MSc Topics
Master students interested in writing their Master thesis in our unit are invited to consider one of the proposed topics below. Interested? Please get in touch with one of the contacts listed below.
You have another idea for a topic related to our research interests (Geographies of Youth, Geographies of Education, Feminist Geographies, Glaciers and Landscape Evolution, Natural Hazards and Risks in High Mountain Areas) or at the intersection of school and geography? You are welcome to approach us with your own suggestions. Possible themes could still be broad, the concrete research focus then being worked out together with potential supervisors of our group. So please don't hesitate and contact us with your ideas!
Masterarbeiten im Bereich «Private Bildungsmärkte»
Im Kontext des laufenden SNF Forschungsprojekts «Young people’s transition to Gymnasium and the role of private and public supplementary learning programs» (vgl. https://www.geo.uzh.ch/en/units/gtt/research.html) besteht die Möglichkeit, Masterarbeiten zu verfassen. Aktuell suchen wir insbesondere Personen, die sich für den kommerziellen Markt schulischer Unterstützungsangebote interessieren.pdf (PDF, 79 KB)
Contact: Sara Landolt
Welche Rolle spielen Privatschulen in der Bildungslandschaft der Stadt Zürich?
Im Rahmen einer Masterarbeit sollen Neoliberalisierungsprozesse in Bildungskontexten ganz konkret in Bezug auf Privatschulen in Zürich genauer untersucht werden. pdf (PDF, 43 KB)
Contact: Itta Bauer
Master’s thesis idea: Decolonization of teaching at GIUZ and beyond
In contrast to many other Western European nations, Switzerland never officially had colonies. Yet, Swiss participation in the global slave trade, colonial trade and plantation building is now widely recognized as having supported colonialism on behalf of colonizers (coloniality without colonies) (e.g. Purtschert & Fischer-Tiné, 2015; Purtschert et al., 2012; 2016). Recently, many in Swiss society have begun to reckon with these colonial histories, acknowledging that colonialism continues to function through persistent systems of power. In response, efforts to decolonize multiple facets of Swiss society are underway. Mirroring such efforts, the Department of Geography (GIUZ) at UZH has recently communicated a desire to consider the extent to which teaching has already been decolonized or could/should be decolonized. Yet, little is known about decolonization practices already implemented by members of GIUZ. It is also unclear what resources are available for such processes in the broader UZH and Swiss academic communities. The purpose of this thesis is to explore what it means to decolonize teaching in GIUZ and the broader Swiss academic community, and to identify decolonization efforts already in motion. In the first part of the thesis, the student will conduct a literature review on decolonizing geography/teaching in geography that includes resources available for decolonization of teaching in the Swiss context, including guidelines provided by other departments at UZH, the UZH administration itself, and other Swiss educational institutions. In the second part of the thesis, the student will conduct interviews and/or focus groups, and possibly a questionnaire to explore how people at GIUZ understand what it means to “decolonize teaching,” best practices already in use, and how such efforts could be further supported by the department. The analysis should include a diverse set of GIUZ students and lecturers and should be geared towards a supportive (rather than critical) approach.
This Master’s project should be written in English. If you are interested in writing such a Master's thesis, please contact Sierra Deutsch or Sara Landolt.
References:
- Purtschert, P., Lüthi, B. & Falk, F. (Hrsg.)(2012): Postkoloniale Schweiz: Formen und Folgen eines Kolonialismus ohne Kolonien. Bielefeld: Transcript. Purtschert, P., Falk, F. & Lüthi, B. (2016): Switzerland and ‘Colonialism without Colonies’, Interventions, 18:2, 286-302, DOI: 10.1080/1369801X.2015.1042395
- Purtschert, P. & Fischer-Tiné, H. (eds.)(2015): Colonial Switzerland: Rethinking Colonialism from the Margins. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Radcliffe, S. (2022): Decolonizing Geography’s Curriculum. In Radcliffe, S. (2022): Decolonizing Geography. An introduction. Polity press.