Teaching

Compulsory Courses

• The Americas Ia: The American Century and Beyond (5 ECTS)
• Theories of Culture Ia: Race, Class and Gender in Contemporary America (5 ECTS)
• Theories of Culture Ib: Race, Class and Gender in Contemporary America (Aims of course and overview remain the same as in Theories of Culture Ia) (5 ECTS)
• North & South Americans I (5 ECTS)
• North & South Americans II (5 ECTS)

Electives

• Special topics: Canada and the US - Negotiating (Cultural) Differences (5 ECTS)
• Special Topics: Canada's Cultural Mosaic - Diversity as Strength? (5 ECTS)
• Special Topics: Pioneer Landscapes (5 ECTS)

Electives

• Special Topics 5: Canada's Cultural Mosaic - Diversity as Strength? (5 ECTS)

Compulsory Courses

• Globalization: Economic and Social History (5 ECTS)

• Theme Cultural History (10 ECTS)

Electives (study year 2020-21)

• Overzeese stemmen: de ‘ander’ in het VOC-imperium

In dit werkcollege bestuderen we het concept van ‘otherness’ in de vroegmoderne reisliteratuur over de volkeren in het octrooigebied van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC). Hoe beschreef en beeldde de Europese reiziger de ander uit in woord en beeld? Wat zeggen deze beschrijvingen en afbeeldingen over het zelfbeeld en -bewustzijn van de reiziger? Hoe verwerden deze beschrijvingen tot stereotypen? Welke rol speelden uitgevers en drukkers in de beeldvorming bij het Europees lezerspubliek? Welke invloeden zorgden voor het veranderende beeld van ‘de ander’ tussen het einde van de zestiende eeuw en het begin van de negentiende eeuw? Het boek Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation van Mary Louise Pratt verschaft ons het theoretisch kader waarmee we twee belangrijke bronnen van reizigers bestuderen. Haar begrippen ‘contact-zone’, ‘anti-conquest’ en ‘autoethnography’ zijn inmiddels volledig ingeburgerd in de studie van (post)koloniale reisliteratuur. Deze begrippen, tezamen met sleutelbegrippen uit de cultuurgeschiedenis (marginale cultuur versus hegemonie; gender; imagined communities; othering), bieden ons de nodige handgrepen om de bronnen te analyseren.

De basisbronnen die we dit werkcollege zullen gebruiken, betreffen twee publicaties van reizigers die een groot lezerspubliek bereikten en daarmee een immense impact hebben gehad op de beeldvorming van ‘de ander’: Itinerario (1596) van Jan Huygen van Linschoten en Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien (1724-1727) van François Valentyn. Studenten worden uitgedaagd het essay te baseren op een reisverslag van een Europese reiziger in het VOC-imperium uit de periode 1600-1800 en daarbij de in het werkcollege aangereikte handvaten toe te passen om beschrijvingen van de ‘ander’ te duiden.

Mogelijke onderwerpen: gemarginaliseerde groepen, gender in de beschrijvingen (Aziatische vrouwen) en/of beschrijvende (vrouwelijke Europese reizigers), imaginaire beschrijvingen en overdrijvingen (zeemeerminnen en andere ‘fabeldieren’) of de reactie van de gekoloniseerde op het beeld dat over hem is ontstaan.

Lecturer(s): J. Jeroen Bos MA

• 100 years of women’s suffrage

Last year, 2019, marked the celebration of 100 years of universal suffrage in the Netherlands. This universal right to vote for both men and women, came about as the result of a lengthy struggle in which mainly women, sometimes supported by men, organised themselves in a variety of organisations with suffrage as (one of) their ultimate goal(s). Often thought of, and portrayed as, a movement consisting of predominantly elite women, the reality was much more diverse, as women from all over the county supported the Cause. What’s more, during the early 20th century many women across the world sought to secure their right to vote. Britain for instance achieved universal suffrage in 1918 and America closely followed in 1920. As a result, the suffrage movement became international and women in different countries often looked at each other, to borrow useful strategies. In this seminar, we will take a closer look at the complex history of the suffrage movement asking questions such as: who were these women and how were they portrayed by for instance the media, supporters and adversaries of the movement? How did this international suffrage network came about and how is the history of suffrage represented in cultural artefacts and images?

