Utrecht University

This course examines theoretical concepts and approaches to genre, with an emphasis on the relationship between concept/theory and associated analysis method/approach. In the tutorials, the considerations discussed in the lectures are deepened. Close reading of literature helps to elaborate further on classical approaches to genre, and different ways of textual analysis (formal analysis, narrative analysis). Discourse analysis is also practiced in the tutorials. This course also works on repertoire knowledge: several television programs are shown as examples of specific genres and genre developments. The acquired knowledge and skills are used in an individually and independently performed genre analysis.

In this course, learn about theatre, film, television, and games as storytelling media. The course pays particular attention to the very different ways in which stories may be structured and constructed, and what that means for how the audience watches, experiences, or takes part in the story. The course addresses a number of narrative forms and -structures, such as the Aristotelian tragedy, the classic Hollywood-movie narrative, the television series (serial storytelling) and the narrative game (environmental storytelling). This list seems to suggest that each medium – theatre, film, television, and games – has its own form of storytelling, but that suggestion is incorrect. While it is perhaps true that certain narrative forms have developed in a specific medium, and certain narrative forms are more obvious choices for one medium than for another, media forms are also constantly borrowing from one another. In recent years, for instance, there have been numerous theatre performances that were inspired by games and game-based structures. In such performances, the audience does not merely sit in a chair watching a story unfold; rather, they are led along a set trajectory through various spaces as they themselves take an active role in the story being told. At the same time, an increasing number of game designers are creating digital games that are intended not for play on the computer, but rather on the streets and other public spaces. For that reason, this course focuses on the specific characteristics of various media and on what these mean for the way in which they are able to convey stories; on the other hand, the course also pauses to reflect on the fact that media never exist in isolation. Various media constantly influence one another in their development, meaning they also influence one another in the way they tell stories and the result they hope to achieve through those stories in terms of their audience.

This course examines the historical origins and development of welfare states. In addition, the course analyzes the principles and values underlying the welfare state such such as (different conceptions) equality, personal responsibility, and exploitation; and different philosophical proposals about how trade-offs between different principles and values should be made. The course interprets the welfare state as an idea, practice, and set of institutions in a historical and philosophical context; analyzes contemporary debates about the welfare state from a historical and philosophical perspective; and discusses crucial social and political themes related to the welfare state from an interdisciplinary perspective.

This course provides an introduction to the criminology discipline. First, the development of the discipline is examined; then the discipline through a thematic approach is reviewed. Next, the course goes into several criminological thematic areas, such as property crime, white-collar crime, violent crime, state and corporate crime, and transnational organized crime. Moreover, the course peaks into penology, victimology, and government reactions to crime. The course places these criminal phenomena in the contemporary late modern context and their significance for understanding current crime and crime policy discourses as they appear, for example, in the media. The course also reviews social scientific ways of doing research, common in criminology, and students learn to connect empirical data to criminological concepts, on a basic level. Finally, participants learn to understand and analyze English scientific texts, write a social scientific paper, argue in a scientific manner, and read media messages critically.

This course examines methods and theories that define the archaeological discipline. It covers sites and archaeological discussions which have defined the discipline of archaeology; core theories and explanatory frameworks archaeologists use to interpret material culture; tools and instruments from the exact sciences archaeologists use to reconstruct the past; excavation reports and central heritage legislation.

This course examines the discourse on arts and media specificities and relations between arts and media from a theoretical perspective, with an eye to the historical dimensions. It covers how can media be combined; how can media content or form be transferred from one medium to another; how do media refer to one another; how do we define media specificity and media borders; how do media represent each other or even stage each other; and how do media work together to build complex possible worlds.

This course examines the history and sociology of political violence as well as offers an overview of the most important recent ideas and debates on the subject. The course objective is to develop advanced knowledge and understanding of various forms and aspects of political violence and to provide students with the tools to disaggregate and analyze phenomena such as (civil) wars, revolts, terrorism, and revolutions. Using a variety of case studies, the overarching goal of this course is threefold: to explore and study what collective political violence is; to explore and study if and how collective political violence changes over time; to explore and study the sources of collective political violence.