Economic, legal, social and political issues in Dutch-speaking countries

Teacher(s)

Hiligsmann Philippe; Van Mensel Luk (compensates Hiligsmann Philippe);

Language

Dutch

Prerequisites

B2 level of listening and reading and B2 level of speaking (Common European Framework of Reference).

Main themes

The course touches on the economic, legal, social and political issues in Dutch-speaking countries. It describes the political institutions and the different actors (parties, trends) and tackles the important legal questions discussed in society. During the course, we will describe the major recent social trends by studying the different participants (employers, trade unions, etc.) Finally, the economic underpinnings of the country will be tackled (finance, employment, the structure of companies, management, etc.), in order to speed up the economic immersion in the economic life of these countries. This course also has a seminar component (15 hours) where different aspects of the course are discussed in Dutch using articles and videos.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	By the end of the course, students should have acquired a solid knowledge of the economic, legal, social and political issues in Dutch-speaking countries. They should be able to describe in detail the political institutions, the different social actors (employers, trade unions, etc.) and the important social questions discussed in the Dutch-speaking countries.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

The course touches on the economic, legal, social and political issues in Dutch-speaking countries using a variety of sources: newspaper articles, videos, internet sites, etc.) Emphasis will also be placed on the current events of the countries concerned using different media (newspapers, television etc.)

Teaching methods

Lectures by teacher and guest speakers, oral presentations

Evaluation methods

Oral exam on the topics that have been handled in during the course (40%), exam about exercices session (35%), presentations (a.o. about a Flemish city) and course participation (25%)

Other information

- The teacher will, whenever possible, invite members from the business, diplomatic and journalistic world to come and speak to the students.
- Part 2 of the course (15 hours) is given by the Institut des Langues Vivantes (ILV).

Teaching materials

• PowerPoint presentations on Moodle
• Different documents on Moodle

Faculty or entity

MULT