Maastricht University - Center for European Studies

The most general function of our brain is to interact with our environment to obtain what we desire and to avoid what is disadvantageous. The brain plans and executes actions to accomplish this. Actions can be simple (e.g., picking up a pencil), effortful (e.g., endurance running), complex (e.g., dancing), or symbolic (e.g., stick up your thumb to get a ride). In all of these actions our brain is involved, but not to the same degree. Evolution has organized motor functions in a hierarchical system that delegates important motor and control functions to lower levels of the nervous system. This allows the brain to spend more time on other important functions, including the selection of goals and the planning of how to pursue them. Understanding of the neural mechanisms of decision making, action selection, action planning, and action execution has gained a lot from studying neural disorders (Parkinson's disease, orbitofrontal patients, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc.) which are considered in the course. Pre-requisites for this course include a course on biological foundations of behavior and a course on sensation and perception.

This course introduces students to the social policy that is characteristic of European welfare states. In light of the recent economic crisis and developments in the European Union (EU), characterized by rise in poverty and unemployment (among youth in particular) along with the rise of popularities of the right-wing parties, the framework for policy has become quite challenging for policy makers and citizens alike. Throughout the course, the students learn about various ways and degrees to which citizens get involved in social problems (e.g. poverty, unemployment, exclusion on various grounds) in their communities and country. The course begins with students brainstorming on social policy concepts they have heard and are or familiar with. The aim of this class is to bring to a common learning ground the diverse backgrounds (geographical and knowledge wise) students have. The course covers welfare state regimes, classification of the European welfare states, Esping-Andersen typology of welfare state, US social security system, and China's social policy regime. The course provides an historical perspective of European social policy, beginning with the time period before the First World War when poverty was on rise in Europe. Students discuss the first attempts of creating social policy, the case of Beveridge and Law of the Poor in the United Kingdom and the case of Bismarck and unemployment insurance of miners in Germany. The shift from incipient forms of social policy to advanced forms of welfare state is the focus of this class. Students are introduced to the stages of welfare state development. The course then covers an historical perspective of social policy practices across the world including examples from the US, Australia, China, Latin America, and Russia. Students learn how to distinguish between the systems and to analyze the governmental approach in this area. The course then turns to the social policy focused on the following topics: the alleviation of poverty, unemployment, insurance and pension, and gender discrimination and other dimensions. The course ends with a review of the current challenges and trends in social security systems across the world. The course is best suited for economics, political science, sociology, or social work majors, but it can also be attended by students with other background who are interested in the topic.

The course is divided into four parts. In the first part of the course students gain an overview of the most important theories, techniques, and methods used by psychologists in the context of personality and intelligence research. What are common conceptualizations of personality and intelligence? Secondly, students learn about antecedents or explanations of individual differences. Why are there differences between humans? How does evolution come into play? What role does heredity play? In the third part, students focus on outcomes of personality in terms of life experiences. What is the role of personality and intelligence in the prediction of life events? How important is intelligence for your career? Do personality traits predict the duration of a marriage? In the fourth part, students focus on applications of personality theory and findings in practice. How is knowledge on personality and intelligence applied in clinical and organizational settings? What kind of practical implications can be derived from personality research?

This version of the Developmental Neuropsychology course includes an Independent Study Project (ISP) done under the direction of the instructor. The ISP is 10-12 pages and counts for 1/3 of the overall grade for the course. In this course, students are introduced to the innovative field of developmental neuropsychology. The anatomy of the brain and relevant brain functions are introduced at the beginning of the module. Through case studies, students explore the fundamental research and the most recent advances in the field. Students attempt to find solutions to the questions presented by researching various articles and group discussion. Cognitive development is typically measured by changes or improvements in cognitive processes. In this course, processes such as language, reasoning, and memory, etc. are explored in terms of their developmental trajectory and how this trajectory relates to changes in the maturing brain. Students examine how these developmental changes can be measured by various neurological methods (e.g. fMRI and EEG). The field trip included in the course focuses on the importance of neuroscientific research methods and forms a unique and practical insight into the subject matter. Midway through the course the students construct a research proposal regarding developmental neuropsychology in subgroups and present this proposal. Prerequisites for this course include at least one intermediate level psychology course. It is recommended that the students have an interest in the development of the human brain and cognitive development. An interest in scientific research and methods is also recommended.

