 3) me!

• Time line: Opens on Thursday, make first selection for entire year, finalise in week1.

Programme structure

• EU410 ‘Research Skills’
• Mandatory
• Skills for research and preparation of dissertation
• Hints for reading and writing
• Weeks MT 1, 2, 4, 8, 10 and LT 1, 2, 4, 8, 10
• Special workshops in reading weeks

Assessment

• Formative assessment: It does not count toward your grades. Your

chance to test yourself and get feedback !

• Summative assessment: Counts toward your grades!
• Essays
• Online assessments
• You have a right to feedback! Ask for it until you receive it! Without

feedback you cannot learn.

Assessment

• Deadlines are hard: all students are equal
• Penalties for late submission
• No excuses (dog ate homework, hard drive blew up…)
• Back up your work (DropBox, H:space, USB)!
• Extensions of deadlines ONLY under very special circumstances
• Special circumstances: Support staff, Programme Director can help

Dissertation

• A piece of independent but supervised research work.
• 10.000 words
• Start thinking about topics now !
• By end of MT (December), polish and try out some ideas

and discuss them with mentor and other staff!

• From January onwards: a structured process to make you

progress on dissertation project !

Housekeeping

• Term dates:
• Michaelmass term: 28 September - 11 December
• Lent term: 18 January – 1 April
• Summer term: 4 May - 18 June
• Reading weeks:
• 2 November - 6 November
• 22 February - 26 March
• Other dates:
• Thursday, 24 September, course choice starts.
• This week (mostly Tuesday and Wednesday) meetings with mentors.

Problems

• We all sometimes face problem. We can help you!
• Mentor
• Other academics
• Professional staff
• Programme director (me)
• MSc student adviser (Vassilis Monastiriotis)
• Head of Department
• Student services
• Well-being services