Curriculum and regulations for the Bachelor programme in language and international studies

1: Preface

In pursuance of Act No. 960 of 14 August 2014 on universities (the University Act) with subsequent amendments, the following curriculum is stipulated for the Bachelor Programme in Language and International Studies, English.

2: Basis in ministerial orders

The Bachelor’s programme is organised in accordance with the Ministry of Higher Education and Science’s Order no. 1328 of November 15, 2016 on Bachelor’s and Master’s Programmes at Universities (the Ministerial Order of the Study Programmes) and Ministerial Order no. 1062 of June 30, 2016 on University Examinations (the Examination Order). Further reference is made to Ministerial Order no. 110 of January 30, 2017 (the Admission Order) and Ministerial Order no. 114 of February 3, 2015 (the Grading Scale Order) with subsequent changes.

3: Campus

The programme is offered in Aalborg.

4: Faculty affiliation

The Bachelor’s programme falls under Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Aalborg University.

5: Study board affiliation

The Bachelor’s programme falls under Study Board of International and Cross¿Cultural Studies

6: Affiliation to corps of external examiners

The Bachelor’s programme is associated with the external examiners corps on International and European Studies.

7: Admission requirements

Admission to the bachelor programme requires that applicants have completed secondary school education and meet any admission requirements specific to the relevant area and programme. For further information, visit the website of the Study Board.

8: The programme title in Danish and English

The Bachelor’s programme entitles the graduate to the Danish designation Bachelor (BA) i sprog og internationale studier, engelsk. The English designation is: Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Language and International Studies, English.

9: Programme specifications in ECTS credits

The Bachelor’s programme is a 3-year, research-based, full-time study programme. The programme is set to 180 ECTS credits.

10: Rules concerning credit transfer (merit), including the possibility for choice of modules that are part of another programme at a university in Denmark or abroad

The Study Board can approve successfully completed (passed) programme elements from other Bachelor’s programmes in lieu of programme elements in this programme (credit transfer). The Study Board can also approve successfully completed (passed) programme elements from another Danish programme or a programme outside of Denmark at the same level, in lieu of programme elements within this curriculum. Decisions on credit transfer are made by the Study Board based on an academic assessment. See the Joint Programme Regulations for the rules on credit transfer.

11: Exemptions

In exceptional circumstances, the Study Board study can grant exemption from those parts of the curriculum that are not stipulated by law or ministerial order.  Exemption regarding an examination applies to the immediate examination.

12: Rules for examinations

The rules for examinations are stated in the Examination Policies and Procedures published by the faculty on their website.

13: Rules concerning written work, including the Bachelor’s project

In the assessment of all written work, regardless of the language it is written in, weight is also given to the student's formulation and spelling ability, in addition to the academic content. Orthographic and grammatical correctness as well as stylistic proficiency are taken as a basis for the evaluation of language performance. Language performance must always be included as an independent dimension of the total evaluation. However, no examination can be assessed as ‘Pass’ on the basis of good language performance alone; similarly, an examination normally cannot be assessed as ‘Fail’ on the basis of poor language performance alone.

The Study Board can grant exemption from this in special cases (e.g., dyslexia or a native language other than Danish).

The Bachelor’s project must include an English summary (or another foreign language: French, Spanish or German upon approval by the Study Board). If the project is written in English, the summary must be in Danish (The Study Board can grant exemption from this). The summary must be at least 1 page and not more than 2 pages (this is not included in any fixed minimum and maximum number of pages per student). The summary is included in the evaluation of the project as a whole.

14: Requirements regarding the reading of texts in a foreign language

If no other regulations are stated, examinations will be conducted in English. This applies to both written and oral examinations.

15: Competence profile on the diploma

The following competence profile will appear on the diploma:

A graduate of the Bachelor's programme has competencies acquired through an educational programme that has taken place in a research environment.

