Critical source analysis and disinformation
Full course description
This skills course focuses on critical source analysis, also known as source criticism: reading different types of sources in a critical way to uncover their biases, different perspectives and understand their value in providing knowledge about a particular topic.
This is an essential skill in academia, but also in any professional setting. If you work in a policymaking role, you might receive documents from lobbying groups with different interests and perspectives, which you need to be able to read critically to uncover biases. If you work in policy research, you need to be able to assess primary and secondary sources to quickly understand different sides of a debate. Even as a regular consumer of traditional and social media, it is vital to be able to critically read articles and posts you see online. This course aims to provide you with the skills to do so.
The final assessment for this course is a group portfolio that traces the debate around one key challenge for Europe, examining primary and secondary sources.
Course objectives
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Critically appraise the quality of various source materials.
- Identify, retrieve, and evaluate sources and data to build evidence-based arguments to explain past and ongoing developments related to Europe’s place in the world
- Express ideas and research findings to European and international policy audiences and the general public in written English using different formats
- Function in a group setting and work in an international professional environment