Utrecht University

This course evaluates social media use and investigates which strategies can be employed to influence communication and the ethical questions they raise. Students investigate the power of words, images, and stories. The course considers the impact of attention in social media and the role of influencers. The course discusses how language technology can help in automatically analyzing communication and get a better insight into people’s behavior and user groups. Techniques such as sentiment analysis, trend analysis, media analytics, and visualization of communication are discussed. The course focuses on how social media can be employed in our society, such as in small and large companies, in non-profit organizations, and within the government. Students learn to critically analyze existing social media strategies and to develop innovative communication strategies in one of these settings. Students also discuss the value of social media data in current algorithmic society and how data is employed to shape social behavior, generate economic value, impact political choices, and consider the privacy and ethical questions they raise.

Course goals

After successful completion of this course, the student has:
 
•          developed a critical understanding of theories and philosophies dealing with visuality and the hierarchy of the senses 
•          developed a critical understanding of theories of visual culture and the relation they has with the visual arts
•          practiced with making critical understanding of visual culture theories and theories, criticism and philosophies dealing with visuality, the senses and the hierarchy of the senses
 

Content

The aim of this course is to make students familiar with and learn them to look critically at theories of visuality and theories that consider the senses, the importance of sight and the anti-ocular impulse. Today sight seems to be the most importance sense in our culture. But has this, from a historical point of view, always been so? Which theories and philosophies have questioned the dominance of sight and why? How has modern and contemporary art dealt with its own historically grown inclinations towards the eye? We will be considering ideas developed by philosophers such as Rene Descartes, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean Baudrillard, Guy Debord; psychoanalysts such as Jacques Lacan and look at art from amongst others Gustave Courbet, impressionists, Marcel Duchamp, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, Bruce Nauman, Martin Kippenberger…

There are important differences in terms of economic dynamics between cities and regions. The question of why some areas tend to be wealthier than others, and how these differences in wealth change over time, is crucial. This course analyzes the economic success and failure of cities and regions according to the main economic theories of regional growth. Building on theories and concepts from previous courses, students start with agglomeration theories. Then traditional growth theories of convergence and divergence, the basic concepts of evolutionary theory and its application to the spatial dynamics of industries, economic growth, and the spatial dynamics of innovation networks are considered. Special attention is devoted to the spatial-economic and industrial and innovation policy in the Netherlands and the European Union. Students organize a seminar with people from the academic, policy, and business world.

In most developed countries, the public sector has become an enormous economic force, with a size that amounts to 40-60 percent of GDP. This course practices knowledge of macro- and microeconomics by applying it to public sector related issues by debating: which should be carried out by the public sector (e.g. the government) and which ones should be left to the private sector? When should the government intervene and what are the welfare consequences for different groups in society? Which commodities and services should the government provide and how much? Should this be provided in a market-efficient manner or not? How high should taxes and public debt be? What kind of taxes should the government levy (e.g. income, consumption or corporate income taxation) and who bears eventually the burden of these taxes? The course analyzes actual public policies and develops guidelines for government activities.
 

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the concept of sustainable development and global sustainability challenges from economic, environmental, and social perspectives. Current sustainability challenges are explored through international case studies. The contributions of relevant disciplines such as demography, social and political science, ecology, energy and innovation, environmental science, agricultural science, and economy are explained. The core topics include energy and society, consumption and consumerism, risks and resilience, waste, water, and land. Concepts such as food security, environmental health, planetary boundaries, Climate change, world views, and ethics are also addressed.