Admission requirements
This course is part of the minor 'Crisis, Risk and Disaster Management' and the minor 'Crisismanagement en Civiele Weerbaarheid'; taught at The Hague by a lecturer from Leiden University. The course can only be taken within the framework of participation in the minor CRD and CCW.
Description
The increasing frequency, intensity, and relevance of crises in a world where authority is increasingly dispersed across different levels of governance and a wide range of actors has caught the attention of academics and policymakers. Recent pandemics, humanitarian emergencies exacerbated by global warming, and conflicts have granted crisis management a prominent role in social science research and raised questions about the role and performance of crisis managers. With these circumstances in mind, this course will familiarize students with the governance of crises.
To do so, it will navigate students through the different stages of the crisis management cycle through a series of lectures. By the end of the course, the students will be able to answer questions such as: under what circumstances do actors belonging to different levels of governance become involved in transboundary crisis management? What characterizes successful crisis responses? How and under what conditions do crises result in policy change?
Course objectives
After completing the course, the student will be able to:
Understand, based on advanced knowledge, concepts and ideas related to crisis management.
Identify and discuss the key stages of crisis management in a compelling way.
Identify the key actors involved in a range of transboundary crises.
Critically assess the involvement of crisis managers in episodes affecting multiple policy sectors.
Analyze how different levels of governance coordinate their response to crises.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable (see the button in the upper right corner).
Mode of instruction
This course consists of seven lectures of two hours each.
Attendance on-site is mandatory. Missing sessions without permission will lead to a failing grade. Students missing a session will need to justify the reasons why they were not able to attend. The examiners will assess whether these circumstances justify the absence.
Assessment method
The final grade will be calculated by taking three elements into account:
- Individual assignment. This amounts to 70% of the final grade. Compensation will not be possible for those students who do not reach a passing grade (i.e., a grade lower than 5.50). A resit will be conducted.
- Group assignment. This amounts to 30% of the final grade. Compensation is needed for those students who do not reach a passing grade (i.e., a grade lower than 5.50). A resit will not be conducted.
The examiners may conduct follow-up conversations to assess the extent to which written assignments fulfill the learning outcomes of the course.
The 70% individual assignment resit will take the same form
Reading list
The literature will consist of academic texts, links to which will be provided in the syllabus.
Registration
Registration via MyStudymap is possible from Tuesday 14 July 2026 13:00h after registration for the entire minor. Register for every course via MyStudymap. Some courses of the minor have a limited number of participants, so register on time. Registration for the exam is mandatory.
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.
Please note 1: Registration for the resit of an exam is mandatory, this has to be done by the student and can be done from TBA until 10 days before the exam. Until 5 days before the exam you can email OSC and fill in a form.
Please note 2: guest-/contract-/exchange students do not register via MyStudymap but via uSis. Registration via uSis is possible from Thursday 16 July 2026 after registration for the entire minor.
Contact
Dr. Carlos Bravo Laguna c.d.bravo.laguna@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Dr. Thijs van Dooremalen t.j.a.van.dooremalen@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Office appointments can be made through email
Remarks
This course will be taught in English.