Utrecht University – University College Utrecht

This course focuses on the performativity of engaged citizenship through an array of practices that includes theoretical discussion and experiential learning, especially through the lens of creative activism and decolonial practice. The first part of the course is acquainted with a historical and theoretical framework in which debates on engaged citizenship will be raised, especially touching on issues regarding rights and democracy (sovereignty and subjectivity, non/territorial and psychological citizenship), Western and non-Western conceptions of citizenship (indigenous movements, migration, decolonial politics) as well as issues of inclusion and exclusion (feminist and queer critique, racial politics, planetary citizenship, civil disobedience). The theoretical part of the course develops activist, relational, and post-national accounts of citizenship. The second half is taught from a media and performance studies lens, centering on decolonial theory and experience-based learning. Students learn how to sketch, plan, and enact “micro-actions” - on and off campus, live or mediated - and thereby probe concepts of engaged citizenship. The practice-based exercises (such as live-action prompts, improvisation, visual projection, culture jamming, and tactical media) are oriented towards a plural, diverse, and open society, earth justice, and planetary citizenship.

The course begins with a review of the scientific background needed to understand the role that chemistry has played in technological progress so far and to answer the question: can chemistry help in achieving sustainability goals, and how?
The course approaches sustainability from a chemistry perspective, starting by introducing the 12 principles of green chemistry and giving examples of their applications in real life. Green chemistry metrics, such as atom economy and environmental factors, to be able to measure and compare aspects of chemical processes in terms of sustainability are reviewed. An overview of the principles of catalysis and different types of catalysts, with an eye on real industrial processes and sustainable chemistry is provided. New processes to help close the carbon cycle and reduce our environmental impact such as hydrogen production, biomass utilization, plastic waste recycling, and reduced use of solvents are discussed. In project groups of 2-3 students, an established industrial chemical process with an emerging, more sustainable route, and deliver a report focused on the green chemical aspects of the process are compared. 

This course offers an introduction to the history of the Middle Ages. The course focuses on the history of Europe between 400 and 1500, as well as regions in the Byzantine and Islamic world.  Material evidence (written, visual, architectural) of how people of all social standings lived, worked, and interacted is examined. While predominantly focused on European developments, the course also considers other regional trajectories, notably of Byzantium and the Islamic world, exploring the Middle Ages as a period of connectivity, transformation, and innovation.

This historical introduction course concentrates on two branches of philosophy: ontology or metaphysics, and epistemology thus exploring the development of Western thought. A wide range of notions are dealt with, e.g. substance and accident; existence and being; subject and object; idea, knowledge, and certainty; causality, necessity, and freedom. 

The course examines several approaches to key players – director, curator, patron, architect – through case studies, site and/ or virtual visits, analyses, review-writing, and a practical exercise in curating. Part I departs from the concept of museum script to consider the agency of curatorship. Part 2 considers forms of agency exercised by modern patrons in public museums. Students research an aspect of curatorship for their term paper.

This course offers a comprehensive overview of key issues in the study of international migration and immigrant integration. A dynamic approach that follows migrants’ journey from their origin countries to their receiving societies and examines the interethnic relations that develop therein is taken. The course is structured around three main themes: theories of immigration and immigration governance; categorization of migrants; integration outcomes and policies. A combined multidimensional perspective (comparing the integration of immigrants and their descendants in various domains of life, including the education system, the labor and housing markets, the neighborhood, politics, etc.) with a cross-national lens (comparing classical immigration countries and more recent immigrant-receiving countries) and a multilevel and multi-actor analytical framework (considering immigrants in relation to both their home/sending and host/receiving countries, and the networks of actors with which they interact, such as families, ethnic communities, government agencies, local administrators, NGOs, etc.) is used. The course has a strong empirical focus: it critically analyzes and discusses empirical studies that test theoretically derived hypotheses in various contexts. The perspective adopted is primarily sociological but insights from other disciplines such as human geography, political science, social psychology, economics, and anthropology are used.

After completing this course students can:

1. explain the major concepts of human and animal physiology, development, and evolution.
2. describe the contemporary issues related to these general biological topics.
3. obtain basic skills in, scientific writing, oral presentations,  group work, and laboratory work. 

Content

This course focuses on the many intriguing aspects of human biology. Examples from the animal kingdom are used to illustrate the context of human physiology, development, and evolution. The course builds upon secondary high school higher level biology. The textbook functions as basis however additional content is added throughout the course. The main topics discussed and studied are:

• Human and animal structure (morphology and anatomy) and function (physiology).
• And, related to the above-mentioned topic, investigating how evolution accounts for diversity of animal body forms and strategies that animals use to cope with their environments.

In addition, general academic skills are trained through a variety of assignments.

The program is divided in three content units:

Unit 1. Homeostasis, Hormones and Adaptation. Based on textbook chapters 40-44. This includes

• The structural organization of the animal body at tissue, organ, and organ system level
• Chemical signaling in animals
• The digestive system
• The circulatory and respiratory system
• The excretory system

Unit 2. Animal Diversity, Reproduction and Development. Based on textbook chapters 22, 24, 32 and 34 (partly), and 45-46 (completely). This includes:

• Animal reproduction
• Evolution, animal diversity and animal development

Unit 3. Defense and Neural Integration. Based on textbook chapters 47-50. This includes:

• The innate and adaptive immune system
• The neural system and neural integration
• The sensory system
• Movement in animals