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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

Lecturer: Dr. Lea Sgier

Schedule: 03.-04.11.2016

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 seminar aims to introduce doctoral students to key elements of qualitative research: 1) its main traditions and paradigms, in particular ‘mainstream’ qualitative research aiming for theory-testing and by and large grounded in the assumptions of positivism, and interpretive research aiming for an understanding of deeper structures of meaning that shape the social and political world; 2) the specificities, uses and limitations of qualitative research and their implications for the research process and research design; 3) the main approaches to data collection and analysis, in particular documentary/archival research, qualitative interviewing, focus groups and ethnographic research; content-based types of analysis and interpretive types of analysis such as discourse and narrative analysis. The aim of this workshop is twofold: students who do (or consider doing) qualitative research will find some “food for thought” as to how what they do or consider doing fits into the wider universe of research methodology, and what key difficulties they should be prepared to deal with; students who do not work with qualitative methods should acquire a basic “literacy” in qualitative research so as to be able to understand what other researchers do and think about it constructively.

About the lecturer
Dr. Lea Sgier is an assistant professor at the Political Science Department of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, and an associate researcher and lecturer at the University of Geneva. She is also an instructor at various social science methodology summer schools and doctoral programmes in and outside Europe.

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

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Heike Klüver

Schedule: 27.-28.10.2016

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 introduce PhD students to the fundamentals of crafting a research design in the Social Sciences. A well-thought and carefully designed research plan is the key to a good disser-tation. The research design specifies how you are going to carry out your research project and, particularly, how to use empirical evidence to answer your research question. This course is designed to introduce students to the core issues involved in developing a sound research design.

The course will cover basic issues of crafting a research design such as finding a research question, conceptualization and measurement and we will talk about different research design types. Students will also have the possibility to present their own research designs in the light of the different design strategies discussed in the seminar and are expected to actively participate in the seminar meetings.

About the trainer
Prof Dr Heike Klüver is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Hamburg. She previously worked as Professor of Empirical Political Science at the University of Bamberg.

Further information

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

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner

Schedule: 13.10.2016

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 first introductory seminar on Comparative Area Studies (CAS) explains where CAS come from and what they set out to do. We will start with a brief discussion of what area studies are and what kind of critiques they have faced, then spell out the rationale of CAS, and finally trace their development at the GIGA and beyond. A particular focus will be put on the types (or levels) of comparison employed in CAS-related scholarship. Seminar participants will be provided with core texts on CAS and with additional literature on issues covered in the seminar.

About the lecturer
Prof Dr Patrick Köllner is director of the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies and acting lead research fellow of GIGA’s research programme 4 on Power and Ideas.

Further information