Maastricht University – University College Maastricht

This course dives into the history and genre of the short story by reading and analyzing several stories as well as telling short stories ourselves. Aspects and concepts such as genre, plot, beginning and endings, character, setting, point of view, narration, texture and pace, style, and reflection on the relationship between the author, the text, and the reader are examined. Academic analysis and hands-on creative writing are combined facilitating a deeper understanding of how narratives work and how they produce meanings. Peer and tutor feedback are key aspects of this course. The collection of short stories varies every year but covers a diverse range of stories and authors such as Virginia Woolf, Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, Chinua Achebe, Bernadine Evaristo, and Sally Rooney.

Examining flows of diseases, people, goods, knowledge, and technology induced by processes of globalization can deepen our understanding of the complexity of health and disease. In this course, these flows are studied in depth, bringing insights into (epi) genetic disease distributions as well as the spread of information, technology, and migration, all in themselves affecting health and disease. The content of this course draws on several distinct academic disciplines of political economy, anthropology, biomedicine, (epi) genetics, and epidemiology. Prerequisites include Introduction to Biology and at least one of the following courses: Genetics and evolution, Infectious diseases and Global public Health, or Globalization and Inequality.

In this course students discuss, at a detailed molecular level, different cellular and genetic processes that are the basis of life as we know it. Students are familiarized with further knowledge in the field of cell biology, which enables them to better understand and appreciate the newest developments in this research area. Discussions revolve around general cell biological topics such as the role of membranes, membrane transport of small molecules, the nuclear architecture, the organization of the genome, regulation of transcription and translation, protein trafficking, the cell cycle and maintenance of genomic integrity, programmed cell death and senescence. The last task, dealing with cancer, serves as an integration task; knowledge of the previous topics is required to appreciate what the consequences can be when a cell goes astray and the defense mechanisms of the body fail. Prerequisites for this course include introduction to biology. This course is designed to be taken in combination with SKI2077 Lab Skills: Cell Biology. Students wishing to take the Lab Skills should concurrently enroll in or have completed this course. Students wishing to take SCI2037 Cell Biology without taking the Lab Skills may do so.

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings are influenced by others. This course covers the core themes from social psychology – such as attitudes and attitude change, conformity, and aggression – and how they can be scientifically investigated. During the course, students participate in a “Humans of Maastricht” project. In this project, students make contact with their self-perceived “out-group,” applying social psychological theories and concepts to their experiences and reducing their stereotypes and prejudice in the process.

The course Poetry and Pop Songs reads English and American poetry from the 20th and 21st centuries Works are unraveled from a variety of older and newer music artists, ranging for example from U2 and Coldplay to Rihanna and Pink.  Students learn how to interpret poetry and popular music in a systematic and sophisticated way, and to write an in-depth analysis of a song or poem. The focus is on the analysis of the lyrics or ‘text’ of the poems and songs by using insights and tools from literary theory to find out how (specific) poems work, which effects they evoke, and what they mean. Students also apply these tools to the analysis of song texts. The course focuses on contemporary popular music, which means including other genres than just conventional pop music, such as rap, hip-hop, and rock.

This course offers an introduction to the social scientific discipline of sociology. The course focuses on foundational areas of sociological research and theorizing to explore how sociologists approach the study of various social processes, practices, and problems. Topics include defining “society;” society's effects on individuals; individuals' effects on society; the development of societies; the distribution of wealth, income, and other resources; the establishment of political authority and power relations within societies; the reproduction of identities, values, and beliefs over time; and the sources of conflict, consensus, and change in society. The course explores these topics by introducing the different strands of sociological theorizing, the distinctive levels of sociological analysis, and some of the most central areas of sociological investigation, such as class, race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, culture, media, education, marriage, work, and globalization. Periodic attention is given to applying the sociological lens to the analysis of pressing social issues and problems in the contemporary world, such as inequality and violence.

The course starts with a discussion of Roman Law. The so-called Corpus Iuris Civilis will be used as the point of departure since most of what we know about Roman Law derives from this compilation of legal materials that was made in the 6th century AD on the orders of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. While Roman law was adapted to cope with the changing society, the idea was maintained that it was essentially the same law that had been part of the early Roman way of life. The course also concentrates on the different approaches to the law that existed and still exist in Anglo-American jurisdictions. It explains the legal differences today between continental Europe and the British Isles. Additionally, some elements of American legal history are studied. The course will conclude with a study of a selection of similarities and differences that exist in today’s European legal landscape.

This course offers a study of classical sociology. The course reviews work of early theorists such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, and Georg Simmel. The course discusses topics including questions driving the formation of classical sociology and their relevance today, the basis of social order and structure, how and why societies change, the causes and consequences of conflict in society, and the place of the individual in society. This course consists of tutorial group meetings and lectures. Students read original materials accompanied by contemporary interpretations of the classics. This course requires that students have completed a course in macro sociology as a prerequisite.

Russian B1 plus is suitable for people with intermediate knowledge of Russian (B1minus level). Registering for this course is only possible when you have passed the previous course or had an intake with the teacher.