Admission requirements
Students are expected to display a keen interest in European Union politics in general and climate and energy policy in particular.
Description
Climate change is arguably the most pressing challenge to sustainable development in the 21st century. This course will introduce students to recent scholarship on the political, economic and social dimensions of climate change. We will examine in particular how the EU’s policies on climate change are constructed and implemented, and consider their national and international contexts in order to gain insight into the material and ethical challenges posed by energy transition and climate change.
The politics of fossil fuels is at the center of the course, and we will consider its significance from a variety of angles – as a source of undemocratic power and corruption in oil and gas producing countries, as a conduit for extraordinary corporate influence in oil and gas-consuming countries, and as a profound but often hidden impediment to climate action at all levels.
We will look at climate change from multiple perspectives. One of the goals of this course is to show how within the Eu and beyond climate change affects different people in quite different ways, complicating the need for a collective response. In the end, however, students will be asked to survey concrete policy options to help the EU in meeting the climate challenge.
Course objectives
Learning Objectives
This class will:
explore the relationship between fossil fuel use, the energy transition, and climate change in the EU and beyond
improve understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change
encourage students to evaluate critically the some of the key problems, concepts, events, actors, debates, and institutions in the areas of energy transition and climate change in the European Union
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
present and analyze major arguments related to energy transition and climate change
discuss the social, political, and economic benefits and challenges of these issues
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Your grade will be determined by three components:
Class Participation and in-class group activities: 20%
Oral presentation: 30%
Final Report: 50%
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
A resit option is offered only for the final paper assignment. Retaking a passing grade is not possible for this course.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized
Reading list
This is a seminar and will focus on the readings. Please come to class ready to discuss each of the book chapters or articles.
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
Registration
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga
Remarks
N/A