Course Description: This course presents a research strategy for the selection of comparative cases from different regions in the field of postwar security sector reform (SSR). Key elements are the demilitarization, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants, reforms in the structure, mandate, accountability, and oversight of the armed forces and the police, as well as in some cases reforms in the justice sector (transitional justice, judiciary). SSR forms part of the standard procedures of international peacebuilding strategies as formulated in the OECD Handbook on Security Sector Reform. However, on the ground, these reforms are not only shaped and influenced by external support but also by the interaction with local conditions such as existing power relations and prior institutional designs. This course introduces to the research strategy we developed starting with three inductive case studies from three regions of the world (El Salvador, Uganda, Nepal) and a quantitative data collection on judiciary reforms for a broader set of postwar countries. The course will introduce into and discuss the challenges of case study selection and data collection.

Date of Event: 03.05.2018

Location: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20354 Hamburg, Germany

Lecturer: Dr Sabine Kurtenbach is a Senior Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute of Latin American Studies.

Further Information and Registration (Deadline: 6 April 2018)

Course Description: The aim of the course is threefold: First, the students are going to learn the basic differences between Bayesian and Frequentist statistics. Second, they should be able to identify research questions and ideas that might benefit from a Bayesian approach. Third, they should be able to understand research conducted under a Bayesian framework and how it might differ substantially from Frequentist approach (or whether there is actually no substantive difference).

Date of Event: 26.-27.04.2018

Location: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20354 Hamburg, Germany

Lecturer: Dr Hannes Kröger is Research Associate at German Institute for Economic Research (Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung/DIW) in Berlin.

Further Information and Registration (Deadline: 6 April 2018)

Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Dr. Birte Pfeiffer

Schedule: 22.11.2016

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Participants need to register online by filling in the registration form that is available on the website of the respective event (see below).

Course description:
Zotero is a free, open-source tool that helps you collect, organize, cite and share your research sources. This course will introduce the basics of Zotero such as: installation, adding sources to your library, organizing and managing your citations, creating a bibliography, and using the Mi-crosoft Word plug-in to easily insert citations from Zotero into your documents. Participants are encouraged to bring their personal computers so that they may download and interact with the program.

About the lecturer
Dr Birte Pfeiffer is Research Data Manager at the GIGA Information Centre.

Further information

Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Dr. Natalie Struve

Schedule: 20.10. and 24.11.2016

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Participants need to register online by filling in the registration form that is available on the website of the respective event (see below).

Course description:
Being an academic means being a professional writer: for it is through writing that you make an impact and pursue your career. Alas, the writing part of academic work doesn’t seem inviting or even fun to most people. Yet it can be made a lot easier! Furthermore, writing is a useful tool in managing your thesis as well as other complex projects. Learn about helpful techniques and work on your own texts in this two-day workshop.

The workshop is split into two parts. It comes with an accompanying wiki to supply you with further information and impulses as well as a place to discuss topics. Please note that you will be asked to take part in all of that, and accomplish 3-4 small tasks before and in between workshop days.

About the trainer
Dr Natalie Struve has taught at both German and British universities. Now she coaches academic writers of all fields and levels, and provides workshops for universities and research organizations

Further information

Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Dr. André Bank

Schedule: 14.12.2016

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Participants need to register online by filling in the registration form that is available on the website of the respective event (see below).

Course description:
Building on the introductory courses on Comparative Area Studies, this course will focus on CAS’ concrete implementation in empirical, comparative studies. After a brief overview on current CAS-related research in the study of Middle East politics, the course will examine and discuss the promises and potential problems of this strategy in view of two important examples, both stemming from the comparative politics of the Arab Uprisings.

About the lecturer
Dr André Bank is senior research fellow at the GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies.

Further information

Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Dr. Christian von Soest

Schedule: 15.11.2016

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Participants need to register online by filling in the registration form that is available on the website of the respective event (see below).

Course description:
A key aim of Comparative Area Studies is to stimulate – where applicable – systematic comparison across world regions. However, scholars have paid insufficient attention to bridge the research divide between different world regions, these traditionally conceived areas have been studied in largely distinct academic discourses. This course deals with the practical as well as conceptual assets and pitfalls of cross-regional comparison. For this, we will draw on two articles that focus on case selection techniques and give specific examples of cross-area comparisons.

About the lecturer
Dr. Christian von Soest is lead research fellow of GIGA’s research programme 4 on Peace and Security.

Further information

Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Vera Troeger

Schedule: 08.-09.11.2016

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Participants need to register online by filling in the registration form that is available on the website of the respective event (see below).

Course description:
This course will cover various questions and specification issues in multivariate quantitative data analysis and is designed for students with only basic knowledge of applied data analysis. The course deals with different problems arising in applied data analysis when multiple violations of the basic regression assumptions occur. We will start by discussing the basic Gauss-Markov assumptions of OLS regression analysis, their violations and suitable solutions to such misspecifications, especially when they occur in conjunction. Thus, participants will learn how to deal with different types of heteroskedasticity, spatial correlation, serial correlation and dynamics as well as various kinds of heterogeneity. This discussion will include working with divers data such as crosssectional, time-series, panel and pooled data. The course combines a more theoretical introduction into different topics with practical analysis of diverse data sets using STATA. Students are encouraged to bring their own data sets and present their research projects and empirical analysis during the course.

About the lecturer
Prof Dr Vera Troeger is Professor of Quantitative Political Economy and PPE Co-Director at the University of Warwick.

Further information