Maastricht University - Center for European Studies

This course focuses on the psychology behind athletic performance, as well as on physical (in)activity levels in the general population. Sport and exercise are often considered a largely physical endeavor (strength, speed, stamina, flexibility etc.). However, it is widely acknowledged that sport performances and physical activity behavior are also influenced by psychological factors. Therefore, the course attends to the biology of sport performances and physical exercise, primarily on their behavioral determinants, motivations, pressure and stress, and ultimately looks at possible venues for behavior change.

The course is about Dutch art – with an emphasis on painting. Since the Middle Ages, the Netherlands has played a pivotal role in the history of European art and culture. Dutch and Flemish artists were the first to use oil paints, the first to visually document the lives and cultures of ordinary people, and the first to produce art for a free market. Painters such as Van Eyck, Brueghel, Bosch, Rubens, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Mondrian are counted among the great masters of history. Their art embodies qualities that are believed to be typical for the country, such as a devotion to truthfulness, attention to detail, and a love of textures. But there were many more artists whose works are still considered among the most important in history – if only because they were the first to notice the mundane things nobody else had paid attention to, such as the beauty of a still-life or the wonders of a cloudy sky. From the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance and the Baroque to the modern era, Dutch artists have tried to come to terms with ever-changing principles and conceptions regarding the world around them and have been constantly improving techniques to visualize it. The results of their efforts are the subject of this course. The course mostly follows a chronological order. In the first lecture, the (religious) significance of art in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Baroque is introduced. In the following lectures, students are given an overview of the development of Dutch art from the Middle Ages to the modern era. The course includes tours to various museums in Mauritshuis and the Hague. 

In this course students learn about various aspects of group dynamics. The course discusses the ways in which individuals' actions, thoughts, and emotions are influenced by the groups they belong to and how group processes shape performance and decision making. Also considered are the quality of relations in and between groups that can have a tremendous impact on people and society. Lectures demonstrate and deepen the understanding of group phenomena. In tutorial meetings, students facilitate exercises that promote a deeper processing of the materials and improve group-analysis and group-management skills. Finally, students work together on a paper analyzing group behavior in a realistic setting of choice as well as their own group's development throughout the course. This should improve students' ability to understand and manage groups and their dynamics.

This course draws from a range of theoretical, clinical, and methodological approaches to explore several key topics: the origin of the drive to pursue and persevere; the theory behind decision-making and the control over our choices; the prospect and challenges of change; the part psychology plays in our habits, the choice of partners, in our professional careers; the origins of power, narcissism, altruism, grit, and risk-taking. The course analyzes and discusses both the scholarly ramifications of these ideas and also how to understand them in our lives and society more broadly. This course examines the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior and our choices. Through reading the text, books and articles, through lectures, discussions, class presentations, debates, case studies, multimedia, and a field trip, students study how psychology impacts most aspects of who they are and what choices they make. The prerequisite for this course is an introductory psychology course.

In this course, the clinical aspects of the various anxiety disorders are presented as well as knowledge of theories and models about the maintenance factors and their treatment implications. In the tasks, case histories of patients with anxiety disorders are arranged according to different focus points. The framework is built by the various anxiety disorders (specific phobia, social anxiety disorders, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder). Based on these different anxiety disorders three different theories concerning the etiology and maintenance factors of anxiety are studied 1) learning theory, 2) cognitive theory, and 3) biological models of anxiety. Treatment implications from these different theories are also studied.

This course discusses the cognitive (e.g., conditioning, skill learning, interference paradigms) and neurobiological (e.g., long-term potentiation and molecular neuroscience, brain anatomy, hippocampus) substrates of memories and how they can be changed, and discusses important research methods and behavioral paradigms to study memory manipulation. Further, it discusses how these principles and methods can be applied in fields of education, cognitive enhancement, and clinical therapy. There are no prerequisites, but a strong interest in research methods, cognitive science and/or neuroscience of memory is highly recommended.

This class introduces students to the system by which powerful countries in the world have related to each other over the past 400 years. This course provides an understanding of how major world powers have managed their relationships and competing interests while crafting a stable system that allows them to pursue their own goals.  Aspects of cooperation and competition as they manifest in military, economic, and cultural means are investigated to see how these fields have shaped the global order and how economics, technology, and culture have influenced the interaction.

This course studies emotion from different cognitive-social and biological perspectives and understands its role in guiding/motivating human behavior. The course starts with the classic theories of emotion and then continues with several relevant topics, including: cognitive and biological perspectives on causation of emotion and motivation; emotion regulation and self-determination; social-communicative functions of emotion expressions; the interaction between genes, stress, and affective-emotional behavior; the relation between sleep, emotion regulation, and affective behavior; topics related to emotion and motivational problems as seen in work stress or problems with goal setting.

This course gives a broad overview of biological foundations of behavior. The role of certain brain areas, neurotransmitters, and hormones on brain function are discussed. The course consists of nine topics; the first is an introductory topic regarding the link between brain and behavior. The following topics involve several types of specific behaviors ant their links to the brain anatomy. The topics are: gender development, emotion, memory, sleep, mental illnesses, addiction, hunger and thirst, and language. 

Apart from offering sensory feedback for object manipulation and movement, the somatosensory system also provides signals that are intrinsically rewarding or punishing. The behavioral drive to seek pleasure and to avoid pain is of crucial importance for survival and partly relies on the same neurochemical circuitry. This course discusses the neurobiological basis of aversive and pleasant somatosensory processing. Brain circuits involved in nociception and analgesia as well as theories and treatments of chronic pain are discussed.