Utrecht University

The course provides students with a clear understanding of how basic economic principles, technical constraints, and sustainability goals shape the design, operation, and outcomes of markets for energy commodities, namely, electricity and natural gas. The course first illustrates how the price of energy is set at the wholesale and retail level and how this price accounts for technical constraints and environmental policies (taxes/cap-and-trade).  Then, the course explores how market agents interact in these markets and, most importantly, the potential consequences of such behavior on society at large (e.g., on the level of prices paid by final users and on investments in renewable technologies, etc.). While students acquire skills for making optimal techno-economic decisions in other courses, this course takes them a step further and they learn that the outcome of their individually optimal choices strongly depends on the decisions made by others (competition and cooperation are both possible). In line with the inherently multidisciplinary approach required for the energy transition, the course offers students from different tracks the opportunity to productively work together and learn from one another. Useful prior knowledge derives from the following courses: Mathematics and Systems Analysis (GEO1-2411), Science of Energy Technologies (GEO1-2203), Policy Evaluation and Design (GEO2-2113), and Principles of Economics (GEO1-2255 or GEO1-2435).

Rarely a day passes without the media reporting on violent uprisings, military coups, international interventions, suicide bombings, drone attacks, and civilian casualties all over the world. In conflict studies, these events are often discussed using a range of concepts such as ‘civil war’, ‘protracted social conflict’, ‘invasions’, and ’terrorism’. Despite this proliferation of terms, clarifying the complexity of violent conflict in the 21st century remains a challenging task. Rather than choosing one of these labels, this course presents a variety of theoretical approaches that aim to understand why and how different actors resort to violence in internationalized intrastate conflict. Each of these theories use different analytical categories to study different aspect of the phenomena under investigation. The course respectively focuses on the non-state, state, paramilitary, and international actor. This course teaches conflict analysis to help understand, and explain to others, the complex array of actors, interests, and dynamics involved in the violent conflicts we see around the world today. Throughout the course, address pressing issues in contemporary warfare like: How are terrorist and insurgency organizations able to mobilize people towards violent action? Why do states deploy starvation and sieges as a weapon of war in response?  Why do states outsource violence to paramilitaries? How and why do international actors forge transnational alliances to intervene in theatres of war? The course focuses on a broad range of contemporary case studies, such as Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. Collectively, grappling with these different layers of analysis in isolation and in relation to one another and different case studies sharpen your conceptual and analytical capacities greatly. This course is essential for those who plan to participate in upcoming courses of the Conflict Studies minor. Entrance requirements include at least 45 EC for the category 1 (Bachelor Introductory).

This course focuses on two major aspects of market integration: Free movement of persons (as part of the internal market and the AFSJ) and Competition law (as a complement to the internal market).  Free movement of persons within the framework of EU law has many different dimensions. From an economic perspective, people thus move around the EU to perform or receive services on a temporary basis (e.g. as a tourist, or to receive or perform medical treatment). They may also decide to move permanently to another EU Member State, to work there either as a self-employed person (establishment) or to work for a company or public or private institution (worker). As such, they enjoy many different rights, based not only on the principle of equal treatment but also on the basis of the principle of EU-citizenship and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. So, also people that are not economically active, such as students and pensioners, enjoy certain rights of free movement under EU law. The realization of the free movement of persons within the EU requires a lot of balancing of various interests and rights, e.g. the entitlement to free movement of workers versus protection of local workers in construction and transport and protection of fundamental rights of migrants versus (social) security interests of EU-citizens. The internal market rules are geared primarily towards states/public authorities, so as to make sure that their laws, regulations and other actions will not obstruct the free movement of persons, as well as of goods, services and capital, unless there is an objective justification for this based on the protection of some public interest. The competition law rules as contained in articles 101 and 102 TFEU are to be seen as a complement to the internal market rules, by stipulating specific obligations for companies to refrain from any behavior that may obstruct the internal market. While within this framework economic interests are balanced very often with consumer protection interests, an important question remains what scope there is for the balancing of other public interests such as environmental protection and sustainability. As one of the biggest societal challenges is a fast-growing digitalization, at the end of the course, there is a reflection on developments of EU law and policies in respect to a European approach to digital transformation.  The course is taught in the same form in both period 1 and 3. In learning about these topics, students will make use of legal texts (Treaties, regulations, directives, case law) and an academic textbook. In addition, some academic articles and news issues relating to current events may be used.

The course introduces students to the phenomenon of historical and contemporary diasporic literature and literatures of migration. Topics covered include: the ways in which literary works reflect on the experience of migration; how narratives and poems contribute to the imagination of cultural and political collectives; and how exile and displacement trigger efforts to imagine cultural belonging outside of national confines. In the wake of globalization, the world has become increasingly interconnected, and the course studies how different literary texts respond to this new situation, offering students insights into how literature reflects on cross-cultural encounters and contributes to our understanding of experiences of displacement and diaspora. This is the second course of the specialization Literature Across Borders.

