Netherlands

The most general function of our brain is to interact with our environment to obtain what we desire and to avoid what is disadvantageous. The brain plans and executes actions to accomplish this. Actions can be simple (e.g., picking up a pencil), effortful (e.g., endurance running), complex (e.g., dancing), or symbolic (e.g., stick up your thumb to get a ride). In all of these actions our brain is involved, but not to the same degree. Evolution has organized motor functions in a hierarchical system that delegates important motor and control functions to lower levels of the nervous system. This allows the brain to spend more time on other important functions, including the selection of goals and the planning of how to pursue them. Understanding of the neural mechanisms of decision making, action selection, action planning, and action execution has gained a lot from studying neural disorders (Parkinson's disease, orbitofrontal patients, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc.) which are considered in the course. Pre-requisites for this course include a course on biological foundations of behavior and a course on sensation and perception.

Public economics (or public finance) is the study of the role of government in the economy. It deals with the formulation, execution, and effects of government policy, or more generally with non-market mediated policies. This study involves answering the following four broad questions: When should the government intervene in the economy? How might the government intervene? What is the effect of those interventions on economic outcomes? Why do governments choose to intervene in the way that they do? The government differs from other organizations because it can use legal instruments to enact policies and may also have different goals than other actors in the economy. The typical allocation mechanism for scarce resources in markets is the price mechanism, which – under particular circumstances – aggregates information and preferences of many different individuals in an efficient way. If these assumptions are not met or Pareto efficiency alone is not a sufficient criterion since a particular allocation is "unfair", there might be room for intervention by the public sector. We will discuss arguments for when government intervention is warranted and whether such intervention is beneficial. This course provides basic knowledge of the functioning and the relevance of the public sector. The topics include (i) market failures such as incomplete information, public goods, and externalities, (ii) issues with fairness, inequality, poverty, redistribution, and taxation, and (iii) political decision-making and elections. These topics will be analyzed from a normative (welfare economic) as well as from a positive (explanatory) perspective, with emphasis on the relevance and limitation of traditional economic theory. After the course, you should be able to reflect and recognize the strength but also some of the limitations of traditional economic theory and interpret some basic empirical evidence. You should also be able to critically assess political and economic discussions pertaining to the public sector.

This course introduces students to the social policy that is characteristic of European welfare states. In light of the recent economic crisis and developments in the European Union (EU), characterized by rise in poverty and unemployment (among youth in particular) along with the rise of popularities of the right-wing parties, the framework for policy has become quite challenging for policy makers and citizens alike. Throughout the course, the students learn about various ways and degrees to which citizens get involved in social problems (e.g. poverty, unemployment, exclusion on various grounds) in their communities and country. The course begins with students brainstorming on social policy concepts they have heard and are or familiar with. The aim of this class is to bring to a common learning ground the diverse backgrounds (geographical and knowledge wise) students have. The course covers welfare state regimes, classification of the European welfare states, Esping-Andersen typology of welfare state, US social security system, and China's social policy regime. The course provides an historical perspective of European social policy, beginning with the time period before the First World War when poverty was on rise in Europe. Students discuss the first attempts of creating social policy, the case of Beveridge and Law of the Poor in the United Kingdom and the case of Bismarck and unemployment insurance of miners in Germany. The shift from incipient forms of social policy to advanced forms of welfare state is the focus of this class. Students are introduced to the stages of welfare state development. The course then covers an historical perspective of social policy practices across the world including examples from the US, Australia, China, Latin America, and Russia. Students learn how to distinguish between the systems and to analyze the governmental approach in this area. The course then turns to the social policy focused on the following topics: the alleviation of poverty, unemployment, insurance and pension, and gender discrimination and other dimensions. The course ends with a review of the current challenges and trends in social security systems across the world. The course is best suited for economics, political science, sociology, or social work majors, but it can also be attended by students with other background who are interested in the topic.

This course examines why children do what they do and how they think and acquire skills. It covers physical development, including biological development (e.g., genes, development of the brain, stress and hormone systems) motor and perceptual development (e.g., development of locomotion and perception of the object world), and cognitive development (e.g., development of language, learning, memory, self-regulation); interactions between developmental processes across these domains; how these developments influence behaviors and vice versa; how these developments are shaped by the various ecological systems within which they take place and vice versa.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are computer systems for the collection, storage, visualization, and display of geographically referenced information. A GIS can be used to ask and answer complex questions that have a spatial component. This course utilizes GIS to examine spatial data in relation to a range of environmental and socioeconomic issues. This course introduces GIS using a popular desktop package called ArcGIS 10.x. Students use this software and some additional programs, called ‘extensions,’ for vector and raster (grid-based) analysis. The course is problem-based. Students solve problems using the GIS and  demonstrate their new knowledge through homework projects, practical exams, and a research project.

This course focuses on the study of justice systems from a comparative perspective. It introduces students to different justice systems, with a special focus on common law and civil law jurisdictions. The course explores concepts of substantive and procedural criminal law, from the elements of crime and forms of participation to different systems of trial. Globalization and its role and influence on justice systems around the world is explored. The role of supranational and international judicial institutions (European Court of Justice, International Criminal Court) in bringing different legal traditions together is also examined. The course discusses topics including sources of law in different legal systems, aspects of various criminal justice systems, concepts of substantive and procedural criminal law in a comparative perspective, and international criminal justice.