English

Lifting the Iron Curtain studies the political, social, and economic transformation of Eastern Europe from the end of the First World War till today. This multidisciplinary course can be divided into two major parts: a historical one devoted to the short twentieth century until 1989-91 and a more contemporary one exploring the achievements and shortcomings of the three decades since. The first half of the course starts by examining East-West relations in Europe on a material and discursive level. It continues by discussing the emergence and characteristics of the post-imperial order after the First World War. It also focuses on the practically simultaneous imposition of the Bolshevik regime in the (newly created) Soviet Union as well as the brutal development of this regime under Lenin and Stalin. The course subsequently includes four meetings on the post-war (Soviet) era west of the Soviet Union, respectively devoted to the origins of Soviet-type regimes in Eastern Europe; the major challenges these regimes had to face, such as the Hungarian uprising or the Prague Spring, and how they responded to them; the reasons behind their unexpected and sudden collapse in 1989-91; and, last but not least, continental and global perspectives on these developments. As mentioned, the second half of the course assesses the political and economic transformation of Eastern Europe since 1989-91. Questions regarding democratization and the quality of democracy in the region as well as the European opening and the related expectations, hopes, and frustrations are the center of attention. The course closes with a discussion of the major challenges Eastern Europe confronts today.

This course examines the fundamentals of accounting theory and the conceptual framework that underlies financial reporting in Canada, and the procedures currently used in accounting for assets, revenues, and expenses. 

This course aims to develop specialized knowledge in the theories of firms in modern economy, such as: a) analysis of internal organization of firms alternative to markets; (b) employment relationships and how employers motivate employees (the manager-worker agency problem), and (c) managers and incentives (the owner-manager agency problem). By the end of this course, students are expected to exercise an application of knowledge of economic theory to economic organizations.

This course gives an introduction to analytical mechanics and field theory, with an emphasis on Lagrange-Hamilton formalism and the action concept. Further, the course contains a thorough introduction to Einstein’s special relativity using four-vector formalism. This is used to give a covariant (independent of reference frame) description of mechanics and electromagnetism, including Maxwell’s equations.

This course introduces basic aspects of modern Japanese history, emphasizing the international and domestic factors that shaped Japan's historical development. Lectures cover the period from the 1840s to the present.  

As the historical interpretation of World War II is still controversial in Asian countries as well as in Japan and the U.S., the course discusses various historical perspectives in class sessions. 

This course introduces different techniques of designing and analyzing algorithms. The course covers the framework for algorithm analysis, such as lower bound arguments, average case analysis, and the theory of NP-completeness. In addition, various algorithm design paradigms are studied. The course serves two purposes: to improve ability to design algorithms in different areas, and to prepare for the study of more advanced algorithms. The course covers lower and upper bounds, recurrences, basic algorithm paradigms (such as prune-and-search, dynamic programming, branch-and-bound, graph traversal, and randomized approaches), amortized analysis, NP-completeness, and some selected advanced topics.

This course provides an introduction to medical robotics and its applications. It covers recent developments in robotics for medical applications, position and orientation (POSE) of a robotic system, the kinematics of arm-type and vehicle-type robots, the trajectory of an arm-type robot end effector, and the different biomedical system controls.

This course introduces students to (1) the main disciplines which shape education, including sociology, philosophy, economics, history, and psychology, and the accounts they give of the relationships between education and social change; (2) the structures of formal education in the UK and the different conceptions of the value and purposes of education they represent; (3) how key stakeholders, such as policymakers, professional associations, teacher unions and employer bodies, have influenced the ways in which education is organized, for example, by raising the school leaving age, the introduction of a National Curriculum, or Academies; (4) the potential of education to create a more just and socially cohesive society, and what structural, organizational, and individual barriers help or hinder the realization of this vision; and (5) the role of educational theory and research in identifying and analyzing critical educational changes, using concepts such as, marketization, widening participation, social justice, and social inclusion.

This course covers the foundations of interdisciplinary research in marine socio-ecological systems. Marine socio-ecological components, their importance, and major challenges are reviewed. The content is centered around the themes of Nature, Food, and Society. Specialized training by the Wageningen University library is provided. Real-life challenges for marine socio-ecological systems are used to illustrate the complexity and co-dependency of such systems and to create a tangible framework for the in-depth knowledge required to solve such complex challenges. The course introduces the most relevant foundational knowledge and approaches of the main disciplines involved and the importance of temporal and spatial scales of land-sea interactions. Cases are complemented with day excursions. Students study material individually but also discuss and practice the key concepts and questions in peer-learning groups with a coach. At the end of each week, students perform a mandatory ungraded self-assessment, for which they must score 80% to pass. Students complete a project in small groups, in which they are asked to apply the theory to contribute to the solution of a complex marine problem or challenge. The students write a script and present the results in a knowledge clip.