The course is structured based on two steps: (1) First we will learn more about cultural historical approaches to the study of women’s suffrage (also in a transnational and global perspective) with a special focus on several specific concepts, including gender/genderstudies, notions of class and agency, race, ethnicity and performance. We will further discuss a selection of studies with the aim of getting acquainted with the major issues in the field. (2) Secondly we will test our theoretical and methodological framework through analysing a few examples from a broad set of sources; for instance journals, autobiographies, reports, letters, diaries, photographs, films and objects. As a result, the course will provide you with a set of skills for doing your own work, using methods and theories in the field of Cultural History.

Lecturer(s): R. (Rozemarijn) van de Wal MA

• Lust in de Lage Landen (1550-1750)

Lust is niet weg te denken uit de geschiedenis: opvattingen over ware liefde en seksuele vrijheid spelen een belangrijke rol in bijvoorbeeld de Griekse mythologie maar ook de roerige jaren zestig van twintigste eeuw. In dit werkcollege zullen we aan de hand van verschillende thema’s kijken naar lust in de vroegmoderne Nederlanden. Hoewel een onderwerp als het huwelijk al sinds jaar en dag door historici wordt onderzocht, wordt er pas in de laatste decennia meer aandacht besteed aan meer pikante zaken zoals pornografie. Seksuele relaties buiten het huwelijk werden streng verboden door religieuze en seculiere autoriteiten in deze periode, maar historische bronnen laten zien dat seks buiten het huwelijk wel degelijk een alledaags verschijnsel was. Hierbij komt dat het seksuele lichaam en reproductie belangrijke, en tegelijkertijd omstreden, onderwerpen van studie waren in de wetenschappelijke wereld in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw. Geleerden zoals Reinier de Graaf en Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek debatteerden bijvoorbeeld over de rol van de man en de vrouw bij het ontstaan van nieuw leven. Tijdens de seminars bestuderen we verschillende bronnen (van literatuur en kunst tot wetenschappelijke studies en gerechtelijke documenten) om meer te weten te komen over de verschillende manieren waarop er tegen lust werd aangekeken in zowel de vroegmoderne Lage Landen als in tegenwoordige historiografische debatten. We bespreken onder andere hoe het patriarchaat en hegemonie, ontwikkelingen in de wetenschap, het instituut van het huwelijk en contemporaine ideeën over bijvoorbeeld prostitutie en pornografie een rol speelden en spelen.

Key concepts: Seksualiteit, gender, wetenschap, patriarchaat, hegemonie, ideaal/werkelijkheid, natuur/cultuur.

Lecturer(s): Dr. K.E. (Karen) Hollewand

• Theme Political History (10 ECTS)

Electives (study year 2020/21)

• Politieke dynamieken in post-koloniaal Afrika (Language of instruction: Dutch)

In dit college zullen wij de grote diversiteit aan staatsvormen in post-koloniaal sub-Sahara Afrika leren begrijpen. Ondanks succesvolle democratiseringsbewegingen komen Afrikaanse staten vaak in het nieuws vanwege corruptie en geweld. Zijn politieke dynamieken in Afrikaanse staten anders dan elders in de wereld? Om de wisselwerking tussen wereldwijde trends en lokale specificiteit toe te lichten, zullen wij theoretische concepten, zoals nationalisme, etniciteit, autoritarisme en democratisering toepassen op voorbeelden waaronder Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana, federalisme in Ethiopië en post-apartheid Zuid-Afrika.

Lecturer(s): Dr I. (Iva) Peša

• The Politics of Slavery and Segregation (Language of instruction: English)

This class studies the role of race in the formation of U.S. political culture, in particular the historical development of a racialized regime in the southern states. We will explore how the Founding Fathers wrote slavery into the Constitution of the United States, thus making unfree labor an inherent part of the country’s political system. Our focus then moves southward to examine the institutionalization of slavery in the region during the nineteenth century, with profound consequences for southern political culture. We will discuss the proslavery argument, the growth of southern nationalism, secession, and the creation of the Confederate States of America. The second part of the class is devoted to the analysis of Jim Crow segregation and its (inter- )national reverberations. Racial segregation became institutionalized in the South at the end of the nineteenth century and dictated social life there up to the 1960s. Although the civil rights movement successfully pressured the federal government to legally dismantle the Jim Crow system, its legacy lives on and continues to haunt U.S. politics until this day. We will examine how segregationist politics functioned and eventually found its way into the contemporary conservative movement, but also how people stood up against racial oppression in the South and the nation.

