There are only a few spots left, so apply soon!
Disciplines: The tools and ways of work that are being taught can be applied on all disciplines. Several of the disciplines we will use as cases are derived from the fields of: Education, Digital media, International Relations and Public Administration, Public Health Management, and many more!
Themes: Futures thinking, Resilience, Skills development, Design thinking
Type: Honours Class: This course combines theory and practice to learn how to tackle a complex issue.
Admission requirements
This course is an (extracurricular) Master Honours Class aimed at talented Master’s students. Admission will be based on academic background, GPA and motivation.
This course will also be offered to professionals, as a mixed classroom approach in which the
students and professionals will follow part of the course together.
Description
The world has been changing at an incredible pace. Some of the knowledge and skills you’ve
acquired over the past years might be obsolete in the coming ten. So how can you be better
prepared for what the future holds? During this course you will learn and practice hands-on
Futures Thinking techniques that can be applied to any topic. What if the use of generative AI
will be as normal as a spelling checker? Will there still be inequality? And what would that
look like? And could these Futures Thinking tools have been used to anticipate something like
the Covid pandemic or the changing global order?
As you make use of these techniques, you will engage with stakeholders about future
scenarios they and you think are important.
At the end of the course, you will design and host a Futures Thinking training, during which
you will apply everything you’ve learned during the course with your stakeholders and other
interested parties.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have:
developed a Futures Thinking mindset;
used creative skills to contribute to a solid analysis of future issues;
learned how to apply design thinking principles to problem solving;
learned how to adapt to changing circumstances, by internalising ways to respond
flexibly to changes;improved on how to deal with uncertainties;
built resilience when faced with future changes.
Programme and Timetable
The sessions of this class will take place from 13.00 - 15.00 on the following Fridays :
Session 1: November 8, 2024
Session 2: November 15, 2024 (room 1A.25)
Session 3: November 22, 2024
Session 4: November 29, 2024
Session 5: December 6, 2024
Session 6: December 13, 2024
Session 7: January 24, 2025
Session 8: January 31, 2025
Session 9: February 7, 2025
Session 10: March 9, 2025
Location
Pieter de la Court building, Living Lab, room 1B01
Course load
This course is worth 5 ECTS, which means the total course load equals 140 hours.
9 Seminars of 1.75 hours (participation is mandatory) (15.75 hours)
Literature reading: 60 hours
Practical work: 16 hours
Futures Thinking game design: 50 hours
Assessment
The assessment methods will look as follows:
The participants will design a Futures Thinking game around one of the topics that have been discussed during the meetings. They will turn in an outline of the workshop, present part of their workshop as a dry run in class and, if possible, will facilitate the workshop to their stakeholders.
The participants will write a Reflection Paper.
The students will do their homework assignments, including keeping a journal during the course on the future scenarios.
Students can only pass this course after successful completion of all partial exams.
Reading list
Book: Imaginable – Jane McGonigal
Futures Thinking Specialization on Coursera.
Other possible literature will be announced in class or via Brightspace.
Brightspace and uSis
Brightspace will be used in this course. Upon admission students will be enrolled in Brightspace by the teaching administration.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Master Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally.
Registration
Submitting an application for this course is possible from Monday, 23 September until and including Sunday, 13 October 2024 through the link on the Honours Academy student website.
Note: students don’t have to register for the Master Honours Classes in uSis. The registration is done centrally before the start of the class.
Contact
Yentl Croese: y.croese@llinc.leidenuniv.nl Learning and Innovation Consultant, Leiden Learning and Innovation Centre, Leiden University.
Melissa Amoros Lark: m.y.amoros.lark@llinc.leidenuniv.nl
Project Manager, Leiden Learning and Innovation Centre, Leiden University.