Undergraduate Course: Fundamentals 2: Social Policy (SCPL08008)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 0 |
ECTS Credits | 0 |
| Summary | The aim is to build upon Fundamentals 1 and to complement the two compulsory second-year courses in Social Policy European Social Policy (semester 1) and Evidence, Politics and Policy (semester 2).
Fundamentals 2 complements European Social Policy and Evidence, Politics and Policy by following the same structure of debates. In semester 1 (complementing European Social Policy), Fundamentals has, for example, sessions on comparing social policies across countries (in general), on finding information about policy debates and policy developments in other European countries, and on investigating policy making at EU level. In semester 2, Fundamentals follows the sequence of policy issues that is dealt with in Evidence, Politics and Policy, for example enabling drafts of blog entries to be discussed, and (as outlined below) different kinds of evidence to be explored. In each Fundamentals session, the focus is on developing skills appropriate to serious debate, embedding these skills in substantive discussion of actual current issues.
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| Course description |
The course builds upon Social Policy Fundamentals 1 and complements the two compulsory second-year courses in Social Policy: European Social Policy (semester 1) and Evidence, Politics and Policy (semester 2). Fundamentals 2 follows the same structure of debates as in European Social Policy and Evidence, Politics and Policy. In semester 1 (complementing European Social Policy), Fundamentals has, for example, sessions on comparing social policies across countries, on finding information about policy debates and policy developments in other European countries, and on investigating policy making at European Union level. In semester 2, Fundamentals follows the sequence of policy issues that is dealt with in Evidence, Politics and Policy, for example enabling drafts of blog entries to be discussed, and different kinds of evidence to be explored. In each Fundamentals session, the focus is on developing skills appropriate to serious debate, embedding these skills in substantive discussion of actual current issues.
Working in groups of 5 or 6 students, the class in Semester 1 will choose prominent news stories that have European themes, and will identify and work with online resources of various kinds to produce a presentation on it in week 10 of Semester 1.
The same structure is adopted in the Semester 2, but the focus is now on the analysis of speeches and other forms of oral public debate about policy.
Through mainly working in small groups on specific policy problems, the course enables you to develop
- the skills of engaging in public debate in an evidence-based and rational manner;
- an understanding of the technological aspects of online debate;
- an understanding of how to use major sources of evidence (especially online evidence) relating to public policy.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- have some capacity to engage in public debate in an evidence-based and rational manner.
- have some understanding of the technological aspects of non-written forms of online debate.
- have some understanding of how to use major sources of evidence relating to public policy.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Richard Brodie
Tel: (0131 6)50 4278
Email: R.Brodie@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Ethan Alexander
Tel: (0131 6)50 4001
Email: Ethan.Alexander@ed.ac.uk |
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