Utrecht University

This course follows the approach that citizens are ‘predictably irrational’ (Ariely 2008). This model of human behavior has consequences for how governments can and should steer society. A behavioral approach to government steering such as ‘nudging’ is explored in this course. Students explore what it means to take a behavioral approach to public administration, how it differs from traditional policy, and to what extent has a behavioral approach been taken up by governments already, and learn about opportunities and pitfalls of a behavioral approach. Questions about whether a behavioral approach is effective, appropriate, and ethical are discussed. Finally, the course explicitly studies the policy process that leads to ‘behavioral’ policies including the other actors, such as interest groups, and contextual factors, such as institutions, rules, and norms that influence this process.  Theoretical knowledge, practical examples, guest lectures, field trips, discussions, debates, and presentations are used.

Old Irish is the Celtic language of Ireland between ca. 600 and 900 AD. It has an exceptionally rich and varied literature. Celtic is one of the most complicated languages in the world. It is the parent of the Modern Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland. This course offers an introduction to Old Irish grammar as well as a first survey of medieval Irish saga literature. Students translate short texts from the Táin Bó Cúailnge, ‘The cattle-raid of Cooley'.  At the end of this course, students can answer questions relating to the basic grammatical structure of Old Irish; translate simple Dutch/English sentences into Old Irish; translate a simple short Old Irish prose text into Dutch/English in a limited amount of time; answer questions regarding the contents and literary themes in some early Irish tales; and list and explain some of the most common theoretical approaches to early Irish literature.

In this course, students learn about the benefits as well as the challenges of building diverse and inclusive (D&I) organizations. The course is grounded in social and organizational psychology. In addition, students are introduced to a multidisciplinary approach to D&I (e.g., drawing on economics, law, gender studies, media studies, and sociology to name a few) to gain a multilevel understanding of how to promote D&I at the institutional level (e.g., which laws, organizational structures, AI systems promote or limit D&I?), the experiential level (e.g., why do people resist D&I policies? What is it like to not feel included at work?) and the symbolic level (e.g., how is power and status in organizations symbolized? How diverse is an organization’s board and why does that matter?). In work groups, existing D&I initiatives are analyzed and a theoretically sound and evidence-based approach to change these is developed. 

This course focuses on the explanations for revolutions and other forms of political upheaval from a long-term historical perspective. Four different academic theories to explain the causes, developments, and consequences of revolutions, coups, and regime changes are investigated. Particularly there is a focus on social class, the actions of the state elites, ideology, and transitions to democracy. Different explanations to concrete historical and recent instances of political upheaval, from the eighteenth century right up to the Arab Spring in the world of today are applied. Through an individual research project, students apply these various explanations to investigate a concrete revolutionary case in the past or present.

This course focuses on the economic aspects of innovation, diffusion, and protection, and on the effects of innovation at the micro-level of firms, the meso-level of industries, and the macro-level of national economies. Special attention is devoted to the role of green public procurement and innovation in services in the current economy as timely topics. This course includes an Honors component. A background in economics and innovation studies is useful, but not assumed.

This course introduces the mathematical foundation and rock mechanics background needed to understand the deformation behavior of the crust and mantle at the macroscopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic scales. The course is primarily designed for students interested in structural geology, geophysics, crust/lithosphere/mantle, and Earth materials studies, or planning to embark on the Master Program in Earth Structure and Dynamics.

This course explores how chemical and isotopic tracers can be used to determine the composition, mineral content, and evolution of the crust mantle system. Focus is given to radiogenic isotopes and trace elements in magmatic systems. Key issues include: How are the crust and the mantle chemically distinct? What are the differences between continental and oceanic crustal and mantle reservoirs? How have these reservoirs evolved through geological time? How can geochemical data support or disprove plate tectonic models? Which types of magmatic rock give the most useful information about tectonic processes and how do we recognize this?

The course discusses human rights in an interdisciplinary manner as legal, political, and cultural phenomena in both Europe and Asia, in particular China. This is an interdisciplinary course, combining approaches from law and the humanities. 

This educational psychology course covers how humans learn and remember information. Topics are approached from the perspectives of Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. Using different learning theories, the course discusses the most effective ways to learn and the best ways to build educational material. How people process information is covered, along with how people develop over time, how they behave in different learning situations, and the differences between beginners to experts. The course has both historical and current perspectives.

The course focuses on the role of religion in the modern and contemporary Middle East and will cover four main parts: an introduction to Islam and its relations to the other monotheistic religions, namely Christianity and Judaism; Islamic thinkers and their reactions to modernity, including modern reformist movements, modernist, and Islamist thinkers; Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle East; and Jewish-Muslim relations. Here the focus is on the effects of the creation of the state of Israel and its impact on Jewish-Muslin relations.