Lecturer(s): Dr. M. (Maarten) Zwiers

• Theme Economic and Social History (10 ECTS)

Electives (study year 2020/21)

• De Nederlandse multiculturele samenleving in sociaaleconomisch perspectief

Migratie is van alle tijden. Al vanaf het prille begin van de mensheid in Afrika tot de huidige vluchtelingencrises is de mensheid in beweging. Nederland heeft door de eeuwen heen te maken gehad met verschillende groepen immigranten. In de zeventiende-eeuwse Republiek der Nederlanden bedroeg het percentage inwoners dat van buiten de Republiek kwam, ruim tien procent. In de negentiende eeuw daalde dit vrijwel tot nul en werd Nederland een emigratieland. Vanaf de Eerste Wereldoorlog kwam een grote instroom van migranten uit met name uit Zuid-, Midden- en OostEuropa naar Nederland op gang. Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog kwamen hier andere groepen bij: Indische Nederlanders en Molukkers, Chinezen, Grieken, Italianen, Spanjaarden, Turken, Marokkanen, Surinamers en Antillianen. Vanaf het laatste kwart van de twintigste eeuw nam de immigratie in Nederland toe door een stroom van vluchtelingen en asielzoekers uit de hele wereld. Tijdens dit college zal onderzocht worden wat de effecten waren van de komst van verschillende migrantengroepen op sociaal, economisch, politiek, juridisch en demografisch gebied in Nederland, met name in de 20ste eeuw. Met behulp van verschillende concepten en een variëteit aan perspectieven zal geprobeerd worden de status van Nederland als een multiculturele samenleving te karakteriseren. Met behulp van vergelijking met ontwikkelingen in andere West-Europese landen kan de thematiek eventueel verder uitgediept worden.

Lecturer(s): Dr. Dorien (D.A.) Knaap

• Slavery, Emancipation and Freedom in North America

Slavery has a long, complex history in North America. As part of the larger transatlantic slave trade, enslaved Africans were forcibly brought to the continent during the early colonial period. Over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, black enslavement became entrenched throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. The institution of slavery influenced every sphere of North American society. Beginning in the Revolutionary era, however, black enslavement was gradually abolished in the northern US, Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, the institution of slavery expanded rapidly across the antebellum South. Growing tensions over slavery in the United States eventually contributed to the outbreak of the US Civil War (1861-1865). After the conflict, the institution of slavery was formally outlawed in the United States. In this course, students will investigate the origins, evolution, and eradication of slavery in North America. Key topics include the following: the transatlantic slave trade and the origins of slavery in the colonial period; the gradual abolition of slavery in the northern US, Canada and Mexico; the expansion of slavery in the antebellum South; resistance, rebellion and self-emancipation; free black and slave refugee communities; abolitionism and anti-slavery movements; and the US Civil War and abolition of slavery in the United States. Students will read and analyse a mixture of secondary sources on slavery and freedom in North America, as well as primary sources, including (but not limited to) slave narratives and escaped slave advertisements.

Lecturer(s): dr. Oran Kennedy

• Alledaags kolonialisme? Levensverhalen uit 18eeeuws Sri Lanka (Language of instruction: Dutch)

Veelal is de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) bekend als een mercantilistisch handelsbedrijf. Een bedrijf dat was geïnteresseerd in het maken van winst middels het verhandelen van luxueuze, exotische producten, maar die verder weinig machtsintenties had. Men denkt aan factorijen, men denkt aan specerijen en men denkt aan aandelen. Inmiddels weten we beter. Vrijwel overal ontwikkelde de VOC in de loop van de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw sterke koloniale overheden, die in grote mate het alledaagse leven van lokale gemeenschappen op sociaal, economisch, juridisch, cultureel en demografisch gebied beïnvloedden.

Zo ook in Sri Lanka. Voor de lokale gemeenschappen betekende dit een anderhalve eeuw durende koloniale VOC overheid met steeds nadrukkelijker aanwezigheid. De inwoners werden met hun landen geregistreerd, gewassen belast en arbeidsdiensten geëist op basis van lokale kaste-verhoudingen. Echter, dit proces was niet eenzijdig. Lokale actoren onderhandelden met de koloniale staat en verbeterden van hun positie. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan het gebruik van landregisters (de ‘thombos’) om in koloniale rechtbanken gelijk te krijgen tegen een tegenpartij waarmee zij procedeerden. Of het benaderen van VOC ambtenaren middels ‘requestbrieven’ om extra stukken land te mogen verbouwen in ruil voor belastingvoordeel. Of de rol die lokale klerken en hoofdmannen speelden in het opbouwen van de koloniale bureaucratie waarop de overheid spreekwoordelijk dreef. De sporen van deze interacties in archieven bieden een uitzonderlijke kans voor historici om de alledaagse sociale realiteit van het leven in een vroegmoderne koloniale samenleving te bestuderen. In deze collegereeks gebruiken we een aantal van dit soort bronnen, om te achterhalen hoe lokale actoren destijds leefden, en leerden leven, met een koloniale overheid. We keren deze koloniale bronnen binnenstebuiten om zo de sociaaleconomische en sociaal-culturele historische werkelijkheid van levensverhalen van de Sri Lankaanse bevolking te reconstrueren.

