University of Helsinki - A Leading European University

General description

Developing an international Master's Degree Programme in Ethnic Relations was originally connected to the establishment of a pool professorship in Ethnic Relations within the Swedish School of Social Sciences (SSKH), an autonomous unit linked to the Faculty of Social
Sciences.

In 2004, SSKH was granted this professorship by the Senate of the University of Helsinki. In 2006 Peter A. Kraus was appointed Professor in Ethnic Relations at CEREN, the Center for Research on Ethnic Relations and Nationalism at SSKH. Since then, the Master's Degree Programme ERI has been developed as a joint programme of CEREN and the Disciplines Political Science, Sociology and Social Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Major subjects

Students choose between three main subjects in the programme:

Sociology

Sociology is the study of the structure of society and its associated changes. This includes the study of institutions, organisations and societies; their associated social behaviour and networks, as well as the human values, attitudes and manner of expression. Sociological attention focuses on societies at both the macro and micro level. This means that sociologists study global, national as well as more intimate social relationships.

The sociological perspective enables students to question everyday concepts. A fundamental advantage of the sociological perspective is that it has the potential to be critical. The perspective allows students to diverge from everyday ways of thinking and disclose research findings that point to hidden social problems.

Social Psychology

Social psychology is a discipline concerned with the systematic study of humans in interaction with their social environment. The discipline seeks to describe, understand and explain human action and relations within a social context.

Typically, the problems that social psychology deals with lie somewhere between the fields of sociology and psychology. The main areas of social psychological theory include the influence of social factors on individual development, the formation and change of attitudes, beliefs and social consciousness, the shaping of personality and identity in society, the regularities of interpersonal face-to-face interaction, small group processes and intergroup relations.

Professor Karmela Liebkind and D.Soc.Sc. Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti contribute to ERI by teaching and supervising.

Political Science
Students choose between two subprogrammes:

The subprogramme of Politics focuses on political theory, the phenomenon of politics in different areas of life, political systems in different countries, the political knowledge and behaviour of citizens, political institutions and the ways in which they function, and
political culture, including new political movements and the language of politics.

The subprogramme of Administration and Organisations concentrates on public organisations and different types of leadership, the EU, the culture and ethics of administration and organisations, comparison of various national forms of administration, international
organisations, and the reform and assessment of national and international forms of administration.

Jan Sundberg is one of the professors associated to ERI.

Thematic Focus

To the extent that Europe is involved in the sweeping processes of economic, cultural and political transformations observable at a global scale, it is also becoming a more diverse continent. In many cases, the increased heterogeneity caused by immigration interacts with previous layers of diversity, as represented by “old” ethnic and national minorities, as well as gender, class and sexuality.  Against this background, it is hardly an exaggeration to state that coming to terms with diversity constitutes a great institutional challenge for virtually all European societies at the beginning of the 21st century.

Finland offers a particularly rich setting for studying a wide range of ethnic relations, which stretch from the Sámi, the indigenous group in the North, to the Swedish speaking minority and the different immigrant groups concentrated in the Helsinki area. The programme can be considered rather unique in this respect. To this adds the context of the Baltic region, with is a laboratory for assessing the interplay of European integration, nationalism and minority politics, as well as the fact that Finland is both a Nordic welfare state with high
levels of gender equality and a bridge between the East and the West.

Although the program aims at offering a general and comprehensive approach to the study of ethnic relations, there are certain themes which ERI is specialising on. The thematic courses provided by the participating disciplines often deal with topics such as migration, integration, identity, the relationship between minorities and majorites, transnationalism, acculturation and prejudice.

The aim of ERI

The aim of ERI is to provide the students with the abilites to:

- conduct independent research and to develop skills needed for postgraduate studies,

-acquire scholarly knowledge of theoretical approaches, concepts and analytical tools for
critical analysis in the field of ethnic relations, cultural diversity and integration,

- acquire in-depth  understanding of social science methodology and its application in contemporary issues in the field,

- combine academic thoroughness with a capacity to resolve problems in practice.

 

Degree

Upon successful completion of the programme, the graduate will be awarded a Master of Social Sciences within one of the major subjects (Political Science, Social Psychology, Sociolgoy) with the specialization in ethnic relations, cultural diversity and integration.

There are also possibilities for continuing the studies on a post- graduate level.

The awarded degree is part of the university sector of Finnish higher education and is in accordance with with the Finnish Universities Act (645/1997, 556/2005).

Extent and Duration

The Degree is comprised of 120 ECTS which the student can complete in 2 years.

Language of Tuition

The language of ERI is English.

It is possible to complete 25 % (30 ECTS) of the compulsory studies of the programme in another language than English. Thesis seminars and the Master´s Thesis must always be done in English.

page updated 8.10.2010