Utrecht University

This course examines the various human rights responses under international law to mass atrocities committed in communities around the world (a field known as transitional justice); the development of transitional justice and how it operates within the broader peace-building field; the historical development of transitional justice, the various justice processes that may be employed, and how they operate in theory as well as practice; societies in transition in contemporary settings and the applicable laws and legal processes.

This course offers an introduction to the study of climate and society. The course utilizes a strong multidisciplinary approach and is open to students of several disciplines. The course's structure mirrors the structure used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). The IPPC recently released a new series of reports on the physics of the climate system, adaption strategies and mitigation strategies, as well as a synthesis report. The course examines these reports and strategies by the IPPC through a wide scope of lecturers. The course discusses topics including physics of the climate system, adaptation, mitigation, economical aspects, legal aspects, political aspects, and anthropology. The course consists of oral lectures, exercises, work groups and discussion sections, and a short examination. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Computer graphics deals with the processing of visual images and spatial data by a computer. Lectures focus on the very basics of modeling and rendering, i.e., the mathematical description of three-dimensional scenes and how to create realistic images of such models. Foundations of computer graphics, such as transformations and projection of 3D models, hidden surface removal, triangle rasterization, shading, texture mapping, shadows, and ray tracing, and advanced topics in physically-based global illumination.  A brief review of the mathematical basics needed for computer graphics, including linear algebra and other areas of higher mathematics that are important far beyond the field of graphics is included.

This course examines the themes surrounding global organizational processes: how state systems work, where the desire for a global political order comes from, which institutions regulate global relations and what their strengths and weaknesses are. Are we on course for a global government, or will the rise of new centers of world power instead lead to greater fragmentation? The emphasis lies on the last hundred years, in particular on institutions such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, and other global governance organizations. Research is conducted into the motivations behind setting up these institutions, how the interests of various individual nations (or groups of nations) were represented, and which obstacles formed an impediment to decisive governance on global issues. Attention is devoted not only to political organizations, but also to economic and cultural institutions (IMF, the World Bank, ADB), to allow students to acquire a thorough understanding of the structure of the international order and the recent developments in an increasingly polycentric world.

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.