Lecturer(s): Luc (L.J.) Bulten, MA

• Theory I: Perspectives on History (5 ECTS)

Electives (2020/21)

• Urbanism in Africa and Asia: Global Connections and Local Specificities (10 ECTS)

Overview: Urban centres in Africa and Asia have grown extremely rapidly in the twentieth century. Using the accounts of colonial and post-colonial urban officials and social scientists, we will explore expressions of urbanism in African and Asian cities. Are informal sectors, slums, gender relationships and popular culture specific to Lagos or Delhi, or should these be understood as manifestations of a globally connected urbanism?

Coordinator: I. Pesa, PhD.

Lecturer(s): I. Pesa, PhD.

• Genocide and Mass Murder in the 20st and 21st Centuries (10 ECTS)

Overview: Anyone wishing to draw up a historical balance sheet of the twentieth and the first decades of the twenty-first centuries, cannot ignore their black periods. Many generations witnessed genocide and mass murder. The Holocaust is the most obvious example, but non-Western countries must also take their share of the blame. One only needs to think of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire (1915), the genocide in Cambodia (1975–1979), the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda (1994) and, recently, Darfur. Likewise, many examples of mass murders, such as Nanking 1937, Katyń 1940 or My Lai 1968, are engraved in the world's collective memory. The aim of this subject is to study genocide and mass murder in the non-Western and Western world. Emphasis will be placed on methodology (how should be study the facts?), epistemology (can we know the facts?) and causal analysis (why do such phenomena take place?). Students will thus learn to systematically reflect on the phenomenon, the possibilities to prevent it, and the contribution of history in this respect. Each student will do in-depth research on one case of genocide or mass murder.

Coordinator: prof. dr. A.H.M. de Baets

Lecturer(s): prof. dr. A.H.M. de Baets

• Pioneer Societies; Settler Colonies and Social experiments from Classical Greece to the Dutch Peat Communities (10 ECTS)

Overview: The course explores the long term history of social experiments in a colonial setting. From Antiquity onwards societies have combined colonial-imperialist agendas with domestic societal ideals and experiments. The creation of new settler colonies in newly conquered or reclaimed territories provide a unique opportunity to experiment with new societal ideals that are difficult to realize at home. In Classical Greece social theorists such as Hippodamus and Plato philosophized about how utopian social ideals could be realized in new colonial settlements, thus inspiring the actual construction of utopian settlements such as Olynthos and Priene. Also the Romans experimented with new social models in colonial context. Their colonies, with their strict geometric and egalitarian lay-out were emancipatory settlements designed to transform urban plebs into strong soldier farmers the Empire needed. A very similar ideology also dictated the design of several colonies that were founded in the New world, such as Savannah Georgia in North America. The same is true for the ‘benevolent’ Peat colonies in the Low countries in the 19th c. and in Fascist Italy. Intriguingly, despite the long history of such colonial social experiments, only a handful of these utopian settlements proved to be a success. Most of these experimental settlements were short-lived and quickly disappeared or lost their original idealistic principles. This course analyses the philosophical and practical context in which such colonial experiments developed and explores the reasons for their failure or success. By studying colonial social experiments of the Classical Age, with 17-18 century colonization of America and the Peat colonies of the 19/20 century the longevity of this utopian practice is highlighted. At the same time, the comparison of these case-studies shows that despite their common ideological roots, the practical organization and evolutions of these settlements was very diverse, thus illustrating the complex interplay between the history of ideas and cultural and physical properties of different period and regions.

