Netherlands

Prior knowledge of chemistry, physics, or mathematics is not required to enroll in the course. This course is designed for students in the Humanities or Social Sciences with no previous education in Chemistry. It may also serve as a remedial course for students wishing to proceed to a regular level 1 Chemistry course. Chemistry involves the study of matter and the changes it undergoes. Chemistry plays an important role in everyday life, as matter is everywhere and everything around us consists of chemicals. This includes humans, fauna, flora, stars, and planets, and from a somewhat different perspective food, clothes, buildings, vehicles, computers, drugs, and art.  The course includes an overview of the composition, structure, and transformations of matter and a project in which students apply chemical knowledge in a non-science discipline.

This course focuses on the estuarine, coastal, and marine processes and morphological features that determine the morphodynamic behavior of coastal systems. Coastal morphodynamics is defined as the mutual co-adjustment of coastal landforms and processes. Emphasis is on the behavior of sedimentary coastal systems, such as beaches and dune coasts, barrier island systems, tidal inlets, estuaries, and deltas. It includes the behavior of both sandy and muddy coasts. The time scales involved vary from less than a second (e.g., intra-wave processes; short-term) to decades (e.g., the coastal response to sea level rise; long-term). The course starts with the dynamics of wave-, tide- and current-driven processes and the effect on sediment transport processes and associated morphological change. The second part of the course deals with the morphodynamic character of different types of coastal systems. This is analyzed by discussing, evaluating, and quantifying the dominant processes, the relevant morphological features, and sedimentary products. Exercises, papers, and case studies are an integral part of the course and are used to develop skills in analyzing and solving coastal problems. The course also contains several lectures on coastal instrumentation (for example, remote sensing) and on the societal relevance of coastal processes in mitigating coastal erosion.

It is important to understand how public and private organizations work and how public and organizational policies are created. The course Public Administration and Organizations offers an introduction to the disciplines of Public Administration (focusing on the political science element of policymaking) and Organizational science. Central concepts and important theoretical themes are introduced, and the practical implications of theories are explored and practiced.

This course introduces students to the world of start-ups, SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), and corporate venturing. It acquaints students with concepts and theories that are relevant to the process of setting up and managing a business. Students explore how entrepreneurial behavior in large companies can positively influence multiple individual and firm-level performance variables. The course also offers students a "learning-by-doing" environment in which they practice certain fundamentals of the entrepreneurial process such as value creation, opportunity recognition, and creativity. The theories covered are then applied in their specific business context. The course discusses the different steps in the entrepreneurial and small-business process including opportunity recognition; gathering resources; strategic planning in smaller companies; managing the venture; and growth, exit, or failure of the business. It also introduces different types of entrepreneurships, such as social, academic, and corporate venturing, as well as the theories that are important within this research field.

In their struggle for survival, organisms have to adapt continuously to changes in their abiotic and biotic environment. This course focuses on the molecular mechanisms and consequences of these adaptations for individual organisms and interactions among organisms. Attention is paid to various (a)biotic factors including temperature, drought, feeding conditions, photoperiodicity, intraspecific competition, symbiosis, and parasitism. Common mechanisms and key concepts across kingdoms underlying adaptation and plasticity are analyzed in depth. Examples show how environmental conditions affect signal transduction pathways leading to adaptive changes in ecology, behavior, and phenology.

This course explores key themes in political sociology, a major sub-field of sociology with strong linkages to political science and political philosophy. The focus is on the dynamics and relations of power in society, specific problems and issues related to ‘power’ are examined across the grassroots and global levels of sociological investigation. Intersectional and global comparative perspectives are stressed through an exploration of diverse case studies that span different historical eras and contemporary settings. Principles of ‘research-based learning’ (RBL) are emphasized throughout the course to stress the intimate link between sociological theory and methodology. Salient themes explored include democratization, active citizenship, nationalism, neoliberalism, elitism, populism, authoritarianism, repression, protest, and revolution. A working knowledge of introductory sociology and social science research methods is required.

This course offers an introduction to the historical and cultural aspects of Medieval European Civilization by drawing parallels between modern-day societal, economic, and cultural occurrences and the Medieval past.  The course explores weekly themes that reflect contemporary societal issues that lend themselves to a (historical) comparative analytical approach. Themes include modern misrepresentation of Medieval culture, the ‘White’ Middle Ages, modern reflections on Medieval pandemics, revolts and political order in the Middle Ages, and minorities and persecution in the Middle Ages. The course consists of lectures and tutor groups. Students are evaluated on their participation, presentation, scientific paper, and written exam. Prerequisites include any course in history or sociology or substantial high school knowledge in history.

This course is for people with a basic knowledge of Italian and for people who have completed level A1. An intake is necessary when you do not have a recent A1 certificate. The course builds vocabulary and understanding of how the language works. Traditional learning materials as well as online learning tools, such as Google Classroom and social media are used. Although the content of the course especially focuses on speaking skills, additional work on reading, listening, writing, and grammar supports the language learning process. The teacher is a native speaker, and the group lessons are conducted in Italian. Instructions is only be given in English if it's necessary.

The course is structured around five fundamental questions that have shaped anthropological inquiry and the development of the discipline: What is society? What is culture? How are societies organized? What holds societies together? What makes societies run? With these questions as a guide, the course explores the evolution of anthropological thought about its main subject matter, namely, society and culture, and the methods that should be used to understand what they are and how they work. For each question, how society, culture, and their organization and function emerged as problems for anthropology, and the methods and theories that anthropologists have employed to explain them are examined. A variety of readings, from classical anthropological texts to more recent ones are used to chart a history of anthropological thought that pays particular attention to ethnographic method and questions of ethics in fieldwork. Reading assignments will be available on Blackboard.

The language part of the course improves and develops skills and strategies to successfully handle uncomplicated oral and written tasks and social situations confronted during daily life in the German language area. From there the course moves to the first stadia of a higher level of understanding and discussing texts and topics in the cultural and social field. The cultural part of the course provides an understanding of various cultural aspects of German, Austrian, and Swiss society including German post-war cultural history and current topics of the German news. The classroom language is German. An Intermediate Low (IL) level of speaking and writing is required.