Netherlands

This course improves students’ understanding of the complexities presented by managing businesses in an international environment. It begins with a historical background of globalization and the development of institutions to support international transactions. Potential similarities and differences between countries in economic development, political and legal systems, culture, government policies on trade, and in accepting foreign investments are discussed. Differences in national monetary systems and capital markets are considered with reference to globalization and the integration of world markets. The second part of this course reviews the role of location, the strategy and organization of multinational corporations (MNCs), cross-border alliances and international mergers and acquisitions, and the formation of international knowledge networks for technology creation. The course concludes with ethical issues faced by international businesses. The course uses Hill’s 14th edition of ISE International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. Students also need to register on the Harvard website (www.hbr.org) and purchase assigned cases using a link included in the course manual.

Learn concepts of culture, social norms and how to research them, generalizability, and cross-cultural relevance. Seminars provide an opportunity to explore concrete examples for how lives and development of youth can differ across cultures (e.g., initiation rituals, friendship, love and/or marriage, loneliness, social media, work, living arrangements, mental and physical health, beliefs about “emerging adulthood”, ...). Additionally, apply knowledge from lectures by analyzing generalizability and cross-cultural relevance of research articles about youth and their development, reflect on how your own culture can influence how you conduct and interpret research, and develop concrete suggestions for more culture-sensitive research.  This course provides an opportunity to focus on topics you are particularly interested in.

During this course, students get acquainted with the latest developments in diagnostic molecular pathology, both in theory and practice, and gain insight in the molecular biological concepts of diseases. Specific themes are used to describe the entire process, from obtaining tissues until diagnosis. Histological and immunohistochemical techniques are discussed, but the focus is on next generation molecular pathological approaches and techniques, sequence analysis, proteomics, laser microdissection, and  tissue-arrays. Student execution of these techniques and written scientific reports  are important aspects of this course. The course begins with a general introduction in the molecular pathology and accompanying genetic aspects, followed by specific themes on: cardiovascular and transplantation pathology; laboratory animal models in molecular pathology; genetic; and epigenetic aspects of tumor genesis.

Natural disasters are a part of everyday life and may cause significant economic, social, and emotional damage. Natural disasters include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, meteorite impacts, floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, landslides, and land subsidence. Many natural disasters act at scales so large that humans have no choice but to adapt or suffer the consequences. But in many others, it is mostly human (in)action and behavior before and after the event itself that determines the scale and scope of a disaster. This course connects several recent developments; the ongoing climate change, the increasing connections between economies which cause, for example, the next earthquake in Tokyo or California to have global repercussions, modern media showing the tsunami in Thailand real-time into our homes, refugee flows, and climate conflicts. The course is designed for bachelor students in economics, social sciences, physical geography, earth sciences, history, social geography, environmental sciences, and liberal arts and sciences.

This course takes a purely biological view of a set of interconnected topics in the field of learning and memory. All learning and memory formation is dependent on changes in functional connections between neurons. The course starts with seminal findings illustrating this principle in Aplysia. These findings are then compared with mechanisms of Long-Term Potentiation (LTP). In a number of papers, and accompanying lectures, students gain insight into molecular mechanisms to manipulate intra-cellular processes contributing to LTP and neural plasticity, at the genomic, RNA, and protein levels. In parallel, students learn about some landmark neurophysiological findings that have been crucial in our current understanding of memory formation. With this background in mind, students read studies in which molecular tools are used to modulate memory formation and their neurophysiological correlates. The course focuses mainly on two forms of learning, namely episodic memory and skill learning. Most of the papers focus on animal models of learning, using molecular and neurophysiological approaches, but there are also papers on human and non-human primate learning. The lectures provide crucial background to understand the papers, and in a broad sense could provide topics for exam questions. The course is challenging, and so a background or strong interest in neuroscience and/or (cellular) biology is very strongly recommended for this course. Further, students must have a genuine interest in biological approaches of learning and memory.

Ethics is characterized by a discourse on moral values, norms and standards, and the decision-making on the basis of sound argumentation. This ethics course confronts students with ethical and responsibility dilemmas which they study, reflect on, and discuss in small groups. Students who complete this course master the core insights of business ethics theory and corporate responsibility. All participants should have a basic understanding of the functioning of organizations, management of and co-ordination within organizations, organizational ecology, co-ordination mechanisms in industries, and of economic order.