Guidelines written assignment Sociology

During the pre-Master’s programme, we hardly offer support with regard to writing skills. We expect that you are sufficiently prepared in this area in order to complete the pre-Master’s programme.

You are kindly asked to upload a writing sample (e.g. an essay, an internship report, a senior thesis, a paper, etc.) of at least five pages to your OSIRIS Application. We ask that you upload a document that was written exclusively by yourself. If you’ve only worked on group projects, you are allowed to upload this as your writing sample. Please make sure to clearly indicate what sections were written by you.

If you’ve not (yet) had to do a written assignment of five pages or more, or if you’re not able to highlight your contribution in a group project that you’d like to upload, you are kindly asked to complete the assignment below, and to upload your submission to your OSIRIS Application.

Alternative written assignment

Case: For several years now, Europe has seen a sharp increase in the number of refugees, particularly from Africa and the Middle East.

Assignment: You are asked to systematically describe this influx, discuss the causes and consequences thereof, and evaluate the various solutions to this social issue that have been conceived and that may already have been implemented.

Requirements: The piece should be approximately 1500 words in length (around 4 to 5 pages), and should be written in Times New Roman, 11 pts. Kindly make use of headers to indicate a new paragraph clearly. In your writing, you are asked to write like a newspaper journalist (for The Guardian or NYT, for example). You can expect your audience to be highly-educated. Make sure to provide your audience with an argumentative piece that describes the issue, discusses the causes and effects, and illustrates the solutions.