Dear Applicant,
For admission to the MA programme in Human Rights and Democratization in the Caucasus, a list of required documents was elaborated. One of the requirements is to submit either an essay on one of the topics suggested for the 2023/24 cohort admission or thesis proposal regarding a topic you wish to explore.
Essay Topics 2023/24 Academic year:
1. Is democracy a universal value?
2. Conflict and Refugee crisis: solidarity vs. discrimination
3. Human rights and Emergency Measures: challenges and opportunities.
4. Conflict and Democracy: when democracy is tested.
5. Essay on Free topic (it should relate to human rights and democratisation topics)
What is an Essay?
An Essay is usually a paper that proposes and/or explains a position in response to the main essay question. Usually, an essay topic requires some research that will help you in developing your points and will add critical value to your analysis. Please note that it is crucially important to reason your point with examples. Your essay needs to include the following parts three:
- Introduction (to introduce the subject and present the thesis)
- Main Body (to present your points and arguments using comparison, contrast, critical assessment, etc.)
- Conclusion (to summarize research results)
Thesis Proposal
Your thesis proposal is a thesis plan and/or proposal which should have a background part and rationale why you wish to explore that particular topic. Other parts to be included in the proposal are the topic and its description, definition of problems, possible research questions, as well as very short lit. review, research methods and bibliography. Please limit yourselves to 3-5 pages.
Citation
While writing your essay or thesis proposal, it is rather encouraged to use ideas and information from various sources (books, articles, journals, reliable internet sources, newspapers, etc.) that will best illustrate your points. However, while using such sources, please do not forget to give credit to the source, i.e. to mention the author(s), title, name of the source, and dates accessed, either in footnotes and endnotes or cite them in the text. Otherwise, your paper will be considered plagiarized, and that is considered an academic offence by the consortium.
Be aware that if you use or copy someone’s work without proper acknowledgement, your paper will not be assessed.
In order to find out more about plagiarism and how to avoid it, please consult the booklet that was elaborated by the Centre for European Studies in cooperation with the Essex University
Assessment
All submitted papers will be assessed by two different teams from partner countries anonymously. While assessing your written submission, special attention will be paid to the content (analysis, logical reasoning, coherence) and style (language, use of vocabulary, etc.).