Netherlands

This course offers a study of visual cultures and the theoretical insights garnered by the study of this interdisciplinary field. The course provides an introduction to the field of visual culture and explores topics including vision, visuality, and image in conjunction with varying conceptualizations of culture. Each subsequent unit deals with a “site” of visual culture that offers an object of study, a theoretical problem, and an interdisciplinary opportunity. Visual cultures from high to low are studied along with an examination of how these forms are quickly transforming and breaking barriers of category and genre. The principal sites of inquiry traverse fashion, gaming, museum exhibitions, medical imaging, comics, and cinema. This course requires that students have completed a course in the humanities as a prerequisite.

This course offers a broad understanding of current-day processes of resource competition and provides key conceptual building blocks to analyze its dynamics and outcomes. How resource competition is conceptualized informs the direction in which we look for solutions. The course examines resource competition in terms of 'new enclosures', stressing resource capture by powerful actors at the expense of less powerful users. It pays attention to the interplay of power and politics, the law, and violence. Students discuss several theoretical approaches to resource competition, most importantly: political ecology, legal anthropology, and conflict studies. The course discusses current approaches to address resource conflict and prevent ‘grabbing’, such as due diligence, land rights registration, and civil society advocacy. 

Knowledge of foodborne microorganisms is essential for supplying safe and wholesome foods with a long shelf life. This course offers an introduction to the basics of food microbiology and discusses both the negative aspects of micro-organisms, such as spoilage and disease and the positive effects of fermentative processes. Characteristics of food that influence growth and inactivation of micro-organisms (e.g. water activity, pH, preservatives, heating, modified atmosphere packaging) are reviewed. The course provides a detailed introduction to the main bacterial foodborne pathogens (e.g. Campylobacter, Salmonella, E. coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes) and methods for microbial examination, but also deals with foodborne viruses, parasites, and fungi. Moreover, good manufacturing practices, personal hygiene, and the principles of cleaning and disinfection are explained. In a three-week lab class, spoilage organisms and pathogens are isolated from food products and environments using traditional and molecular methods. In the tutorial classes, molecular identification methods are explored, and the effect of several bactericidal treatments is investigated.

Human Rights has been an object of literary studies since the 1980s-2000s. Tapping into the knowledge produced in this new field, this course reframes the history of modern literature as part of a broader development: the invention and history of human rights. This course explores several 'classics' in the history of Human Rights literature as well as a broad range of literary texts that discuss human rights from various perspectives but are not considered part of the literary canon. This course studies these forms as they have evolved since the late eighteenth century and across the globe in oral and written modes (songs, poems, novels, (auto-)biographies, graphic novels/comics, and so forth). There will be two seminar-style classes per week with assigned reading in advance of each session. There is a particular focus on partner/small-group work and interactive discussions, presentations, and discussions on the literature for an assigned session. An introduction to literature course is required for entry. 

This course gives insights into resource management in sustainable (including organic) agriculture through the integration of knowledge about farm components (soils, plants, livestock) and the surrounding landscapes. The course includes on each of the four themes: soils, crops, animals, and systems analysis/modeling as well as an excursion to a local dairy farm. Basic knowledge of soil, crop, and livestock science is assumed.

This course reviews how genetic factors that influence human traits are identified. The traits focused on are human diseases, but the techniques can be applied to a wide field of subjects. The background knowledge necessary to understand and apply the different methods, the molecular laboratory techniques (theoretically), and the approaches to finding causal variants for human heritable diseases are taught. Students practice using the vast number of databases containing human genetic information. The subjects can roughly be divided into two main groups: Organization and evolution of genomes and genes and identification of mutations that influence human diseases. Requirements for admission include a knowledge of the structure and organization of DNA; the processes of meiosis and mitosis, including recombination; transcription and translation; gene expression; laboratory techniques such as PCR, restriction enzymes, and DNA-hybridization. 

Global Supply Chain Management focuses on why and how companies engage in international supply chain activities. Key topics include motives, barriers, risks, partnership(s), and the global supply chain organization. Coping with various supply chain disruptions is a recurring challenge addressed. Tutorials evolve around student presentations and discussions of relevant literature, case studies, and roleplay. Students regularly present assigned literature or case material, as well as provide additional material such as relevant academic articles, cases, and examples.

This course discusses literature from different parts of the world from 1789 (the beginning of the French Revolution) to 1914 (the beginning of the First World War). Three different angles are used to study changes and developments in literature and society in this period: (1) a material perspective considers how literature changes as a medium for communication, including developments in the production and distribution of books; (2) a formal perspective which looks at new forms and genres of writing, including the continuing development of the novel as a dominant cultural form; (3) a thematic perspective analyzing how literary expression is influenced by social changes. Examples include industrialization, the relationship between rural and urban environments, and the colonial ambitions of European states and Japan.

This course provides the opportunity to learn how to apply knowledge and skills to address complex social and environmental problems. This course is structured around experiential problem-based learning, providing the opportunity to synthesize theory and practice. Topics include critically reviewing concepts; user-centered design of social and environmental enterprises; frameworks for understanding and strategizing; understanding and reporting social and environmental impact; and cross-sector collaboration. Prerequisites: two introductory business courses.