Admission requirements
Required course(s):
None.
Description
Human variation is fascinating: we have infinite ways to imagine, organize, and express ourselves. Given this multiplicity, how do we begin to understand diversity? We might say it includes how we know and understand the world, and the way we interact and make claims in that world. It entails the scientific, political, legal, and moral rationales we use to divide ourselves and relate to others. And it involves the practices and spaces where distinctions matter. This course is a holistic introduction to how the humanities and social sciences have approached such topics. It examines the experiential, epistemological, institutional, and ethical aspects of social difference.
We organize our inquiry comparatively across time and space. And we use an interpretive approach, emphasizing how we see and narrate our world, its meaning and significance. Course readings use the concepts and methods of anthropology, history, literature, sociology, and journalism. We assess their contribution towards understanding the overarching theme of social variation.
Course Objectives
Students will enhance their skills through proficiency in humanistic and social science analysis. They will learn the vocabulary and methods of fields including anthropology, sociology, history, literature, and journalism. An emphasis on debate and discussion will improve confidence in verbal argumentation, and the capacity to assess what is convincing and coherent in intellectual debate. Throughout the course, students will write weekly reflections, as part of a course portfolio, to hone their reading comprehension and interpretation skills. A final exam will foster the capacity to apply conceptual theories to the contemporary world and improve interdisciplinary analysis.
In terms of knowledge, this course gives students a comparative and interdisciplinary introduction to the experiential, epistemological, institutional, and ethical patterning of social difference. Students will understand how political conceptions, historical patterns, representational forms, and cultural logics come to bear on social variation.
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
This course will employ hybrid methods and has interrelated components. For the Monday plenary session, there will be either a class in the college auditorium or a podcast by instructors. Later in the week, instructors will facilitate an interactive seminar for smaller sections. The plenary class or podcast is comprised of a lecture by the course convener that explores the weekly theme through an analysis of assigned readings, alongside an intervention by another course instructor. This plenary class or podcast provides context, highlights key concepts, shows different disciplinary approaches, and applies textual ideas to our world. Attending the plenary class, listening to the podcast, reflecting on the thematic questions, and conducting the weekly readings is critical for students to write their weekly reflection, due 24 hours before the in-person seminar of the week.
The seminars are where student groups interact with a course instructor. These sessions are devoted to deeper analysis of the assigned weekly texts. Each of the assigned texts introduces students to different forms of analysis and argumentation to help make sense of humans in their moral, social, and political aspects.
Assessment Method
Students are assessed on different parameters that correspond to discrete learning aims.
First, the learning aim of reading comprehension and critical understanding is assessed through a portfolio of weekly reflections from Weeks 1-7. This portfolio of seven reflections is worth 45% of the overall grade. Each reflection will be on the week’s texts. They are to be submitted 24 hours before each student’s seminar session. These reflections have two components: first, a close reading of the weekly readings, which shows awareness of the author’s argument and reasoning, and second, your own analysis of their claims, and capacity to apply their ideas to today’s world.
Second, conceptual application is evaluated through a summary statement. Each student, by the end of Week 7, writes a reflection on their response to the course themes and texts, and evolution in thinking. This summary statement is worth 10% of the final grade.
Third, a written in-class final exam judges analytical and interpretive capacities. This exam will respond to set questions on the course themes and will occur in Reading Week. This is worth 45% of the overall grade. Students will formulate an argument, and empirically substantiate their position, using only course materials. Non-course texts and external references are not permitted in this exam.
Reading list
Readings will be available to students once the course commences.
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. Ajay Gandhi, a.gandhi@luc.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
-