English

An introduction to linear algebra, mainly in R^n but concluding with an introduction to abstract vector spaces. The principal topics are vectors, systems of linear equations, matrices, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and orthogonality. The important notions of linear independence, span and bases are introduced. This course is both a preparation for the practical use of vectors, matrices, and systems of equations and also lays the groundwork for a more abstract, pure-mathematical treatment of vector spaces. Students learn how to use a computer to calculate the results of some simple matrix operations and to visualize vectors.

This course engages with some of the large theoretical debates in the study of social movements, reading both empirical treatments of particular movements and theoretical treatments of key issues. It is particularly concerned with the social and political context of protest, focusing on basic questions, such as under what circumstances do social movements emerge? How do dissidents choose political tactics and strategies? How do movements affect social and political change?

This course introduces the functioning of marine and estuarine ecosystems. The structure is centered around marine processes, systems, and impacts.  The course introduces marine and estuarine ecology through lectures, a field practicum, and a day trip to a tropical marine ecosystem. Lectures cover a wide range of topics and ecosystems including the most recent scientific insights and hot topics in marine ecology. During the lectures, important physical, chemical, and biological processes of the marine and estuarine environment are explained. The processes and ecological principles are illustrated more in-depth using examples from various estuarine and marine ecosystems. The influence of global change and other human impacts on coastal and marine areas, such as eutrophication, chemical pollution, and plastics, are also discussed. Lectures include guest lecturers from scientific institutes (NIOZ, Utrecht University, Wageningen Marine Research), the Zoo (Burgers Zoo), and PhD students to introduce students to current issues and trending topics in the field of marine ecology. The lectures are complemented by a field practical to gain experience with marine ecology research methods. Students also go on an excursion to the coral reef and mangrove display of Burgers Zoo, during which students get acquainted with the complex interactions in tropical ecosystems.

The course consists of topics including pre-natal development: central nervous system maturation; post-natal development: neuroplasticity; neural network development; investigation techniques in neuropsychology of vision in infants and old people; and how to use eye-trackers with practical demonstration in lab; neurobiology of ADHD and of learning disabilities; eye movements and eye-tracking in infants and old people; the aging brain; and neurovisual problems in the elderly.

Asset price in discrete time, random walks, conditional expectation, elements of discrete-time martingale theory, the binomial asset pricing model, option pricing in discrete time, and -time permitting- discrete time term structure models and/or discrete time portfolio theory.

The course foregrounds some of the most topical territory in art history and cultural studies today: how to deal with the Imperial past? As such, this course builds on the more global approach taken in Year 1, but it also provides an in-depth theoretical lens to examine the inter-relationship between visual culture and colonialism (especially in the context of the British Empire). Students explore the way the colonial past continues to influence contemporary art and the socio-economic landscape today. Students investigate notions of race, identity, national self-determination as well as the broader inter-connected ideas of Britishness, Black-ness and Other-ness. An understanding of these issues is vital for students to engage productively with the contemporary artworld. This course therefore explore exhibitions and artworks that are currently on view.

In this course, students are introduced to theoretical and political questions about students with learning difficulties and disabilities, including students with severe and profound learning difficulties. After looking at competing models of disability, the course examines questions about health, human dignity, respect, rights, equality, dependency, creativity, and inclusion; and students explore how people with disabilities value their lives and how to assess their testimony about living with a disability. The course includes philosophical and sociological theory, the politics of disability, and numerous examples of first person testimony.

This course is an introduction to ways of thinking about technology, using historical, sociological and philosophical perspectives. The course starts with lectures and seminars on fundamental questions: what is technology? Is technology socially shaped? Do artefacts have politics? What are the common mistakes in thinking about technology? The course then addresses major themes (industrialization and division of labor, technological lock-in, gender and technology, non-Western technology and maintenance) and key theories and models (Marx, Foucault, Heidegger). The course ends by addressing provocative questions such as: can machines think? Can machines be ethical? Do machines evolve?

Recently econometrics has explored almost every phenomenon occurring in societies around the globe. Its methodology affects nearby disciplines such as finance and industrial organization, business administration, marketing science, accounting; furthermore, sociology, politics, and history. 

The emphasis of this class is on linear models with R. The objective is to learn what methods are available and more importantly, when they should be applied. Many examples are presented to clarify the use of the techniques and to demonstrate what conclusions can be made.

The German-speaking region was essential for the development of modern antisemitism. While many forms of early Christian and medieval persecution of Jews existed all over Europe, the Protestant reformation in Central Europe, contributed greatly to the proliferation and adaptation of medieval anti-Jewish sentiments into the early modern era. During the Enlightenment and the romantic period, the first major steps towards modernizing anti-Jewish sentiments happened. The class will address important social (middle-class), political (parties), intellectual (race theory) as well as cultural (visual culture) dimensions of the modern antisemitism, primarily during the 19th and early 20th century. Since the 18th century, Jewish Activists and intellectuals engaged in fighting antisemitism which the class will also address. The specific form of Nazi antisemitism will be discussed in its relation to the comprehensive discriminatory policy of the Nazi regime and, later on, the extermination policy during the Holocaust. With the almost complete annihilation of European Jewry, the history of modern antisemitism did not end, but, instead, it caused further fundamental changes in its structure. The final meetings will be devoted to these changes after 1945 and in the contemporary German-speaking world. While the class will insist on studying the specifically German-speaking forms of anti-Judaism and antisemitism, it will also place the ‘German case’ into the wider European context.