Utrecht University

From the local to the global perspective, economic activity is unevenly distri­buted. Economic geography is concerned with describing, understanding, explaining, and influencing econo­mic territorial patterns and processes. This course overviews economic geography approaches and key concepts. Moving from the local/regional level to the global, main conceptual ideas on the spatial development of industries and of regions at various scales are discussed. This is done through the lens of main actors: firms/entrepreneurs, labor, and institutions. Spatial economy involves a wider societal context surrounding economic processes: socio-cultural, institu­tional, and relational network patterns and characteristics. The course is also an introduction to geography as a wider discipline, and pays attention to the economic landscape of the Netherlands. Course includes real world cases, tutorials, and assignments, and participants actively carry out project assignments that are not only literature based but also include a fieldtrip and fieldwork.

Employing recent theories from gender and postcolonial studies, as well as media studies, this course analyses a wide range of case studies from contemporary visual culture, across a broad scope of genres and technologies. The course requires participants to critically think about concepts such as visuality, visual culture, representation, and technology. A novel approach to art, culture, and technology by challenging the primacy of vision and by mobilizing an intersectional perspective is provided. Visual methodologies and analytic tools from the fields of semiotics and psychoanalysis to be able to critically assess how social and cultural norms are disseminated in visual ways are learned. The course provides a toolkit for thinking through the growing and often overwhelming array of images we are confronted with daily in our media-saturated culture.

This course aims to provide an overview of western history, and some aspects of Middle Eastern history, from late antiquity to the 15th century. This includes an exploration of key political, economic, social, and religious events and developments. Examples include the evolution of the Roman Empire and its transition into the various empires and areas that eventually came to replace it in the West. Attention is also paid to the existing debate about the medieval period as a so-called "dark age." The birth of Christianity was another crucial development that shaped European history. Key events in later centuries include the establishment of universities, vast economic expansion, formation of the cultural landscape, trade expeditions, voyages of discovery, demographic growth, and the urbanization of large parts of Europe. Other important issues include constitutional developments ranging from the emergence of State Assemblies and gradual expansion of the powers held by kings and other rulers, to revolts and wars. Crucial religious and cultural developments include the major Councils, the Gregorian reforms, the Investiture Conflict and the Renaissance of the 12th century. This overview serves as a basis for the discussion of various themes. The course includes a visit to the special collection of the university library at the Uithof, where several manuscripts are shown.

Political geography studies the links between power and space. This course focuses on the role of territorial states in our world. The relationship between states and their territories constantly changes but remains important to understanding the geopolitical changes related to different conceptualizations of what a nation-state is. This course considers questions such as how states control their territories and how the political order of different geographical areas is organized. It also analyzes the links between the political organization of these territories and the way their societies and economies change. The course provides an overview of contemporary political geography, its background as a sub-discipline, its main subjects, concepts, and theoretical underpinnings, as well as considers a selection of ongoing debates on issues where power and space are at stake. Some major themes covered in the course include the nature and formation of states and the global state system, the role of nationalism and territorial identities, how and why political systems change over time and how this relates to dynamics in other fields, the role of geographical scale levels in politics and how and why political systems vary between different parts of the world. While different scale levels are discussed, the emphasis is on the macro-level of the transforming nation-state, their geopolitical relations, and how citizens react and relate to these political structures.

This course focuses on studying education and training from an international perspective. It examines how global or international developments affect teaching and learning across continents and countries. Educational policies and practices of different countries with regard to specific themes are compared. An overarching framework focused on the complex interplay between economic, political, historical, social, and cultural factors, and how these factors affect national educational policies and practices is used. Topics that can be addressed during the course include cross-cultural perspectives on education; comparison of goals of education across nations; comparisons of educational systems through worldwide studies examining students' academic performance (e.g., PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS); comparison of educational policies with regard to themes such as inclusive education, learning problems, and students with educational disadvantages; the role of the government, non-governmental organizations (NGO's), and public organizations Internationalization of (higher) education. Students conduct an international comparative case study based on policy documents and scientific literature.

This course examines the complex issues that surround drug development in society. It covers the history and current methods of drug development, including the discovery and development stages, regulatory review, market authorization, and post-market activities until the drug is no longer on the market.