Admission requirements
Mandatory course for students enrolled in the bachelor’s programme Security Studies.
This course is also open for inbound exchange students. Exchange students must be admitted by the FGGA International Office prior to the start of the course; priority will be given to direct exchange partners of FGGA. For more information about the application procedure for exchange students, please contact the FGGA International Office at international@fgga.leidenuniv.nl.
Description
On May 11th, 2011 an earthquake caused a tsunami that hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant. This eventually led to a nuclear meltdown and release of radioactive material. This disaster is an example of a non-intentional threat (safety) to vital interests in modern society.
By following the logic of interdisciplinary thinking, students will learn how to understand and explain the Fukushima disaster in terms of causes, effects and implications for organisations (public and private), citizens and the natural environment.
Students will explore the Fukushima case by applying knowledge and methods from relevant academic disciplines. They will learn to review an event, or set of events, through the lenses of various academic perspectives and gain the ability to apply this skill to other cases in the domain of security and safety.
Course objectives
After this course students will be able able to:
Acquire knowledge and comprehension of several basic safety concepts and/or methods, in relation with the following disciplines: (1) engineering; (2) public administration; (3) cultural studies; (4) moral philosophy; and (5) environmental studies.
Acquire knowledge and all-round understanding of non-intentional disasters affecting vital interests in modern societies.
Select, weigh and integrate concepts and methods from relevant disciplines in order to gain a deeper understanding of a real-life safety case.
Carry out an assessment of a safety case by using appropriate theories and present findings in an academic paper.
Show awareness of the ethical dilemmas relevant to this case study.
Timetable
On the right side of programme front page of the e-guides you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
14 lectures and self-study.
Total study load of 280 hours
Contact hours: 42
Self-study hours (including assignment): 235
Examination: 3
Assessment method
Academic Paper
40% of the final grade
Grade must be 5.50 or higher
Resit of a fail is possible
Resit will take the same form
Final Exam
60% of the final grade
Grade must be 5.50 or higher
Resit of a fail is possible
Resit will take the same form
Transitional Arrangement
Passed partial grades obtained in year 2020-2021 remain valid during year 2021-2022.
Reading list
A selection of books and articles will be announced on Brightspace.
Registration
Use uSis to register for this course. Registration for courses in uSis is possible from 15 December, 13.00h. Some courses and workgroups have a limited number of participants, so register on time (before the course starts). In uSis you can access your personal schedule and view your results.
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in uSis you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course. Access to Brightspace is necessary because the syllabus and other information about this course can be found here. Furthermore, announcements and modifications will be communicated via Brightspace. Students have the responsibility to stay informed and are thus advised to regularly check Brightspace for updates.
Contact
Course coordinator Dr. Andrea Bartolucci
Remarks
For exceptions, please contact the Board of Examiners.