Coordinator: dr. J. Pelgrom

Lecturer(s): dr. J. Pelgrom

• Lobbying by the "Geschichtslosen": Twentieth Century Non-Western European National Projects (Language of instruction: Dutch) (10 ECTS)

Overview: Wie de kaart van Europa anno 1913 vergelijkt met 2021 ziet al snel de verschillen: In het Midden en Oosten van Europa is een veelheid van nieuwe natiestaten ontstaan. Anders dan West-Europese natiestaten, die in grote mate een continuïteit in hun geschiedenis konden aanwijzen, geldt dit voor de nieuwe twintigste-eeuwse natiestaten niet. In de 19e eeuw noemde G.W.F. Hegel deze volkeren “Geschichtslos”. Bij gebrek aan eigen geschiedenis konden deze volkeren ook geen toekomst als natie kennen. Hoe anders is het gelopen: In de tweede helft van de 19e eeuw ontwikkelden historici en andere intellectuelen in Midden-Europa nationale geschiedenissen en ontstonden er nationale bewegingen die streefden naar eigen natiestaten. Tijdens cruciale momenten in de twintigste eeuw hebben intellectuelen uit de “Geschichtslosen”, dan ook gelobbyd voor hun nationale projecten. Het resultaat: na de Parijse Vredesonderhandelingen (1919-1920) werden er legio nieuwe natiestaten geboren en grenzen verschoven. Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog werd het bestaan van deze staten opnieuw bevestigd. Na het einde van de Koude Oorlog verschenen er nog meer ten tonele.
Toch heeft niet iedereen succes gehad. Tijdens de Parijse vredesconferentie wisten Polen en Tsjechoslowaakse delegaties met succes hun claims kracht bij te zetten, terwijl anderen daar niet in slaagden, bijvoorbeeld de Oekraïners, Wit-Russen. Maar ook, buiten Europa, Zionisten en Arabieren. Ook vandaag de dag, bestaat dit soort lobbywerk nog steeds: denk maar aan diverse post-koloniale nationale afscheidingsbewegingen, of de lobbies voor erkenning van historisch onrecht, zoals de Armeense genocide, door West-Europese staten.
Het lobbywerk van deze kleine volkeren voor hun zelfstandige natiestaten tijdens de 20ste eeuw staat centraal in deze cursus. Aan de hand van literatuur én bronmateriaal gaan we in op deze materie; we zullen zien hoe Geschichtslosen zichzelf middels lobbywerk een stem hebben gegeven, of daar juist niet in geslaagd zijn.

Coordinator: dr. N.A. Kraft van Ermel

Lecturer(s): dr. N.A. Kraft van Ermel

• Columbian Exchange (10 ECTS)

Overview: Re-Presenting Columbian Exchange, 1492-2022
In 2022, one of the seminal early works of global history -- Alfred W. Crosby Jr.'s 1972 The Columbian Exchange -- will turn 50. Despite its age, this classic continues to prompt often-impassioned academic and popular debates about the lasting effects, meanings, and memories of global encounters in the early modern and modern eras. Indeed, in this summer's Black Lives Matter protests, statues of Columbus were toppled, drowned, and beheaded across the Atlantic World, while the devastation of indigenous American populations by Eurasian pathogens has been again invoked in the COVID-19 era. Structured roughly around Crosby's text, this course will emphasize the (in)voluntary global connections, circulations, networks and careers of people, plants and animals, pathogens, ideas, and things between the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa 1492-1992. Drawing on primary sources and key literature, we will examine topics such as encounters, the circulation of knowledge, and incipient anthropologies; pathogens and 'Virgin Soil' debates; the intimate connections of sugar, tobacco, and slavery; concepts such as syncretism, hybridity, or transculturation; ecological 'imperialism' and the concept of wilderness; the rise of foodways histories; new perspectives on revolution and race; and especially how and why representations of Columbus have shifted over the past 500 years.

Coordinator: dr. M.K. Williams

Lecturer(s): dr. M.K. Williams´

• Knowledge & Divergence in EM India (10 ECTS)

Overview: Starting in the early modern period (circa 1500-1800), large parts of Europe could escape poverty and became what came to be known as a modern economy. During this period creation and circulation of knowledge got intrinsically linked to economic growth. The Industrial Revolution offers us many examples of inventions and innovations specially in the cotton textile industry that ultimately lead to unprecedented economic growth of Britain and the larger "west". Yet, the history of early modern technological changes at a local and global level is written unevenly. What we do know is that big problems (eg. poverty) have long histories. What do we know about knowledge, inventions and innovations and economic growth in early modern South Asia (India during 1500 and 1800)? Why did Britain industrialise and India de-industrialise simultaneously?

