The goal of the seminar is to introduce students into comparative welfare state research, thereby focusing on welfare states in Europe. In the seminar we will discuss selected texts e.g. on typologies of welfare states, theories on welfare state development, comparative methods and different fields of social policy (e.g. old age security, unemployment security, family policy) in European welfare states.
Perfect English skills are not required to participate in the course. However, students should be willing to read texts in English and to practice their English skills. At the end of the seminar students should know about the development of welfare policies in European welfare states, its (theoretical) background and the application of comparative methods