This course develops skills needed to address pressing environmental issues. First, review how to make a thorough analysis of environmental policies: a systematic assessment of what a policy looks like and how it works. Second, learn how to evaluate policies, that is, giving a motivated judgement of how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ a policy is according to certain criteria. Third, learn how the lessons from an analysis and evaluation can be used to design policies, that is, to propose improvements. Read sources that introduce various methods for policy analysis, evaluation, and design. Three writing assignments are required: one for policy analysis, one for evaluation, and one with a major focus on design. The topics of these assignments include the landing obligation in EU fisheries policy, the EU Birds and Habitats Directive (Natura 2000), and flood risk governance in Poland. Sources to be used in the writing assignments include literature, as well as films and video interviews in which practitioners and policy-makers give their views on policies. All sources are made available through Blackboard. Lectures are meant to explain and illustrate the methods to be used in the assignments. Tutorials help you understand the literature and help you in writing the assignments. This course includes an Honors component. Basic knowledge on (environmental) policy and research methods is required.

This course offers an in-depth exploration of the history of U.S. foreign relations, tracing the nation’s trajectory from its emergence as an imperial power in the late 19th century to its contemporary role on the global stage. Beginning with the concept of the "end of the Frontier" and the ideology of American Exceptionalism, the course examines the evolving role of the United States in the world, analyzing how it has shaped—and been shaped by—key political, geopolitical, cultural and economic transformations of the 20th and 21st centuries. Key themes include the increasing projection of American hard and soft power, the interplay between domestic politics and foreign policy, and the ideological and discursive practices underpinning U.S. global engagement. Special attention is given to how internal political changes, from evolving partisan dynamics to shifting public opinion and economic priorities, have influenced America’s global strategies. The course critically investigates pivotal moments such as the two World Wars, the Cold War, and the post-9/11 "War on Terror," providing a nuanced understanding of how a former colony transitioned from a regional actor to a superpower—and, for some, a global hegemon. Through lectures, discussions, and primary source analysis, students gain a comprehensive understanding of the forces that have shaped U.S. foreign relations and their implications for the broader international order.

This course covers the basic tools for polymer synthesis and characterization as well as applications of polymers in various fields. Topics include: Introduction to polymers; Step growth polymerization: linear and non-linear; Chain growth polymerization: (controlled/free) radical and ionic;  Polymer solutions/mixing/separation; Physical properties/characterization (GPC, NMR, MALDI-TOF MS, thermal and mechanical properties); Applications of polymers in drug delivery and regenerative medicine; Recycling of polymers and designing polymers for recycling; Practical work on polymer synthesis and characterization.  There are 5 pillars of this course are: 1) polymer synthesis; 2) polymer characterization; 3) polymer behavior; 4) applications; 5) recycling and end-of life management of polymers. These pillars provide the tools to understand and design polymers for specific applications, taking into account the desired properties and the end-of-life management of the materials. The course is supplemented by a practical experiment to expose the students to real-case examples. Students are divided into groups, and each group is tasked to polymerize a specific monomer using a specific technique. The second part of the experiment is focused on characterization of the synthesized polymer. The aim of the practical is to further learn through experiment the kinetics of polymerization reactions and the characterization methods. Knowledge on elementary organic chemistry, elementary thermodynamics, elementary physics, elementary reaction kinetics is recommended. 

This course familiarizes students with aspects of mathematics which are of importance for Physics and Research Skills. Students learn how certain mathematical techniques can be applied. After completion of the course, the student is able to: solve simple differential equations; use several basis mathematical techniques, particularly: exponential- and square root functions, algebra, solving equations, functions, goniometry, linear algebra, differentiating and integrating; use numerical integration techniques to solve differential equations; use the basics of system analysis as a tool to solve environmental problems; formulate mathematical models for simple real-world applications; operationalize and analyze mathematical models by doing computer simulations; and qualitatively analyze and construct a model independently.

Literature is a cultural and aesthetic phenomenon that takes on many different forms in different periods, regions, and languages. In all of these forms, literature reflects in one way or another the society from which it emerges. This course focuses on the complex relations between literature and society and to write and speak about them in an academic way. The course considers the characteristics of narrative, interpretation, poetics, and textuality, and place literary texts and analyses in specific historical and cultural contexts. In this course students consider key literary debates via the analysis of different texts from a number of different perspectives in literary studies. Students learn to see literature as a cultural phenomenon and are able to reflect academically on ethical and aesthetic aspects of literature; become familiar with different theoretical and critical movements; know a number of case studies, in which literary texts have influenced ethical debates; are able to write and speak about these kinds of issues in an academic way; acquire a supra-lingual perspective on literature.