Admission requirements
Required course(s):
None.
Description
Academic Writing is a group of courses that will teach you, step by step, how to write excellent essays and conduct relevant research at university. The Academic Writing courses not only differ in terms of their subject but also the periods they cover, which range from the early modern period to today’s world. They offer an introduction to particular academic discipline, including history, literary studies, cultural studies, international relations, and (international) law.
Every Academic Writing course consists of two blocks and a total of fourteen highly interactive seminars. In the first block, the writing part of the course will cover the stages and skills involved in the composition of an academic argument, including close reading, finding and evaluating sources, developing a thesis, using textual evidence, organizing ideas with clarity, citation and referencing as well as strategies for planning and revision. We will also address the subjects of styling and formatting, and you will learn how to examine and evaluate your peers’ texts and to provide constructive feedback. Particular attention will be paid to the subject of plagiarism and, of course, how to avoid it. Above all, you will learn through experience that writing is thinking; the two cannot be separated. As academics, we write in order to discover what we think and want to argue, and then we rewrite in order to explain better what we think.
The focus of the second block of the course will be on research and this part of the course will take you through every step of the research essay, from how to prepare and write a research proposal to adding the final touches to your paper. Throughout the block, you will work in a research group and learn how to collaborate in a number of important academic activities.
Please make sure you read the descriptions of the different courses below carefully before choosing which course you want to take as it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to move to another course after you have registered. Also note that course placement is subject to availability and course schedules.
Dr. Wouter de Vries, Group A
Title: History of Knowledge and Science (Europe, 1500-1800)
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the history of knowledge and science was above all a story of individual genius—Newton, Darwin, Einstein. Over the past decades, however, historians have increasingly focused on the broader context of early modern society. In the case of Newton, for example, we no longer focus on his theory of gravitation alone, but also on the fact that he spent significant time and attention studying alchemy and the end of times. Who was Isaac Newton, and what does this tell us about the history of knowledge?
The theme of this group is the production, dissemination of knowledge in the broadest sense. We will discuss topics such as witchcraft, bookproduction, the history of universities, the relation between art, science and colonialism, and of course Galileo's and Newton's scholarship, but focus not on their scientific qualities, but rather to the (social and cultural) context of these discoveries. We will also discuss the colonial context of knowledge production, different types of knowledge (embodied, artisanal, etc.), and social aspects of knowledge production.
This group will provide a broad overview of these themes, and students will learn to critically reflect on the social and cultural context of knowledge production through writing their own essays.
Fernanda Korovsky Moura, Group B
Title: Intersections Between Past and Present – Historical Fiction in Literary Studies
What role can literature play in looking back and understanding the past? In this particular course, we will read literary texts through a postmodernist perspective, investigating the intersections between past and present in works of historical fiction, and reflecting on the complex task of history writing. When examining historical fiction through a postmodernist lens, it is important to consider how postmodernism challenges traditional notions of history, truth, and representation. In her seminal work A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction(1988), the theorist Linda Hutcheon brings attention to the fact that history is multifaceted and fragmented. She argues that historical fiction embraces a multiplicity of perspectives, rejecting absolute truths and focusing on the subjective nature of reality. During the course, we will read and analyse together the novella The Aspern Papers(1888), by Henry James. We’ll explore how the novelist blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction, and how the work engages with historiographic metafiction.
Dr. Walter Crist III, Groups C + J
Title: The Ancient World Today
Through this course, students will explore and learn some fundamentals about ancient cultures and how archaeologists study them. Ancient societies continue to be influential in today’s world. While historical processes that began in antiquity have affected the ways that we live in today’s society, the ways that we think about, depict, and utilize ancient societies and their remains affects the ways that we construct the present and the future. Outdated unilinear theories of cultural evolution still pervade contemporary thinking about long-term cultural processes, which clouds the ways that cultures are discussed. Importantly, the past has profound implications for the construction of identity in the present, but such identities do not always align with processes of identification in the ancient world, so we will explore this disconnect while recognizing the importance of finding connections to the past. Such identity constructions relating to the ancient world are both explicitly and covertly mobilized by political and social movements to legitimize their ideologies, ranging from highly power-related phenomena such as territorial claims, liberation movements, and white supremacy, to more colloquial themes including diet, fashion, entertainment, and conspiracy theories. Through this seminar, students have many avenues to explore the various ways that the past is constructed in scholarly, political, and popular sources to illuminate how they intersect to create narratives about the past. This ranges from exploring theoretically-focused sources that explicitly outline visions of past realities, to critiquing forms of media such as literature, film, and games that purport to depict these societies.