In this course, we will learn about (artisanal) knowledge, proto-capitalism and divergence in economic growth in South Asia (India) in the early modern period. We will address the historical problem of why some economies advanced technologically much faster than others in the early modern times. We will focus on knowledge creation and circulation in the field of textile weaving and metallurgy: two proto-industries where South Asian artisans created products of high quality posing serious competition to their European counterparts prior to the Industrial Revolution. We will learn how knowledge got created, preserved and circulated in South Asia. What were the connections between knowledge creation and economic growth? What was the impact of knowledge on early modern South Asian economy? The course integrates a connections approach to history writing and offers multiple perspectives on early modern socio-economic history.

Coordinator: dr. A. Singh

Lecturer(s): dr. A. Singh

Compulsory Courses

• History of International Relations 1 (5 ECTS)

• Theory of International Relations (10 ECTS)

Electives

• Thinking the International in Historical Context (10 ECTS), 2020/21

Overview: This course focuses on the history of international relations and of international political thought, and asks how this can help us challenge some of the core assumptions and ideas we have about international relations today. We will read a variety of writings by classical authors from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, and use these as a means of understanding how international relations have differed throughout history and of rethinking and historicising key concepts within the discipline. Specifically, the course will focus on six core concepts: religion, war, the state, empire, capitalism, and race. Through these, students will learn to unpack how ideas of the international have emerged and developed at particular political junctures and thus to critically examine both historical and current international dynamics.

Coordinator: A.A. Nøhr, PhD.

Lecturer(s): A.A. Nøhr, PhD

• The Politics of Decolonization (10 ECTS), 2020/21, 2021/22
• IR Beyond Europe (10 ECTS), 2020/21

Overview: The purpose of this Core Module is to introduce various forms of knowledge production outside of the European epistemic hemisphere. A brief introduction will critically probe the idea of Europe as both an effect of historical power relations as well as a placeholder for a particular form of knowledge production that has constituted and is itself constituted through these power relations. Alternatives that will be discussed range from those internal to Europe such as Social and Radical Ecology, Post-Humanism, and Mysticism as well as those external to it such as Daoism, Buddhism, Rastafari, and Liberation Theology. This non-exhaustive list of alternative forms of knowledge production will be interrogated by looking at the way Global politics is or can be interpreted differently, in opposition to or support of the European epistemic that determines IR.

Coordinator: dr. L.J.K. Van Milders

Lecturer(s): dr. L.J.K. Van Milders

• Security: Critical Questions (10 ECTS), 2022/23

• Politics, Power, and Global Health (10 ECTS), 2022/23

• History of the Modern Middle East (Language of instruction: Dutch) (5 ECTS)

Compulsory Courses

• Minority Representations in Arts, Culture and Media I (5 ECTS)

• Diversity in Education (10 ECTS)

Electives

• Intersectionality and Superdiversity (10 ECTS)

Electives

• Theories of Gender and Intersectionality (10 ECTS)

• Researching Gender and Diversity (5 ECTS)

• Gender and Sexuality. Contested Categories in a Global Perspective (5 ECTS)

• Gender and Diversity in the workplace: Doing a Gender and Diversity Assessment (10 ECTS)

Electives

• Cinema, Capital, and Climate Change (5 ECTS), 2020/21/22

• Contemporary Documentary and Global Crises (5 ECTS), 2020/21

Overview: A century ago, in the context of a crisis of democracy and international solidarity a new mode of audiovisual representation of the Real emerged which we now refer to as ‘Documentary’. It aimed at the empowerment of citizens by providing it with not only factual information but also orientation and means of reflection. In what ways does current documentary relate to the interrelated global crises of the 21st century? From the Covid-19 crisis, to environmental crises, global refugee crises, the current crisis of democracy and financial crises? The transition to 2.0 has opened up new possibilities for documentary makers to expand their mission by building communities and participation, but (how) does that affect our comprehension of the origins and consequences of these crises? Can documentary not only in theory but also in practice contribute to a (radical) reorganization of the public sphere? What are its counterforces and which the different voices so crucial for a (re)formulation of a new contemporary humanitarian project? We will address these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective and in dialogue with documentary practitioners.

