Utrecht University

The word ‘empire’ makes one think of the great European naval empires: Portuguese, Dutch, and English. And yet, the third largest empire in history—surpassed only by the Mongol and British Empires—is Russia. Moreover, Russia has sustained its peak territorial extent much longer than any other empire, having been the largest polity on earth for the last 400 years. How should we understand the Russian empire? And how does it help us get a better grasp on recent political events? Much commentary has tried to describe Russian with the classic categories of Western political thought: autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, nationalism, fascism. Others have followed Winston Churchill in declaring Russia to be incomprehensible: ‘a mystery wrapped in an enigma’. This course teaches to think about Russia in a different way, and to recognize it as a complex socio-cultural entity that needs to be understood on its own terms. It shows that the most famous events in Russian history—whether the Revolution of 1917, or the full-scale invasion of Ukraine—can only be properly evaluated within the long-term context of Russian imperial history and identity-formation and teaches students to think of a Russia that faces not only ‘the West’, but also a vast frontier stretching from the Caucasus mountains to the Korean peninsula. The course also places Russian history in comparative perspective, using tools and methods well-known to scholars of International Relations. The course examines whether Russian autocracy is a unique cultural phenomenon, or whether it bears similarities to other political regimes throughout history. Most importantly, it considers the constant interaction between culture and politics. How did shifting conceptions of gender shape the Russian imperial project? How was the Empire’s extraordinary diversity in terms of religious belief, mother tongue, ethnicity or lifestyle studied, interpreted, codified in law, and leveraged for political gains or reinforcing power hierarchies? How has political authority been conceptualized by Russians and their subjects, not just in high politics and formal treatises, but also in art, literature, and other forms of cultural expression? At the end of this course, understand the long-term origins of the Russian Empire, and be able to debate how these origins shape Russian culture and society today.

The modern history of Iran has been tumultuous, full of revolts, revolutions and reversals. Key political developments in the nineteenth century included the impact of European political philosophies and Western educational systems, the Tobacco Revolt (1891), the Constitutional Revolution (1906-1911) and its aftermath, the rise of feminist movements and its effects in the revolutionary uprising in 2022. Pivotal events in the twentieth century included the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty and the modernization project, the nationalization of oil production, the CIA-staged coup that removed the democratically-chosen Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq (1882-1967), the White Revolution and urbanization, the repression of intellectuals and the 1979 Revolution, the hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), and the consolidation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These events have been followed in recent decades by reforms and most recently, the revolutionary uprising with the powerful slogan “Women, Life, and Freedom” (zan, zendegi, azadi). The year 1979 marked the start of several weighty political developments in the Middle East, which have considerably changed the region and international relations. The rivalry between Iran and Saudi-Arabia, the Shiite-Sunnite divide, the role of Iran in Afghanistan, the ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and Hizballah in Lebanon are among topics which are going to be treated in this course. The course surveys this period from the perspectives of Iranians, seeing how they view their own history and use religious tenets, poetry, art and material culture to contribute to the modernization of their country. The course address how they positioned Iran in the regional and international political settings? While secondary sources are used to examine Iran’s modern history, key primary sources are introduced in translation, to show how Iranians look at their own history in relation to their neighbors and Western powers.

This course is structured into four hands-on modules. Three modules are dedicated to using and developing different types of models typically used by Earth Scientists. Many models rely on solving Partial Differential Equations (PDE). They either represent an efficient simplification thereof, e.g., in the form of box modelling (module 2 or directly write and solve (un)coupled sets of PDE’s (module 3). A new branch of modelling constitutes data-driven modelling, which exploits artificial intelligence to build models based on observations (module 2). These first three modules integrate the learning of more advanced programming with acquiring the basics of different methods used for modelling. The last module focuses on the process of modelling itself, such that you can translate Earth Science problems into effective modelling strategies. Together these modules complete the programming, modelling and data skill learning lines. Participants develop and write their own box model with a complete numerical model, which quantifies to what depth the water level would fall if the Mediterranean Sea was disconnected from the Atlantic Ocean. The course teaches the development and uses data-driven models. Learn the basics of different machine learning models, including how neural networks, random forests, and long short-term memory algorithms work. Train models using hydrological data and optimize their performance on different data sets. Finally, you build a machine learning model from scratch to simulate a new hydrological data set. Participants also develop or program various codes from scratch, starting from physical conservation laws to writing codes to simulate 1D and 2D flow; heat, chemical and pressure diffusion; and coupled momentum and continuity equations with variable viscosity. Developments are based on a staggered grid, finite difference formulation, which facilitates understanding of numerical mathematics for Earth Science students. Through gradually increasing code complexity students are introduced to spatial and temporal discretization, initial and boundary conditions, and basic numerical solvers. Finally, learnings is applied to perform a numerical modelling research project. The thermomechanical code used for this module is an extension of the building blocks you have programmed yourself in the PDE-module. You can choose to apply this code to simulate subduction over millions of years to understand earthquake sizes, flow of a mountain glacier, or tsunami propagation over a lake. Students are tasked to formulate a research question in one of these Earth Science domains based on literature and develop and execute a modelling strategy to answer it. Execute your research project step-by-step accumulating into a poster presentation. Assumed previous knowledge includes GEO1-1135, GEO2-1230 and GEO2-1301. 