Bryan O'Donovan MA, Groups D + F
Title: The State as an Actor in International Affairs
This course will examine the role states play in the conduct of international affairs. States have been the dominant actors in international politics ever since the Treaty of Westphalia, taking responsibility for waging war and making peace, conducting and regulating trade across borders, and exercising sovereignty over their respective societies. However, the 20th and 21st centuries have seen other actors enter the fray: regional and global organizations to which nation states have ceded varying degrees of sovereignty; non-governmental and civil society organizations who claim their own transnational constituencies; transnational corporations which wield vast economic influence, sometimes beyond the control of traditional state structures. Some bemoan these developments and question the effectiveness of such actors in addressing global issues which often require prompt and decisive action. Some, on the other hand, welcome this diffusion of power, claiming the old system is no longer best placed to deal with global challenges such as climate change, migration and international security. This course will consider a number of perspectives from the field of International Relations and how well they account for the traditional, current, and future role of states in international affairs.
Dr. Densua Mumford, Group E
Digital Politics: Power and Resistance on the Internet
In this section we will explore digital politics. The internet and related digital technologies have significantly reshaped human relations. Originating as a military project, the internet was promulgated by scientists in the 1980s and finally found global commercial use in the 1990s, not least because of the launch of the world wide web. Since then, travelling, learning, and staying healthy are difficult to imagine without some interaction with the internet and related technologies. Communities across the world, using social media, are sharing information and offering each other solidarity in ways that can subvert traditional powers like the state. On the other hand, these new technologies may help to reproduce old forms of injustice and even create new ones. ‘Big tech’ companies, with their transnational reach and often highly opaque technologies, have become difficult to hold democratically accountable. Prominent activists and experts have demonstrated the racialised and gendered effects of AI technology even as they are being deployed to decide on new job hires, resolve criminal cases, and provide banking services. Repressive governments have learned to wield access to the internet and the (dis)information spread on it to manipulate their citizens. In this section of Academic Writing, students will engage critically with cutting edge debates about the myriad ways in which the internet and related technologies shape society. In the process, students will explore the extent to which these technologies can foster or prevent a good life, especially for marginalised communities.
Dr. Rosanne van der Voet, Group G
Title: Literature, Culture and Environment: Contemporary Challenges in Environmental Humanities
This section of the course will focus on contemporary ecocriticism, a field that explores the relationship between literature, culture and the physical environment. This interdisciplinary strand of environmental humanities emerges from the premise that the stories we tell of the world – through all facets of our cultures and societies – have a significant impact on our treatment of the world. With a focus on contemporary challenges, such as pollution, extinction and global heating, we will reflect on the connections between literature, culture and the global environmental crisis. Throughout the course, we will explore several research themes, such as blue humanities (concerning the role of water in the environmental crisis; notably, the ocean), animal studies (which explores the representation of animals in literature and culture) postcolonial ecocriticism (which focusses on the intersection between colonialism and environmental decline) and the concept of the Anthropocene (which designates a new geological era characterised by human intervention). In doing so, we will analyse and discuss a variety of primary sources, such as novels, art and film, and apply secondary sources in this context.
Dr. Alexander van der Meer, Group H
Title: Church, Mission and Colonialism: 1600-1900
In this section we will explore the colonial religious encounter. Ministers and missionaries founded churches, schools and congregations in the Americas, Africa and Asia in the wake of European trading companies and colonial states. Faith was an important aspect of daily colonial practice, which is all too often overlooked in existing literature. Local populations often had more contact with pastors, schoolmasters and missionaries than with colonial officials. In this section we will focus on the intersection between the mission and colonialism in European empires between 1600 and 1900. On the one hand, colonialism and religion often went hand in hand. Conversion to the colonizer’s religion was a means to bind local populations to colonial rule, extract labor and create a moral community of loyal subjects. On the other hand, ministers and missionaries at times ran into conflict with the colonial state, as the interests of church and mission could run counter to colonial state interests. To what degree was the overseas church and mission an extension of colonialism? In this section we will focus on this and several other themes. Next to the entwinement between the colonial church and state we will amongst other investigate syncretization – ‘syncretic’ beliefs and practices as the result of intercultural and interfaith interaction – as well as the impact of the colonial religious encounter on the metropolitan colonial ideology. Students will be guided step by step into conducting their own research and writing their own essays based on the abovementioned and related research themes.
Dr. Barrie Sander, Group I
Title: Dilemmas of Justice in the Aftermath of Mass Atrocities
In recent decades, the field of international criminal law has experienced a degree of judicialisation that few thought imaginable. During this period, international criminal courts have not only become normalised but also prioritized as a response to episodes of mass atrocity. In this course, we will grapple with some of the justice dilemmas that have arisen in responding to mass atrocities within international criminal courts. Traversing tensions centred on the expressive limits of international criminal law and the political choices and constraints of international criminal courts, this course invites students to reflect on the contested meaning of justice in the aftermath of episodes of mass violence.
