Overview

The integration of most major social-science disciplines into one school is a key asset of BIGSSS. Our umbrella theme is “Changing Patterns of Social and Political Integration“.

In each of BIGSSS' three Thematic Fields “Changing Patterns of Social and Political Integration“ is being examined from a particular perspective. The Thematic Fields are:

• Thematic Field A: Global Governance and Regional Integration
• Thematic Field B: Welfare State, Inequality and Quality of Life
• Thematic Field C: Changing Lives in Changing Socio-Cultural Contexts
• Methods Center

While a specialized curriculum is dedicated to each of these research fields and fellows should demonstrate special interest in one of the areas, BIGSSS encourages its doctoral students to be curious about the research carried out in all thematic fields and to let their own work being challenged by an interdisciplinary community of scholars.

In combination these perspectives yield a panoramic view of the changing patterns of social and political integration in contemporary societies.

The ba­sis for teaching and research in BIGSSS' three Thematic Fields is its emphasis on social-science methods. The BIGSSS Methods Center covers a broad spectrum from quantitative to qualitative methods and combinations thereof.