Admission requirements
The course is meant for Honours students of FGGA.
Description
This course introduces students to the sometimes tense relationship between politics, society and experts. The class shows the different ways in which problems and issues in society, business and politics are identified, how they can be addressed, and how students may orient themselves on advising on such problems and issues in their future career. Throughout the course students are made aware of scientific lenses on reality to get a sharp analytical view on problems and issues, and what it means when we speak about ‘innovation’ in science and research for addressing problems in the real world. The course will include various in-class discussions, group debates, or role play to experience the interplay of government, scientists, experts, non-governmental stakeholders, and society.
Course objectives
The goal of the course is to get a sense of how politics, science, and society are connected regarding today’s global challenges and what role expertise, money, and power can play in these dynamics. The course introduces students to a variety of lenses and enhances critical and analytical thinking with tools from different disciplines. Students are expected to write an essay which shows that they understand the concepts and knowledge discussed in class and an policy paper that demonstrates the integration of knowledge and skills/tools learnt from this course.
Timetable
On the right side of programme front page of the studyguide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
The course contains a mixture of lectures, guest speech, in-class group discussions and activities. Main emphasis is on the interaction among students, with guest lecturers, and discussions during the lecture.
Total study load 140 hrs – contact hours: 18 – self-study hours: 122
Assessment method
The final grade is based on a variation of different assignments that run throughout the course. These include:
Discussion questions (10%)
In-class group participation (10%)
Short essay assignment (30%)
Final Paper (50%)
All partial grades should be sufficient (5.50) and cannot compensate for each other.
Reading list
The reading list containing a mixture of articles and book chapters will be made available on the Brightspace page approximately two weeks before the start of the course.
Registration
To be announced by OSC staff.
Contact
Dr. Hsini Huang: h.i.huang@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Honours Coordinator: a.j.e.righolt@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
Brightspace is indispensable for this course. All assignments will be made available and need to be handed in via Brighspace and conducted plagiarism checks by Turnitin.
The page is available approximately two weeks before the course starts.