Foundations of Research – 1: Sources & Methods of Source Analysis (3 ECTS)

The course’s goal is to help PhD students working on dissertation projects and Research MA students preparing their final theses to optimize their use of primary sources. All participants will have the opportunity to give presentations on the use of primary sources in their own projects. In addition, there will be lectures by invited specialists on types of source-based research that participants are engaged in. The presentations by the participants (max. 30 minutes) must be built around specific texts, documents or visual data that are central to their research project, and explain something about: 1) heuristics (How have sources been traced, found and selected with respect to their potential research relevance? In what form are they available and accessible?), 2) source criticism (What rules of source criticism have been applied, including questions of reliability, authenticity and textual tradition?), 3) hermeneutics (What methods of textual or visual/pictorial interpretation have been applied?), and 4) informational value (What kind of valuable information are sources used expected to generate?).