Deze informatie is alleen in het Engels beschikbaar.
Topics: Biodiversity, Climate change, Pollution, Power and Justice.
Disciplines: Law, Philosophy, Biology, Environmental Science
Extra Skills: Project management, Making a short film
Admission requirements:
This course is an (extracurricular) Honours Class: an elective course within the Honours College programme. Third year students who don’t participate in the Honours College, have the opportunity to apply for a Bachelor Honours Class. Students will be selected based on i.a. their motivation and average grade.
Description:
This course explores our relation to nature, combining tools and insights from disciplines such as environmental science, biology, law and philosophy. The course will cover various aspects of the unfolding climate and ecological crises to reveal the complexity of the problem and what makes it so hard to address. The course will be organized around several key topics, which will likely include: global warming, biodiversity, waste, intergenerational justice and political power.
Each topic is introduced by a lecture by an expert on the topic, followed by student presentations. Key topics include the following:
Global warming:
What does the latest research tell us about the impacts of climate change? How effective are current climate policies at reducing emissions? This lecture will provide an overview of climate change science in a broad perspective, emphasizing the critical interplay between scientific knowledge, policy-making, and societal impact, highlighting the challenges and opportunities inherent in integrating science into societal transitions and policy decisions. The Netherlands will be used as a case study: a rich and wealthy country dependent on fossil fuel for their economy, vulnerable because water ‘comes from all sides’, high population density, intensive industry and transport, and international trade position.
Biodiversity:
Our natural world is changing. Biodiversity is in decline. We see this trend across many species and habitats, all over the news, in our social media. Is it all doom and gloom? Let’s get together to discuss what is happening to biodiversity, why do we need it and most importantly how we can increase it? Using case studies and stories of optimism from around the world let’s explore this pertinent topic!
Waste and pollution: The invention of plastic sparked off a whole range of inventions that shaped modern life as we know it; e.g., the rise of supermarkets. It also generates tremendous amounts of waste, from plastic soup in the ocean to the inner workings of organic cells. How did we end up in a world full of waste and pollution? To answer this question, we need to understand the social, economic and legal developments that created the conditions for materials to become waste.
Indigenous perspectives:
Indigenous communities are often among the first to suffer impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. But their resilience and experience may also prove vital in resisting extractivism and adapting to changing circumstances, for example by protecting rainforests. We will explore the resources Indigenous traditions of environmental thought have for thinking through the relations between humans and their environment, as well as challenges such communities face in defending their interest, for example at the COP.
Justice:
Climate change raises fundamental questions of justice, across every spatial scale, mitigation pathway, and adaptation strategy. In this session, we will try to get an overview of the main contours of climate justice. Who is responsible for addressing climate change? In virtue of what? And what does that responsibility consist in? We will both outline the central questions and considerations that we need to attend to in order to evaluate our responses to climate change with respect to justice, as well as try to connect these considerations to the current (and possible future) policy landscape.
Power:
Despite the widespread public understanding of the dangers posed by climate change, action taken by political leaders to prevent, or even slow climate change has not been nearly enough to prevent significant planetary warming. In response to this lack of action, some individuals and groups have turned to civil disobedience as a way of trying to bring about change. What explains the gap between avowed climate goals and existing policies? And what might be promising and defensible forms of action in response?
Please note that the schedule is provisional. Any changes will be announced on Brightspace.
Course objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
be able to identify different perspectives on environmental issues;
be able to describe and reflect on their own attitude in relation to climate change and environmental problems;
show sophistication in their judgement and analyses of environmental issues;
have trained their skills in collaboration and project management.
Programme and timetable:
The meetings of this class will take place from 15.15 - 17.00 on the following Tuesdays:
Session 1: 3 Febraury, 2026 (P.J.Veth building, room 0.06)
Session 2: 10 February, 2026 (P.J.Veth building, room 0.06) (location TBA)
Session 3: 17 February, 2026 (Old Observatory, room B0.06)
Session 4: 24 February, 2026 (Old Observatory, room B0.06)
Session 5: 3 March, 2026 (P.J.Veth building, room 0.06)
Session 6: 10 March, 2026 (Old Observatory, room B0.06)
Session 7: 17 March, 2026 (Old Observatory, room B0.06)
Session 8: 24 March, 2026 (P.J.Veth building, room 0.06)
Session 9: 31 March, 2026 (Old Observatory, room B0.06)
Session 10: 7 April, 2026 (Old Observatory, room B0.06)
Session 11: 14 April, 2026 (P.J.Veth building, room 0.06)
Session 12: 21 April, 2026 (P.J.Veth building, room 0.06)
Session 13: 28 April, 2026 (P.J.Veth building, room 0.06)
Session 14: 12 May, 2026 (P.J.Veth building, room 0.06)
Session 15: 16 June, 2026 (15.15 - 18.00 in Lipsius building, room 1.29)
Location:
PJveth building, room 0.06
Old Observatory, room B0.06,
Lipsius buildinh, room 1.29
Reading list:
Literature will be announced via Brightspace.
Course load and teaching method:
This course carries a value of 10 ECTS, corresponding to a total workload of 280 hours:
Lectures (32 hours)
Literature study (104 hours)
Group presentations (40 hours)
Final Project (104 hours)
Assessment methods:
Students will collaborate in groups on a film project, to be presented at a film festival at the end of the course.
The assessment is based on:
Presentation;
Final video project;
Work plan & reflection report;
Participation.
Students will be graded with pass / fail / good / excellent.
Brightspace and uSis:
Brightspace will be used in this course. Upon admission students will be enrolled in Brightspace by the teaching administration.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Bachelor Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally.
Application process:
Submitting an application for this course is possible from Monday, 27 October 2025 up to and including Sunday, 16 November 2025 23:59 through the link on the Honours Academy student website.
Note: students don’t have to register for the Bachelor Honours Classes in uSis. The registration is done centrally before the start of the class.
Contact:
Thomas Fossen: t.fossen@phil.leidenuniv.nl