How has prose fiction from approximately the mid 1990s onward (roughly the era after the decline of postmodernism and the rise of online media) held our fears, loathing's, and compulsions up to the light and changed our ways of thinking about them? This period of unprecedented online access has resuscitated the author, so this course reads essays, interviews, opinion pieces, and life writing by the fictionalists concerned, alongside the journalism and scholarship of others. The novels (including excerpts from very long works) and short fiction have been published, some in experimental online formats, across anglophone literary cultures. Assumed previous knowledge includes deep and wide reading of English-language literature, in particular contemporary fiction, and literary theory. Previous knowledge can be gained by The Writers' Lab; A New Dawn: Renaissance Literature 1400-1700; The Making of Modernity: Literature in English 1660-1850; Brave New Worlds: Literature in English 1850-1950; Race, Empire, and Gothic in the Literature of the Athropocene; Life, Love and Politics in Medieval Literature; Shakespeare's Work and Worlds; Literary Toolbox.

The course focuses on developments in the Low Countries in the late Middle Ages, in relation to other parts of Europe. After a general introduction, the course focuses on a number of case studies related to medieval court and town culture from the viewpoint of various disciplines. Among the topics covered are defining a medieval town, musical institutions, the role of literature, and the changing function and styles of art and architecture in this period. The classes taught by faculty from different disciplines: art history, history, Dutch language and literature, and music.

The transition toward a carbon-neutral and circular economy demands concerted efforts across all levels and sectors of the economy. At micro and meso levels, companies, organizations, and sectors are therefore increasingly asked to make choices related to sustainable development. Yet, changing business operations is not always straightforward. It may necessitate significant transformations and innovations in existing processes. Multiple tools have been developed to identifying opportunities for energy conservation, improving resource utilization, and implementing sustainable practices. In the "Energy and Material Analysis" course, students are introduced to the most relevant tools for energy and material analysis. The primary focus of this course lies in investigating the impacts of innovations implemented at the micro and meso levels, such as hospitals, factory complexes, and neighborhoods, specifically in terms of energy and material effects. This course focuses on developing basic energy and material analysis that can then be applied to interdisciplinary innovation issues, e.g. in IP1 and IP2 courses.

Food choices have a large impact on peoples’ health, the welfare of animals, stakeholders in the food system, and ultimately the planet. This course focuses on food environments and the consumer, to understand the factors that lead to unhealthy and unsustainable choices and how these can be shifted.
The course explores a wide range of disciplines and topics, from brain processes and gut bacteria (biology and nutrition science) to decision making processes (psychology), to cultural processes (sociology), to the food environment (marketing and human geography) and finally behavior change interventions (Communication and psychology). The course includes an excursion to get some hands-on experience and guest lecturers who contribute to resolving the issues in the food system. The course discusses societal issues such as obesity, malnutrition, food waste, microplastics, the protein transition and diet hypes. The research methods with which food science is conducted in order to take part in meaningful discussions about sustainable and healthy food consumption are introduced.

During the lectures, the main theoretical concepts of Television Studies are discussed and historically contextualized, while simultaneously exploring their contemporary relevance. In the seminars, the emphasis is on conducting close readings of key theoretical texts and analyzing (post)television phenomena based on these readings. Students receive feedback on assignments aimed at enhancing theoretical and analytical knowledge, as well as refining their reading and academic writing skills. Students are expected to study the assigned literature and to make their assignments. Contributions to group work are expected through providing peer feedback on writing assignments by fellow students and actively participate in plenary discussions.

The prime purpose of the Advanced GIS course is to widen your knowledge and skills in the practical – foremost analytical – application of Geographical Information Systems using raster models and spatial network models. As a consequence, a substantial part of the course consists of practical assignments in which participants train their skills in GIS analysis. At the same time, start your own analytical GIS project on planning a new road in Friesland. The practical assignments are partly integrated with the project. Work together with one or two fellow students, directly applying your new skills in the project. The project is concluded with two reports on progress and outcomes (maps, charts, etc.).