Syllabus for Collaborating on Crisis Studies in Sweden and the United States: Problem Solving via Digital Technologies

Learning outcomes

In terms of knowledge and understanding, the student will upon completing the course be able to:

• account for key aspects of ways that the United States and Sweden have made sense of crises, today and in the past
• show insight into how interdisciplinary approaches can be used to understand crises.

In terms of competence and skills, the student will upon completing the course be able to:

• plan, execute, and present problem-solving group work using digital tools
• show intercultural competence as well as ability to cooperate nationally and internationally.

In terms of judgement and approach, the student will upon completing the course be able to:

• in writing and orally in English critically relate to different ways of making sense of crises.

Content

This transatlantic digital course trains students in conducting problem-solving group work on the ways in which U.S. and Swedish societies, both past and present, make sense of crises. The course is centered around multi-week collaborations of students from Uppsala University and Augustana College (Illinois, USA), predominantly using online platforms and virtual meetings. It offers students a rare opportunity to collaborate with peers across the Atlantic using digital technologies. The course compares the different ways that the United States and Sweden have faced challenges relating to for example politics and democracy, economy and labor, diplomacy and foreign policy, environmental sustainability and climate change, public health and pandemic response. Each semester, the course will cover a selection of these themes. By drawing on research in fields such as American Studies, Scandinavian Studies, language and rhetoric, political science, and history, the course seeks interdisciplinary understandings of crisis while teaching collaborative methods for addressing it.

Instruction

The course is based on scheduled digital seminars, group work, and independent studies. Teaching and examinations take place in the online learning environment and via virtual meetings with students from Uppsala University and Augustana College. The teaching is mainly conducted through study instructions, exercises, and virtual discussions.

Active participation in course seminars and digital activities is mandatory. In cases of absence students will be given the opportunity to complete an extra assignment within the framework of the course period. English is the language of instruction.

Assessment

Examination is conducted through oral and written assignments, group assignments, and by continuous assessment. Grades used are Fail, Pass, or Pass with Distinction.

 

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

 

Students who do not achieve a passing grade on the regular examination will have another opportunity to take the examination within a reasonable period of time after the regular examination.

 

Students who fail a certain examination twice have the right upon request, following consultation with the head of department, to have another examiner appointed.

Transitional provisions

For transitional regulations in the case of changes in the syllabus, please contact the student adviser.

Other directives

If the syllabus or course reading for a component has been changed, students have a right to be examined under the original syllabus and course reading on three occasions during the following three semesters. Normally this right then expires. Otherwise there are no limitations on the number of examination opportunities.