Gina van Ling MPhil, Group K (SEMESTER 2)
Title: China in a Changing World
In 1793 George Macartney and his delegation undertook a diplomatic mission to Qing China with the aim of opening new ports for trade, relaxing trade restrictions for British merchants in Canton (now Guangzhou), and requesting permanent diplomatic representation in the Chinese empire’s capital, Beijing. The emperor rejected the delegation’s demands, stating that their system was incompatible with Western-style diplomacy as the British had hoped to establish with the Qing.
In the next century-and-half, China lost the battle to resist Europe’s effort to ‘open up’ to trade. China was thrust into a new system of international relations, where diplomacy was conducted between sovereign nation-states. This new reality forced China to reassess its identity both internally and internationally.
Through this course, we will explore China’s modern experience of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We will address several themes, such as China’s interaction with imperial powers, becoming a nation-state, the tension between tradition and modernity, historical narratives and how we ‘remember’ events of the past. By looking at China, we not only gain an insight into their unique historical experience, but we are also challenged to reflect on our own histories and our definitions of progress and success.
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, students can:
Skills:
carry out an essay project, from the first idea to the final revision
formulate and structure an effective thesis and argumentation
properly style all different elements of an academic essay according to a basic style manual
collaborate with peers in terms of providing peer reviews of other students’ work and effectively processing the feedback on their own as well as working together on planning a project and doing the research for it
explain exactly what plagiarism entails and are able to avoid it through proper citation and referencing
conduct research at undergraduate level and have the skills to find, evaluate, analyze and process sources
Knowledge:
- describe and explain basic principles of their chosen subject and its main discourses, approaches, methodologies and terminologies.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2024-2025 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
Every Academic Writing course is different and, depending on which one you take, may include different methods and activities. However, the structure and the teaching of the writing and research skills is exactly the same for all courses, including the general set-up of the writing assignments and their deadlines. In the first block, information specialists from Leiden University Libraries will teach the same class to all course groups and you will also be expected to complete several tutorials provided by Leiden University Libraries.
The backbone of the course is formed by the close reading, analysis, and discussion of texts, with one 2-hour session per week from Weeks 1 to 14. Almost every week you will write short assignments, all of which build up progressively towards the two graded essays. The first essay will offer an original interpretation of a particular primary source and will incorporate secondary sources set by your teacher and discussed in class. The second essay will be based on your individual research. On the basis of your research proposal, you will be placed in a research group and will be expected to work very closely with your group members throughout the block. You will exchange ideas and sources, peer-review each other’s drafts, and support each other through the process.
In the first block, all students will have a short, individual tutorial with their instructor to receive and discuss individual feedback on their writing and in the second block, every research group will attend a group-tutorial to discuss the research proposals.
Attendance: Given that this is an intensive course in which you will be learning skills that are crucial to your career, as a student at LUC and afterwards, you should try not to miss any classes unless you have an exceptional and valid reason. If you have to be absent, please be aware that it is your responsibility to catch up with any missed classwork and submit your assignments on time or by the extended deadline agreed on in advance with your instructor.
Participation: You are expected to participate actively in class discussions, take notes, and respond to your peers’ writing. This means that you will have to do all the preparation for the class, including the reading, meticulously. Almost every week, you are expected to do a writing assignment and write a structured peer review of at least two of your peers’ assignments. These so-called Building Blocks are also included in your participation grade.
Assessment Method
Participation (in-class participation and Building Blocks)
Percentage: 15%
Deadline: ongoing all weeks
Essay 1 (1500 words)
Percentage: 40%
Deadline: week 8 (block 1)
Essay 2 (3000 words)
Percentage: 45%
Deadline: week 8 (block 2)
You must submit all the assignments, graded as well as ungraded, in order to pass the course and you will be penalized (points will be taken from your essay grades – please see the syllabus for more information about this) for missed deadlines, including those for the Building Block assignments. If you need an extension, please contact your instructor in advance of the deadline.
Also note that the grade of Essay 2 (the final research essay) cannot be compensated by the other grades and that you need to receive at least a C- for this essay in order to pass the course. If your final paper receives a D+ or lower, your final grade for the course cannot be higher than a D+ and you will fail the course.
Finally, please note that passing Academic Writing is a requirement for a positive BSA. If you do not pass the course, you can retake it in blocks 3 and 4. If you fail the course again, you will not be able to continue your studies at LUC in the second year. Please see the Student Handbook for more information on this.
Please note:
In accordance with article 4.8 of the Course and Examination Regulations (OER), within 30 days after the publication of grades, the instructor will provide students the opportunity to inspect their exams/coursework.
There is a no re-sit policy at Leiden University College.
Reading list
- The Little, Brown Handbook. Global Edition (13th edition), by Jane E. Aaron and H. Ramsey Fowler (Pearson Education Limited).
Please see the syllabus of your specific AW course for any other course texts.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Densua Mumford, d.mumford@luc.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
Please read the course syllabus, which you will find on Brightspace, very carefully before the first class. After the first class, you will be expected to know and understand the course rules and requirements. If anything is unclear, ask your instructor.