Admission requirements
This course is available for students of the Humanities Lab
If you have received your propaedeutic diploma within one academic year, your academic results are good and you are a very motivated student, you may apply for a place in the Humanities Lab.
Description
The Grand Finale, the culmination point of the Humanities Lab programme, consists of a set of capstone projects. Each capstone project is a multifaceted assignment at the end of the Humanities Lab learning pathway. Teams of students are asked to demonstrate how insights and methods from the Humanities can make a difference to topical issues in society or in the world of science at large. Each project is strongly interdisciplinary, in the sense that it requires students to apply skills, insight and methods from different domains of knowledge.
Teams of 5 – 8 students select a specific topic or problem (referred to as a domain) as for example Cultural Memory or Social Sustainability, identify and contact stakeholders, conduct research on the subject, and create a final product demonstrating their learning acquisition and conclusions (typically a written report, but other media such as a website or video may be chosen as well). They present their findings at a closing conference with staff, stakeholders, and community members.
Throughout the project, teams have weekly meetings (typically on Friday afternoon). Teams are coached by a staff member.
Course objectives
Students learn to connect their academic training in specific disciplines to topical issues in society or in the world of science at large.
Students train their ability to think critically, and to bring a variety of methods and insights from different disciplines to bear on a specific problem.
Students train their skills at planning, team work, goal setting, research skills, written and oral communication.
Timetable
Courses of the Humanities Lab are scheduled on Friday afternoon from 13.00 to 17.00h. For the exact timetable, please visit the following website.
Mode of instruction
Supervised research project
Course Load
Weekly meetings 8 x 4 = 32 hours
Research 6 x 8 = 48
Preparing presentations 10
Peer feedback 10
Final report 40
Total course load 5 EC = 140
Assessment method
Conference pitch (team) 20%
Concerence poster (team) 20%
Final report (individual contribution) 50%
Final report (team product) 10%
The final grade is the weighted average of the above components. A resit option is offered only for the individual final project assignment.
Attendance
Attendance is compulsory for all meetings (lectures, seminars, excursion). If you are unable to attend due to circumstances beyond your control, notify the Humanities Lab coordinators (honours@hum.leidenuniv.nl) in advance, providing a valid reason for your absence, and hand in your weekly assignment in writing to the lecturer (if applicable). Being absent without notification and valid reason may result in lower grades or exclusion from the course.
Brightspace
Brightspace will be used for:
Assignments
Collaboration
Reading list
Not applicable
Registration
Students of the Humanities Lab will be registered via uSis by the administration of the Humanities Lab. More information about registration for courses will be provided on Brightspace.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable
Contact
Lecturer: Dr. J.J.M. Sleutels - email
Humanities Lab office: e-mail
Remarks
This course is part of the Humanities Lab programme, visit the website for more information.
Visit the Honours Academy website for more information about the Honours College.