NB: De bachelor thesis kan in het Nederlands worden geschreven en begeleiding in het Nederlands is mogelijk bij elk thema.
Admission Requirements
Only CADS bachelor’s students who have already completed:
The first year of the CADS bachelor’s program
The Key Issues course ‘Diversity and Power’
At least one of the Key Issues courses (specific to their own bachelor's specialization)
are allowed to enroll in this course.
Students who still need to take MVA need to contact the MVA course coordinator, the BsC Thesis coordinator and the study advisor to discuss options.
Course Description
The Bachelor’s Thesis Project consists of two parts. First, students are assigned in thematic groups and work on a series of assignments based on a selected bibliography. They work to draft a proposal for their thesis. Secondly, students proceed to write an individual bachelor’s thesis with a subject within the same theme and based on the assignments and readings done for the proposal.
Students choose a theme, related to their bachelor specialisation, prior to the course. The themes offered in 2025-2026 will be announced in the first semester of the academic year. With the help of supervisors, students work through a reading list of texts foundational to their themes previously compiled the supervisors. That literature must be read by students during the first six weeks of the course (February – mid-March). Through series of supervised tutorials and writing workshops, students write several assignments culminating in a thesis proposal.
After the proposal has been successfully completed and first assignments have been graded, students proceed to the Thesis. They write a bachelor’s thesis on an individually chosen topic within the same theme group. The thesis integrates the literature students worked on for the proposal with that of previous courses from the Bachelor and bridges the sources with a personal research question. The topic of the thesis and the research question are elaborated in close discussion with the supervisors and throughout the course. Students subsequently write their thesis individually, supported by tutorials.
Course Objectives
The bachelor’s thesis is a literature study through which students assess and critically review anthropological literature. The following learning objectives apply:
Studying, comparing, and assessing the literature
Reconstructing scholarly debates
Formulating and operationalizing a research question that fits within the chosen theme and within the discipline of CADS
Writing a concise, well-structured academic argument that provides an answer to the research question with critical use of literature
Linking acquired academic knowledge to personal professional ambitions
Working with peers on reviewing written assignments
Mode of Instruction / Schedule
February – April: Preparatory work and thesis proposal
Group tutorials held by supervisor team and based on scaffolded learning. Each assignment builds off the previous one to ultimately lead up to the thesis. Each assignment is designed to develop a specific aspect of academic research and builds off the previous one and leads up to the writing of the thesis. These scaffolded assignments will be discussed in group tutorials and (individual) appointments are available through office hours.
After that part, students and individual supervisors will be matched.
April – June: Individual Thesis Writing
Individual meetings with the supervisor. Meetings are typically scheduled after writing an introduction/outline, and after writing the first draft. These meetings function to discuss feedback and assess the advancement of the work on an individual basis.
Final submission of the full draft of the thesis early May
Final submission of the thesis beginning of June
Assessment Method
The Thesis Proposal/Assignment 3 is assessed and graded by mid-April based on the written assignments due for the first part of the course.
It includes the following requirements:
You need to pass Assignment 1 and 2 to move on to The Bachelor Thesis/Assignment 4 (the second part of the course).
If both or one of Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 are insufficient after retakes, you have to start the Bachelor Thesis Project course again in the following academic year.
If assignment 3 is insufficient, students are expected to re-do this assignment before moving on to assignment 4. If the retake of assignment 3 is insufficient, you have to start the Bachelor Thesis Project course again in the following academic year.
In principle, students who re-start the Bachelor Thesis Project course the next year will do so in a different theme and with a different supervising team.
The Bachelor Thesis/Assignment 4 is assessed and graded by the end of June.
Registration in My Studymap
At the end of October/ beginning of November, the coordinator of the Bachelor Thesis course will send out an inventory form to the students who qualify to write their CADS bachelor thesis (those who meet the admission requirements).
Based on this inventory, students will be enrolled to the course by the SSC. Students cannot register for this course via MyStudyMap themselves.
In case you are planning to write your bachelor thesis and you meet the admission requirements for this course but have not received the inventory form, please contact the course coordinator, Elsa Charlety.
If you do not meet the admission requirements for enrolling in this course but would like to explore possibilities to commence the bachelor thesis, please get in touch to discuss the possibilities with Study Advisor Caro Aalderink.
Registration closes 28 days before the start of the course.