This course examines current events and the way they are covered in a variety of media outlets around the world, looking at framing, bias, stereotypes, context, story structure, and placement. Through lectures, discussions, a field trip, and class presentations, students analyze why news is reported as it is around the world and in the process become discerning media consumers better able to filter the noise and make decisions for themselves. The first half of the course is spent with lectures and discussions that examine the way news is covered around the world and why variations exist. The final half is devoted to student presentations on current event coverage. The presentations employ a "town hall" approach in which groups of students lead discussions on the issues and their coverage to classroom peers, being graded not just on content but audience engagement and participation. Topics of Discussion: Fake News, The Four Theories of the Press; News Values; News and Feature Story Structure; Media Effects and Communication Theory; Journalists and Media Organizations; Media Gatekeepers; Sources; Culture, Bias and Stereotypes; Language, Framing and Context; Legal Issues; Power and Economic Issues. Presentation Topics: Ongoing and breaking stories in the news.

This course enables students to understand the basic physiologic principles that underlie visual and auditory perception. The course introduces the sensory systems that are responsible for vision and hearing in humans. Central topics include the nature of the stimulus (physical attributes such as amplitude and frequency, and perceptual attributes such as intensity and color), the transduction process (the transformation of a physical stimulus into a neural signal leading to a subjective experience), the functional neuroanatomy of the human sensory system (the organization of sensory neurons into functional maps, columns, and pathways), and mechanisms for object perception (the organization of sensory features into meaningful percepts, for example, a face in a crowd or speaker at a loud party). Finally, the course introduces psychophysical and neuroscientific methods designed for measuring perception.

In this course, students are introduced to the innovative field of developmental neuropsychology. The anatomy of the brain and relevant brain functions are introduced at the beginning of the module. Through case studies, students explore the fundamental research and the most recent advances in the field. Students attempt to find solutions to the questions presented by researching various articles and group discussion. Cognitive development is typically measured by changes or improvements in cognitive processes. In this course, processes such as language, reasoning, and memory, etc. are explored in terms of their developmental trajectory and how this trajectory relates to changes in the maturing brain. Students examine how these developmental changes can be measured by various neurological methods (e.g. fMRI and EEG). The field trip included in the course focuses on the importance of neuroscientific research methods and forms a unique and practical insight into the subject matter. Midway through the course the students construct a research proposal regarding developmental neuropsychology in subgroups and present this proposal. Prerequisites for this course include at least one intermediate level psychology course. It is recommended that the students have an interest in the development of the human brain and cognitive development. An interest in scientific research and methods is also recommended.

Social Neuroscience is a new and rapidly growing field of research. It is an interdisciplinary field that asks questions about topics traditionally of interest to social psychology, economics, and political science using methods traditionally employed by cognitive neuroscientists, such as functional brain imaging. The course discusses functional MRI research within the following topics: self-reflection, emotion regulation, perceiving others/mirror neurons, intersubject/hyper-scanning designs, and moral judgment.  Students gain insight into the neural correlates of social behavior and acquire knowledge about designing a functional MRI study.

In this course students acquire knowledge about: Public Health law in international, European, and domestic settings; the nature of law, and broad legal principles behind the law's contribution to public health; the way that different types of procedures are used to regulate the public health (e.g. medical committees and officials, criminal law, privacy, public interest arguments, etc.); other normative considerations relating to framing public health responses; how public health responses operate. The course also trains students to: read and understand legal documents (particularly treaties and European legislation, and guidance documents and codes of practice); understand how legal and ethical arguments are constructed at different points in relation to public health, particularly how human rights decisions are made at the European Court of Human Rights; apply these insights to “live” public health issues. Students are also trained to: consider the difference between life science, medical, political, legal and ethical judgments; consider how each type of judgment is constructed; consider how different judgments are given authority and enforced in society. Finally, through this course students are able to: construct effective, logical, and evidenced arguments to influence political decision-makers; consider how far discussion can be useful in the creation of normative arguments and responses; develop effective skills in presenting arguments.

This course examines disturbed, strange, unadjusted, and abnormal behavior. Students review prevalent clinical case studies and the resulting research on topics such as anxiety disorders, eating disorders, addictions, mood disorders, and psychotic disorders. Questions that are repeatedly discussed include: What does the clinical picture look like? What are the diagnostic criteria? When does normal become abnormal? How often does this disorder arise? How does such a disorder develop? What can be done about it? The goal of these questions is to understand why one person develops the disorder while another does not, how scientific research can reveal the causes of disorders, and insight into the mechanisms that maintain the disorder. Students become familiar with various forms of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy as well as theories on etiology, empirical findings that support or contradict the theory, customary treatments, and the effectiveness of those therapies.