Netherlands

This course discusses the cognitive (e.g., conditioning, skill learning, interference paradigms) and neurobiological (e.g., long-term potentiation and molecular neuroscience, brain anatomy, hippocampus) substrates of memories and how they can be changed, and discusses important research methods and behavioral paradigms to study memory manipulation. Further, it discusses how these principles and methods can be applied in fields of education, cognitive enhancement, and clinical therapy. There are no prerequisites, but a strong interest in research methods, cognitive science and/or neuroscience of memory is highly recommended.

In what ways does gender play a role in our daily lives and in our societies? How are understandings and performances of gender and sexuality shaped by discourses and how do they inflect discourses in turn? How have perceptions of gender been changing and how do they vary across cultures and places? How do material factors and emotions interact with discourses in shaping gender? And, finally, how can gender be approached in a variety of manifestations and connect theory to practice?

The course addresses these and related questions by providing an overview of ‘classical’ and contemporary theorizations of gender as well as looking at some differences in defining gender issues and shaping gender politics. Students look into the history of debate about gender and sexuality, and the key definitions developed by feminist critics. This includes engaging with ways of ‘doing’ femininity and masculinity and constructing gendered identity at the interface of race and sex. Students focus on some contributions of gender theory to the larger field of critical humanities and social sciences. Students are introduced to a variety of materials from texts and film, mass and new media, everyday practices, and international policies, as well as interdisciplinary approaches to working with different types of data.

This course builds on new scholarship which expands the study of the Cold War from a primarily bipolar, Western, superpower perspective to a truly global perspective not only geographically, but also thematically, giving voice to underrepresented perspectives. Through combining diplomatic, military, economic, and cultural history with elements of intelligence studies and International Relations theory, this course approaches the bipolar conflict in the broadest sense possible. This course complements The Transatlantic Cold War, which approaches the bipolar conflict mainly from an East-West perspective. It can be taken in conjunction with that course, since it covers an altogether new set of themes and regions, or by itself, since students become familiar with the relevant skills and contents during the course.

This course examines different ideas as to why some countries have flourished and others have failed to do so. Why are few countries rich and many poor? How can we explain big differences in wealth even within countries? If the turbulent development of countries like China and India is any measure to go by, we are likely to see major changes in the future. To understand how such economic transformations work, and what their effects might be, this course looks to the historical record. Why did the Industrial Revolution take place in England and not in China? Why could other western countries easily catch up with England, while large parts of Asia, Africa, and South-America remained underdeveloped? Many theories and concepts have been developed to help answer these questions, ranging from the role of climate, culture, or population, to the institutional approach that is currently fashionable. In this introductory course students discuss an overview of these theories and concepts, and analyze the social, economic, and political development of societies in different parts of the world from the Middle Ages to the present.

This course reviews the interdisciplinary view on happiness which includes different theoretical perspectives (e.g., on micro-, meso- or macro-level factors) as well as different methodological approaches to understanding well-being of individuals and societies. Broad views on complex societal issues are adopted and how to evaluate scientific evidence from various domains is learned. This interdisciplinary course, with contributions from psychology, public administration, and interdisciplinary social science, focuses on happiness in its broadest sense. Key questions are: What factors influence individuals' subjective well-being, why are some societies happier than others (and why are some individuals within these societies affected more by these factors than others?) What can we do to foster happiness in our future generations? There are four specific themes of interest: health, education, finance, and sustainability.

This course offers a broad overview on the fossil record of plants with special emphasis on evolution and biodiversity changes since the Palaeozoic. In this course basic principles of plant evolution from the Palaeozoic to present-day are discussed. The major steps of terrestrialization are placed into a comprehensive overview on feedbacks between large-scale geosphere processes such as plate tectonics, atmosphere-biosphere interactions, and the global carbon cycle through time. The second goal is to critically reflect on natural dynamics of biodiversity versus modern biodiversity loss, the human induced “mass-extinction” of the 21st century. The course includes assignments such as rock and fossil labs, computer aided labs, and a one day practical held in the botanical garden.

This class introduces students to the system by which powerful countries in the world have related to each other over the past 400 years. This course provides an understanding of how major world powers have managed their relationships and competing interests while crafting a stable system that allows them to pursue their own goals.  Aspects of cooperation and competition as they manifest in military, economic, and cultural means are investigated to see how these fields have shaped the global order and how economics, technology, and culture have influenced the interaction.