A graduate of the Bachelor's programme has fundamental knowledge of and insight into his/her subject's methods and scientific foundation. These properties qualify the graduate of the Bachelor’s programme for further education in a relevant Master’s programme as well as for employment on the basis of the educational programme

16: Competence profile of the programme

The Bachelor

Knowledge

In terms of field of knowledge, understanding and reflection, the overall objectives of the students’ acquisition of knowledge and understanding are that students, on completion of the Bachelor programme, will have acquired:

• knowledge on the organization of the international society and the social, cultural and political dynamics that affect developments in international relations, both globally and in selected regions

• knowledge on historical developments and events which have shaped the conditions for international coexistence, including international conflicts and the political and cultural basis for these

• understanding of the role of English language in regional, international and global conflictual and cooperative relations, including the cultural and political meaning of the English language in the context of globalization

• extensive theoretically based understanding of central problem areas constituted in the interface between linguistic, cultural and political identities and interests such as international human rights, the role of international and transnational political organizations and international conflictual and cooperative relations

• understanding of basic principles of academic integrity and of dilemmas of research ethics within the relevant subject areas of the programme.

Skills

The overall objectives of the acquisition of skills are that, on completion of their Bachelor studies, students will be able to:

• communicate in an accurate, efficient and correct manner while using relevant academic and professional language in English

• apply cultural analysis and knowledge as tools for enhancing mutual understanding, development and cooperation in interpersonal, organizational and international contexts

• apply the most widely used methods and tools within the fields of human and social sciences and be able to argue for methodological choices as regards concrete issues

• take an analytical stance and reflect in an independent manner on key issues of the programme, including the theories and methods involved

• analyze, explain and provide relevant theoretical and empirical knowledge on issues relating to the contexts of language and cultural, intercultural and political relations

• work conversantly on problem-based project work, mastering strategies for planning and undertaking a project based on an issue relevant to the subject field.

Competencies

The overall objectives of the acquisition of competences are that, on completion of their Bachelor studies, students will be able to:

• contribute with knowledge on international political and intercultural issues for solving analytical, developmental and strategic assignments in both national and international institutions and organizations

• disseminate theoretically based knowledge in a communicatively fluent and accurate English while taking target audience and dissemination context into account

• continue further acquisition of knowledge and competence development within the fields of language, culture and politics in an academic or professional context

• apply scientific approaches such as analysis and scientific discussion resourcefully in order to create a knowledge-based and reflective basis for decision-making processes

• recognise and assess issues and dilemmas pertaining to research ethics in relation to concrete research-related and professional tasks.

17: Structure and Contents of the programme

The general objective of the Bachelor programme in Language and International Studies, English is to enable students to acquire the knowledge, skills and competences required in order to work independently within the subject areas at a level which meets international standards.

The programme is divided into individual modules and organized as a problem-based study programme. A module is a subject element or a group of subject elements whose purpose is to provide students with an entity of academic and professional qualifications within a stipulated time frame stated in ECTS credits, and which is completed by one or a number of examinations according to a certain examination schedule stipulated and defined in these curriculum and regulations.

Compulsory modules

Elective modules. The student must choose two of these*

* Students may apply to the Study Board for permission to substitute one or both of the elective modules in the above list with electives offered by other study boards at Aalborg University or other universities. Elective subjects or modules must always represent a total of 10 ECTS credits. Students who choose the module ‘Research Topic Study II’ can only choose the one module. The elective modules listed are offered subject to sufficient numbers of applications as determined by the Study Board.

The programme is based on a combination of academic, problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approaches and is structured as a mixture of the following study and evaluation forms combining skills and academic reflection:

• lectures
• classroom teaching
• projects
• discussion sessions
• individual and group assignments • feedback from teaching staff
• academic reflection
• case work

Each semester has a thematic frame. The thematic frame indicates the project-related study activities’ overall academic subject area and its disciplinary anchoring. Each semester is made up of five modules (except the 6th semester which consists of four modules) out of which three in five modules (equivalent to 20 ECTS) belong under the semester’s theme in the shape of one project and two project oriented course modules. One of these course modules will introduce students to the most important theories and methods of the subject area of the semester; in the other course module students will work with concrete courses of events, incidents and problem areas within the semester’s thematic frame. In this way, students will acquire the knowledge and analytic skills required to complete the project module. It is a prerequisite for undertaking the project module that students have participated in the project course modules. The first, second and third semesters also include a module within English language and communications. In addition to project modules and project course modules, all semesters also consist of individual course modules and/or elective modules (i.e., not attached to a project).

