Netherlands

This course has as its subject Paul Kennedy’s stimulating thesis on the rise and fall of the great powers and the extensive criticism which arose. The focus is on the history of the great powers, their strengths and weaknesses, since 1500: the Habsburg Empire, the France of Louis XIV and of Napoleon, the British Empire, the German bid for mastery in the 20th century, the fate of Japan, the rise and demise of the Soviet Union, and the fall and subsequent rise of China in the 19th and 20th centuries. Special attention is paid to the United States, which played a crucial role in the history of the 20th century and was after 1991 the only remaining superpower. Since the publication of Kennedy’s study the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the rise of China and the seeming decline of the United States have given the debate a sense of immediacy. In addition, the conflicts among the great powers, such as the Napoleonic wars, the world wars, and the Cold War, have fundamentally changed the course of history. The rivalry among great powers often also functioned as a powerful dynamo that spurred development and modernization.

This version of the Dutch Art History course includes an Independent Study Project (ISP) done under the direction of the instructor. The ISP is 10-12 pages and counts for 1/3 of the overall grade for the course. 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. 

This course provides an introduction to the criminology discipline. First, the development of the discipline is examined; then the discipline through a thematic approach is reviewed. Next, the course goes into several criminological thematic areas, such as property crime, white-collar crime, violent crime, state and corporate crime, and transnational organized crime. Moreover, the course peaks into penology, victimology, and government reactions to crime. The course places these criminal phenomena in the contemporary late modern context and their significance for understanding current crime and crime policy discourses as they appear, for example, in the media. The course also reviews social scientific ways of doing research, common in criminology, and students learn to connect empirical data to criminological concepts, on a basic level. Finally, participants learn to understand and analyze English scientific texts, write a social scientific paper, argue in a scientific manner, and read media messages critically.

The first part of this course is on the molecular and cellular biology of the nervous system. Focus is on the neurotransmission process, in particular the role of neurotransmitter receptors as a basis for understanding the mode of action of Central Nervous System (CNS) drugs. The second part of the course gives an overview of the major classes of a number of CNS drugs: the hypnotics and sedatives, the anxiolytics, and the drugs used to treat CNS degenerative disorders. The pharmacology of these drugs is put in the perspective of their clinical use. The final part of the course is devoted to illicit drugs, their acute and long term effects, and their potential as medicines.

This course examines methods and theories that define the archaeological discipline. It covers sites and archaeological discussions which have defined the discipline of archaeology; core theories and explanatory frameworks archaeologists use to interpret material culture; tools and instruments from the exact sciences archaeologists use to reconstruct the past; excavation reports and central heritage legislation.

The course provides a solid understanding of the key aspects of energy metabolism and the effects of nutrients on skeletal muscle metabolism during exercise of different types. The first part of the course provides a theoretical framework on the basics of exercise biochemistry and exercise physiology. In the form of tutorial groups, the physiology of muscles, the metabolism of macronutrients, the hormonal regulation of metabolism, and the biochemical and physiological role of micronutrients in relation to exercise and fatigue are discussed. The second part of the course investigates a case study. A recommendation on your case, in the form of a group assignment, concludes this part of the course. The course requires prior knowledge of some simple (bio)chemical concepts (e.g. the structure and function of macromolecules, common forms of chemical reactions, basic cell structure, and metabolism of macromolecules).

This course examines the discourse on arts and media specificities and relations between arts and media from a theoretical perspective, with an eye to the historical dimensions. It covers how can media be combined; how can media content or form be transferred from one medium to another; how do media refer to one another; how do we define media specificity and media borders; how do media represent each other or even stage each other; and how do media work together to build complex possible worlds.

This course examines the history and sociology of political violence as well as offers an overview of the most important recent ideas and debates on the subject. The course objective is to develop advanced knowledge and understanding of various forms and aspects of political violence and to provide students with the tools to disaggregate and analyze phenomena such as (civil) wars, revolts, terrorism, and revolutions. Using a variety of case studies, the overarching goal of this course is threefold: to explore and study what collective political violence is; to explore and study if and how collective political violence changes over time; to explore and study the sources of collective political violence.

The first half of this course covers literary prose fiction and the second half covers non-fiction, drama, and poetry. Neither fiction aimed at children/young adults nor genre fiction feature in this course. This course stresses process writing, rewriting and editing as essential to the craft. Students read aloud their prose, poetry, and drama in writers' workshops. This course is predicated on acts of practice-led research. Therefore students are required to write critical introductions, citing relevant theory, to accompany all assignments including the portfolio.