Leiden University College

This course explores various energy-related issues through an interdisciplinary lens drawing on literature from the environmental sciences, communication science, psychology, and sociology. In drawing together the links between energy and society, students explore the role of greenwashing within the energy sector, the socio-political and environmental impacts of energy infrastructure development (drawing on case studies such as the Shale Gas boom in the US, and oil extraction in the Arctic), and explore questions such as can we engineer our way out of the climate crisis? As an overarching frame for the course, students explore how energy and climate issues are communicated to the public, and in doing so draw on the field of science communication.

Creative writing encompasses forms of writing outside of professional, journalistic, academic, or technical writing. This course introduces students to the theory and practice of creative writing, with an emphasis on crafting prose. Students learn about the different tools that writers of fiction and creative nonfiction (also known as narrative nonfiction) employ to make these forms successful in a myriad of ways. Through reading, discussion, and practice, the class explores the ways in which writers creatively manipulate structure and language. The course discusses how literary devices are employed to give their writing a unique tone and style. Each week, the class reads and discusses examples of creative texts to analyze which stylistic elements make the pieces successful. Then, students apply what they learn to their own writing through weekly writing exercises, and strengthen the work through subsequent feedback in workshop, culminating in one fully-formed piece of writing at the end of the course.

This course is an introduction to the field of public international law. The course covers major topics in this field, including sources of international law (treaties and customary international law); subjects (States and international organizations); the law of State responsibility; the prohibition on the use of force; and international dispute settlement. The course emphasizes learning how to read and understand international law instruments, such as states multilateral treaties and judgments of the International Court of Justice. The course discusses topics including sources and subjects of international law, state responsibility, prohibition on the use of force, jurisdiction, immunities, international dispute settlement, and international human rights law.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are computer systems for the collection, storage, visualization, and display of geographically referenced information. A GIS can be used to ask and answer complex questions that have a spatial component. This course utilizes GIS to examine spatial data in relation to a range of environmental and socioeconomic issues. This course introduces GIS using a popular desktop package called ArcGIS 10.x. Students use this software and some additional programs, called ‘extensions,’ for vector and raster (grid-based) analysis. The course is problem-based. Students solve problems using the GIS and  demonstrate their new knowledge through homework projects, practical exams, and a research project.

This course focuses on the study of justice systems from a comparative perspective. It introduces students to different justice systems, with a special focus on common law and civil law jurisdictions. The course explores concepts of substantive and procedural criminal law, from the elements of crime and forms of participation to different systems of trial. Globalization and its role and influence on justice systems around the world is explored. The role of supranational and international judicial institutions (European Court of Justice, International Criminal Court) in bringing different legal traditions together is also examined. The course discusses topics including sources of law in different legal systems, aspects of various criminal justice systems, concepts of substantive and procedural criminal law in a comparative perspective, and international criminal justice.

This course introduces students to the field of postcolonial studies. By drawing on history, anthropology, sociology, political theory, international law, psychology, and comparative literature, the course delves into processes of European colonization post-1600 and how they shaped interactions, mentalities, and ideas of authority both in the European metropoles and in the areas that came to be defined as colonies. The course focuses inquires on countries such as the Netherlands and looks carefully at the period from the late 19th century onwards. The course probes the historical transformations, political imperatives, and cultural rationales that shaped the experience of colonialism and its aftermath, both in metropole and colony.  The course further explores how legacies of empire are inscribed and represented in contemporary public spaces. By doing so, students become more aware of, and are able to grapple with the residues and reckonings of colonialism today.