Netherlands

The primary goal of this course is to understand Earth’s geologic and surface processes with respect to landscape formation, functioning, land degradation, and human impacts to the environment. The course features an integrative systems approach while introducing fundamental concepts from Earth science disciplines (physical geography, geology, geomorphology, hydrology). A guiding principle is to investigate why, how, when, and where materials, landforms, and natural resources are created, degraded, and changed by the action of tectonics, gravity, water, winds, and waves from high-mountain settings to the coastal zone. Introduced concepts are reviewed in the context of a range of potential topics, such as plate tectonics, volcanism, rocks and minerals, soils, climate, mass wasting, karst, water resources, river systems, coastal processes, and associated natural hazards.

The course includes compulsory field trips to the environs of The Hague to learn how concepts reviewed in class apply to what is commonly perceived as "the abiotic environment". Field activities include the training of observational and sampling skills. Basic laboratory analysis of soil and/or sediment samples introduce students to testing methods and reporting on self-produced environmental information.

The course is about Dutch art – with an emphasis on painting. Since the Middle Ages, the Netherlands has played a pivotal role in the history of European art and culture. Dutch and Flemish artists were the first to use oil paints, the first to visually document the lives and cultures of ordinary people, and the first to produce art for a free market. Painters such as Van Eyck, Brueghel, Bosch, Rubens, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Mondrian are counted among the great masters of history. Their art embodies qualities that are believed to be typical for the country, such as a devotion to truthfulness, attention to detail, and a love of textures. But there were many more artists whose works are still considered among the most important in history – if only because they were the first to notice the mundane things nobody else had paid attention to, such as the beauty of a still-life or the wonders of a cloudy sky. From the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance and the Baroque to the modern era, Dutch artists have tried to come to terms with ever-changing principles and conceptions regarding the world around them and have been constantly improving techniques to visualize it. The results of their efforts are the subject of this course. The course mostly follows a chronological order. In the first lecture, the (religious) significance of art in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Baroque is introduced. In the following lectures, students are given an overview of the development of Dutch art from the Middle Ages to the modern era. The course includes tours to various museums in Mauritshuis and the Hague. 

In this course students learn about various aspects of group dynamics. The course discusses the ways in which individuals' actions, thoughts, and emotions are influenced by the groups they belong to and how group processes shape performance and decision making. Also considered are the quality of relations in and between groups that can have a tremendous impact on people and society. Lectures demonstrate and deepen the understanding of group phenomena. In tutorial meetings, students facilitate exercises that promote a deeper processing of the materials and improve group-analysis and group-management skills. Finally, students work together on a paper analyzing group behavior in a realistic setting of choice as well as their own group's development throughout the course. This should improve students' ability to understand and manage groups and their dynamics.

This course draws from a range of theoretical, clinical, and methodological approaches to explore several key topics: the origin of the drive to pursue and persevere; the theory behind decision-making and the control over our choices; the prospect and challenges of change; the part psychology plays in our habits, the choice of partners, in our professional careers; the origins of power, narcissism, altruism, grit, and risk-taking. The course analyzes and discusses both the scholarly ramifications of these ideas and also how to understand them in our lives and society more broadly. This course examines the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior and our choices. Through reading the text, books and articles, through lectures, discussions, class presentations, debates, case studies, multimedia, and a field trip, students study how psychology impacts most aspects of who they are and what choices they make. The prerequisite for this course is an introductory psychology course.

A basic course on veterinary epidemiology and economics. Specific diseases and their symptoms, prevention, therapy, and economic effects are used as an illustration of the following aspects: health and disease, how to diagnose, and which organizations are involved; types of disease, pathogen transmission, available preventive measures; types and design of epidemiological studies, analysis, and interpretation; basic economic principles and methods used in decision-making regarding animal health problems; and design of disease eradication and/or prevention programs.

In this course, students learn about various research tools, such as participant observation and qualitative interviewing. Students learn how to take field notes and are introduced to various forms of interviewing, such as the structured interview, the in-depth interview, focus groups, and life history interviews. Taking field notes and interviewing are practiced in and outside of the classroom. Moreover, students are guided through the process of crafting a feasible research question and the appropriate design for future studies they conduct. The research questions provide the basis for students' investigations. What is to be investigated is entirely up to the student(s). However, they are provided with guidance in the formulation of their topics. In this course, students have to conduct at least one interview, thus they need to have access to a tape recorder and/or video camera. This is a time and labor-intensive skills training, especially once the data collection has begun. Most of the required work is done outside of the class setting. Students are expected to work independently and should count on having to invest an extra two to four hours per week in interviewing, transcribing the interviews, and working on the data analysis. This course is for students with a background or sincere interest in sociology, anthropology, and/or cultural studies.