Coordinator: dr. A. van Noortwijk

Lecturer(s): dr. A. van Noortwijk

• Gender and Sexuality in Popular Music (5 ECTS), 2020/21

Overview: Gender and sexuality have been at the heart of popular music performance and creation since its inception. Music’s symbolic and affective dimension have afforded artists such as David Bowie or Janelle Monaé the means to experiment with performance styles or to challenge dominant gender ideologies. This course provides an overview of some of the dynamics related to gender and sexuality within popular music. It examines ways in which music cultures drive the representation, performance, and inscription of gender identities. We begin with an overview of important gender theorists in relation to popular music and performance, notably Judith Butler’s seminal gender performativity framework and music philosopher Robin James feminist philosophical analysis of popular music within neoliberalism. Throughout the course, we survey literature addressing such topics as gender and music composition; technologies of the self; masculinities within popular music, the voice and body within popular culture, and the role of technology in gendered networks. Concepts critical within this course are gender binaries, resilience, the male gaze, queer subjectivities, disarticulation, hegemonic masculinity, queer theory, and intersectionality. We examine case studies from the range of styles and periods of popular music production, collectivism, distribution, and mediation. These include heavy metal, EDM, jazz, soul, film music, and cabaret culture. However, we draw many cases from the digital period during which media plays an increasingly prominent role.

Coordinator: dr. K.A. McGee

Lecturer(s): dr. K.A. McGee

• Music, Politics and Resistance (5 ECTS), 2020/21/22

• Cinema and Social Change (5 ECTS), 2021/22

Compulsory Courses

• Introduction into Sustainability (10 ECTS)

• Historical Methods: Oral History (5 ECTS)

Electives

• Does this Really Change Everything?; How the Climate Crisis Alters the Ways we Write History (10 ECTS), 2020/21

Overview: In this seminar we examine in how far the climate crisis motivates or even forces us to question our (established) understandings of history. We discuss, for example, what the Anthropocene is, how a historiography may look like that devotes more attention to non-humans, and how the climate crisis transforms our notions of inequality. We use case studies from all over the world since 1600 but in particular from the Western and Asian societies.

Coordinator: prof. dr. C. Six

Lecturer(s): prof. dr. C. Six

• Transnational Families from the 19th Century to Postcolonial Times (10 ECTS), 2020/21

Overview: Recent debates of global ethnic, trade or commercial networks, diasporas and transnational communities underline the significance of families and kinship groups for the dynamics of migration and geographical scattering. In this course we will explore the concept of family - and how family is ‘done’ at the intersection of the nation, religion, race, gender and other important elements of identification that promote inclusion and exclusion. We will investigate the importance of kinship networks and how they support and are supported by economic, social and cultural networks in migration processes. And we will look into the consequences of national and global policies on the sustaining or breaking up of such kinship networks.

To be sure, transnational families are families whose members live some or most of the time separated from each other yet try to hold together and create a feeling of collective belonging or responsibility, namely familyhood, across national borders. Cohesion and support within transnational kinship networks can be highly relevant to (un)sustainability of migration processes. Cohesion exists where people feel part of a community, and family can be one of these, often intertwined with religious, cultural or social communities.The course offers a long-term historical perspective to the meaning of transnational families for the exchange of ideas, and the enhancement of social, cultural and economic capital. It centralizes the intersections between migration, kinship and nation-state building. The course looks at familial practices of socialization, and authority, hierarchy and power within transnational family constellations. These are in turn highly responsive to juridical systems, state power, and social hierarchies, including gender. The course also examines how different identities (national, race/ethnicity, gender etc.) are simultaneously negotiated in response to real or perceived challenges.

Coordinator: dr. B. Henkes

Lecturer(s): prof. dr. H.A.J. Bras ,dr. B. Henkes

• Environmental History (10 ECTS), 2021/22

Also in: Ma Interdisciplinary Research Seminars, Ma International Relations (European Integration), Ma International Relations (European Politics in a Global Perspective), Ma International Relations (International Relations and International Organization), Ma Literary Studies (European L&C / English L&C / Writing, Editing & Mediating)

Compulsory Courses

• Cultural History: Domains of European Identity (10 ECTS)

Electives

• Research Seminar I: Representing Europe (10 ECTS), 2020/21/22

• Res. sem. III: Dimensions of Citizenship (10 ECTS), 2020/21/22

• Research Seminar: Microfoundations of Development and Conflicts in East Asia (10 ECTS), 2020/21