The thematic frame of the study programme’s 1st semester is International Studies. As a basis for the semester’s project work, students will undertake the two project course modules: ‘Introduction to International Studies: Theories and Methods’ and ‘20th and 21st Century World History’. In addition, students will undertake two course modules: ‘Introduction to Problem-Based Learning in International Studies’ and ‘Academic Communication and Grammar’. In addition to meeting their particular academic objectives, both course modules will function as support for undertaking the semester’s project work, including the preparation in English of the academic project report.

The thematic frame of the study programme’s 2nd semester is Discourse Studies. As a prerequisite for the semester’s project work, students will undertake the two project course modules: ‘Discourse Studies: Theories and Methods’ and ‘Contemporary Social and Political Discourses’. In addition, students will undertake two course modules: ‘English Communication and Grammar’ and ‘Humanistic and Social Theories and Methods’.

The thematic frame of the study programme’s 3rd semester is International Relations. As a basis for the semester’s project work, students will undertake the two project course modules: ‘International Relations: Theories and Methods’ and ‘The History of International Relations in the 20th and 21st Centuries’. In addition, students will undertake two course modules: ‘English Medium Communication in Multilingual Contexts’ and ‘Introduction to Political Philosophy’.

The thematic frame of the study programme’s 4th semester is Cultural Globalization. As a basis for the semester’s project work, students will undertake the two project course modules: ‘Cultural Globalization: Theories and Methods’ and ‘International and Intercultural Communication’. In addition, students will undertake two course modules: ‘Methods in Qualitative and Quantitative Research’ and ‘Cultural Analysis’.

The thematic frame of the study programme’s 5th semester is Organization Studies. As a basis for the semester’s project work, students will undertake the two project course modules: ‘Organization Studies: Theories and Methods’ and ‘International Organizations’. In addition, students will undertake two course modules: ‘Policy Analysis’ and ‘Introduction to Sociology’.

The thematic frame of the study programme’s 6th semester is the BA Project (15 ECTS). The topic of the BA project can be chosen freely within the dimension of the study programme: language and discourse; culture and intercultural communication; and international political issues and relations. Students may choose to use the semester’s project course module ‘Regional Studies’ as a basis for the BA project or choose freely within the target areas of the programme. In addition, students will undertake two elective course modules. The elective modules: ‘Media Analysis’, ‘European Union’, ‘Introduction to Business Studies’, ‘Human Resource Management’, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’, ‘Research Topic Study I’ and ‘Research Topic Study II’ will be offered by the programme.

Students are recommended to choose to include a credit awarding study stay at a university abroad in their bachelor programme. The Study Board will approve students’ choice of courses at the foreign university in advance. A study stay abroad is recommended to take place during the 4th or 5th semester of the programme.

While taking the individual semester’s thematic frame and the academic requirements of the modules into account, the programme’s academic make-up and international orientation often allow for project topics within the following thematic areas:

• Human rights

• Language and cultural understanding in international cooperation

• Cultural and ethnic diversity in societies, regions or organizations

• Cultural and social development in particular regions

• National and international popular movements

• International organizations

• Current events and developments in international politics, including their cultural and social implications.

18: Overview of the programme

XX

19: Additional information

XX

20: Commencement and transitional rules

The curriculum is approved by the dean and enters into force as of XX

Students who wish to complete their studies under the previous curriculum from XX must conclude their education by the XX at the latest, since examinations under the previous curriculum are not offered after this time.

21: Amendments to the curriculum and regulations

XX