Doing Research with Discourse Analysis: A Discourse Perspective on Making Sense of Social Change

I was already very interested in (Critical) Discourse Analysis and the course did not disappoint me at all. The lecturers presented their research in a very accessible manner trying to involve the students at all times. The focus on research was clear. We had to chance to use the same methods that the researchers used when doing their research and we were presented with new software that we used and were welcomed to also use it to analyse our own data.

The discussions were interesting and everyone in the group was very critical and participative which made it very stimulating. The topics were varied and so were the frameworks used. I learnt so much in two weeks. Both from lecturers and students. It motivated me to pursue higher academic goals after my Research MA.

For a whole day we heard about the research other students were doing. It was inspiring and stimulating.

The day trip to the Hague was also a lot of fun and we learnt about the Dutch political system. The game where we had to create different political groups and make a coalition made us aware of the language we would use in such scenarios and the importance of it in negotiations. I would strongly recommend this course to anyone that aims at having a more critical and socially engaged approach to research.