Overview: Today, 80% of people around the globe live in poverty, or on less than $10 per day. Poverty has not only undermined the lives of people on continents such as Asia and Africa, but also those of people in developed countries such as the United States. As Bill Gates once points out, it is true that given the worldwide upward economic growth trend in the past decades, it may be a mistake or even harmful to think that the world cannot solve poverty. Yet, it is also true that more than 5 billion people are still in poverty, while the top 1-percent income share has increased. And whenever external shocks such as COVID-19, it is often the poor or marginalized who incur disproportionate costs of shocks. Furthermore, the trouble is not only about poverty itself, because poverty is not just an outcome, but it has also been linked to problems such as social unrest and economic downturns. Why are some people still poor? Why do most poverty reduction and redistribution strategies not work? The research seminar aims to understand the processes of poverty in East Asia and beyond, and domestic and international poverty alleviation efforts. The first half of the course examines causes of poverty, while the second half of the course studies the problems of poverty reduction and redistribution policies. In the end, students will develop an in-depth understanding of the main actors, mechanisms, and dilemmas in the contemporary poverty reduction system, and will be asked to come up with an original solution to alleviate poverty. Students are also expected to proceed towards identifying the specific topic, puzzle, research question, and research design of their paper, through collective discussion and individual meetings with the lecturer.

Coordinator: S. Tanaka, PhD.

Lecturer(s): S. Tanaka, PhD.

• Research Seminar: Visual Politics of Security (10 ECTS), 2020/21

Overview: Various debates in the field of Security Studies have shown that security, an essentially contested concept, is studied from a variety of angles. This research seminar explores the visual dimension in the study of security. It builds on my own research and takes advantage of recent interdisciplinary studies, which made important contributions to better understand the nexus of visuality and security. Both concepts are broadly defined and understood to be closely interlinked. Questions to be discussed include, but are not limited to: “How does visuality intersect with security?”, “How do visuals show, speak or practice security?” and “How can visual security be analyzed?”. Students can explore the politics of visual technologies such as artificial intelligence, drones, films, maps, photography, satellites and/or video surveillance at multiple sites of security in individual and group-based assignments. Topics of interest include conflict (e.g. terrorism, war, gender-based violence), diseases (e.g. COVID-19, Ebola, SARS), environment (e.g. climate change, natural disasters), migration (e.g. refugees, race and racism) and peace (e.g. memory, reconciliation, transitional justice). The research seminar will contribute to the employability of students at a time where people are said to be exposed to images as never before. Students will develop a form of critical visual literacy concerning what visuals do, how they function and what kind of implications arise from particular ways of seeing and showing security. The seminar set up also allows for external guest speakers (tbc) and excursions (e.g. World Press Photo exhibition).

The course strongly appeals to the self-reliance and creativity of students. For the first seminar session, students will be asked to bring and talk about a photograph, that they thought was important for shaping their understanding of security. The photograph should be linked to the mandatory readings of the first session and sent a week before to the instructor via email.

Coordinator: dr. D.U. Shim

Lecturer(s): dr. D.U. Shim

• Research Seminar: Decolonizing Security (10 ECTS), 2020/21/22

• Research Seminar: Politics of Natural Resources (10 ECTS), 2020/21/22

• Research Seminar: History, Emotions and International Politics (10 ECTS), 2020/ 21

Overview: This research seminar is meant for students with a particular interest in how the past determines the present. The scientific approach used is that of the forerunner of social constructivism, the English School, which emphasizes the importance of history on today’s world. In the seminar we will investigate the impact of (recent) big historical events, like wars, occupation, colonialism etc, on contemporary international politics and especially on bilateral relations between states. In many cases and ways sensitivities, based on unprocessed painful if not traumatic historical experiences, whether personal or more in general, do impact decisions of leaders of state/governments/states. The assumption is that very often history is (un)consciously used as a power tool in foreign policy. In our approach we go beyond classic mainstream International Relations theories in which rationalism is central. The dominant opinion amongst many (certainly realist and neo-liberal) IR scholars is that in foreign politics non-rational considerations do not play a role. What we are going to do is to look at politics from the non-rational, emotional c.q. psychological angle with the past as determining factor.

Coordinator: dr. J.F. Meijer

Lecturer(s): dr. J.F. Meijer

• Race, Class, Gender Intersectionality (10 ECTS), 2021/22/23

• Race and Racism (10 ECTS), 2021/22

Electives

• Travel Writing [Twentieth Century to the Present] (5 ECTS)

• Representations of Marginality in Spain (10 ECTS, Language of instruction: Spanish)

Electives

• Theoretical Specialization III: Global Journalism (5 ECTS)

Compulsory Courses

• Conflicts in the Middle East (10 ECTS)

Compulsory Courses

• Domestic Cultures of U.S. Imperialism (10 ECTS)

Compulsory Courses

• Arts and Media in Society (5 ECTS)

Electives

• Heritage in Crisis (5 ECTS)