Programme Structure & Credits

Masters Programme “Social Economy and Labour”

Credits & Disciplines

The students need to complete 36 course credits in 9 courses. They will also be required to write a Masters thesis and complete a one month internship (12 credits). 

In the first semester (March to June) they should complete the following four compulsory courses:

  • Macroeconomics and development
  • Microeconomics: prices formation and firms in the world economy
  • Quantitative methods applied to socioeconomics
  • Thesis seminar

A Basic Portuguese course is offered, and attending it is strongly recommended.

In July students should participate in a four week internship in a trade union, a labour confederation, a research institute or another institution related to their studies in Brazil. 

In the second semester (August to December) students should complete five more courses:

  • Economic Development and Labour
  • Social Structures, Inequality and Poverty
  • Trade Union Strategies in a Global Economy
  • Law and Social Regulation of Labour
  • Thesis seminar: presentation of at least one chapter of the final dissertation

Intercultural Workshop, Visit to Central Única dos trabalhadores (CUT – Brazilian most important workers confederation), Workers and prejudice, guest lectures and other extracurricular activities. (compulsory)

Students who complete two relevant disciplines in a related Masters programme - either before or after their stay in Brazil - may have these credits recognised by the University of Campinas, provided they are from a recognised university. Students must complete eight disciplines in Brazil. 

First Semester: January - June

  • Macroeconomics and development (compulsory)
  • Microeconomics: prices formation and firms in the world economy (compulsory)
  • Quantitative methods applied to socioeconomics (compulsory)
  • Thesis seminar (compulsory)
  • Language Support: Basic Portuguese (strongly recommended)

July

  • Internships (compulsory) 

Second Semester: August - February

  • Economics development and labour (compulsory)
  • Social structures, inequality and poverty (compulsory)
  • Trade union strategies in a global economy (compulsory)
  • Law and social regulation of labour (compulsory)
  • Thesis seminar: one chapter of the final dissertation (compulsory)
  • Language Support: Basic Portuguese (strongly recommended)

Master Thesis

The final Masters thesis must be written and filed by March and defended by April. Possible topics for dissertations related to labour issues should be discussed and defined with the supervisors at the beginning of the programme. If students prefer to write their thesis in another country they could choose a foreign professor as their second supervisor. The final examination should be at UNICAMP.