Government & Society

Gateway Courses:

• For all 200-level and 300-level courses in History: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World

100-level:

• Modern History
• Native American Histories
• Histories of Gender: Repression & Resistance

200-level:

• History of Empires
• Western Way of War

300-level:

• History Research Seminar

Course Descriptions

100-level: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World
In this course we will introduce you to the way the five Government and Society-units (history, law, political science, sociology and philosophy) seek to understand the social world. We do this by teaching you how to formulate questions from different disciplinary perspectives as well as with a view to the different roles that you may have in society (researcher, student, citizen, human being) and the responsibilities that come with that. This includes debates about ethical dilemmas in research, learning to understand the difference between descriptive and normative approaches, and familiarizing yourself with the major theoretical and empirical approaches that are common to the disciplines. We also pay ample attention to critical thinking and the added values of studying these questions within the context of a liberal arts education. The course is co-taught by teachers from the different units and will introduce you to key tools and resources that enable you to learn to ask different and critical questions about our social world. We show you what are the most effective ways to research and answer these questions. All in all, the course will help you get a better feel for the different disciplines and enable you to optimize the course choices that you will make for your program at UCR.

100-level: Modern History
This course gives a chronological overview of history from 1815 till today. The nineteenth century saw the rise of industrial societies and of the new political ideals of popular sovereignty (e.g. Marxism, socialism) and national self-determination. These forces continued to operate in the twentieth century, which was characterized by tremendous upheavals like the Russian Revolution, the two World Wars and the demise of communism in Eastern Europe. The course offers a survey of the main economic, political and cultural developments from 1815 to the present.

100-level: Histories of Gender: Repression & Resistance

This history course explores the lives of ordinary people through the lens of gender from the 19th through the 21st centuries. The approach centers storytelling in cultural expressions and forms, ranging from spoken narratives to news publications, children’s storybooks, artwork, music, photography, film, podcasts, and TikTok. See this example of a student’s work. Topics include 19th century slavery, “The” 1950’s, Conversion ‘therapy’ in the 1970’s, New Queer Cinema in the 1990’s, childhood and older adulthood over time, and banned books today. Class members also contribute to telling stories about gender by engaging with the Walking With Pride Project. It features the stories of queer people and their allies and assumes that textiles are sites of storytelling.

200-level: History of Empires
This course is about great powers, superpowers and even hyperpowers. ‘Empire’ is a powerful and dangerous word. It has a rich and ambiguous history and strong polemical connotations now and in the past. The typical empire is usually presented as oppressive and ruthless, although some of the modern empires are democracies that focus upon the improvements of its society.

This course deals with some of the most important empires in World History. Next to this some of the most important theories on empires will be treated. How is the rise and fall of empires explained? What are the sources of empire and how are great power politics conducted?

200-level: Western Way of War
This course gives a chronological overview of the history of Warfare in the Western World from antiquity to the present day. All aspects of war on land, sea, and in the air are covered: weapons and technology; strategy and defense; discipline and intelligence; mercenaries and standing armies; cavalry and infantry; chivalry and Blitzkrieg; guerrilla assault and nuclear arsenals. The history of the West has centered around ferocious competition for mastery, in which the ruthless, innovative, and the decisive displaced the complacent, the imitative, and the irresolute.

Gateway Courses:
For all 200-level and 300-level courses in Law:

• Law, Society & Justice
• Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World

100-level:

• Human Rights: Law & Philosophy

200-level:

• Criminal Law & Criminal Justice
• Introduction to Public International Law
• Comparative Constitutional Law

300-level:

• Principles of Private Law
• Foundations of European Union Law

Course Descriptions

100-level: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World
In this course we will introduce you to the way the five Government and Society-units (history, law, political science, sociology and philosophy) seek to understand the social world. We do this by teaching you how to formulate questions from different disciplinary perspectives as well as with a view to the different roles that you may have in society (researcher, student, citizen, human being) and the responsibilities that come with that. This includes debates about ethical dilemmas in research, learning to understand the difference between descriptive and normative approaches, and familiarizing yourself with the major theoretical and empirical approaches that are common to the disciplines. We also pay ample attention to critical thinking and the added values of studying these questions within the context of a liberal arts education. The course is co-taught by teachers from the different units and will introduce you to key tools and resources that enable you to learn to ask different and critical questions about our social world. We show you what are the most effective ways to research and answer these questions. All in all, the course will help you get a better feel for the different disciplines and enable you to optimize the course choices that you will make for your program at UCR.

100-level: Law, Society & Justice​
The course offers three perspectives to the law: the legal-descriptive, the socio-scientific and the normative. The course explores the different understandings of law, definitions of the law, legal traditions, and various fields of law: civil law, criminal law, constitutional law, administrative law and human rights. The course will also look into the relationship between law and society and the concept of justice. The course includes discussing principles of law, case law, an excursion to international legal organisations, an interview with legal practitioners and a Moot court session.

100-level: Human Rights: Law & Philosophy
This course offers a broad approach to human rights: the legal, the historical and the theoretical/philosophical. In the first part of the course, human rights will mainly be studied in a legal way, adopting a legal perspective. Students will be introduced to the catalogue of human rights as positive law. Human rights treaties, the monitoring mechanisms and case law on human rights will be explored. This knowledge will be tested in a mid-term exam (multiple choice). In the second part, students will delve into a more historical and philosophical understanding of human rights. We will investigate the rise of the language of human rights in the 17th and 18th century, its culmination in the US Bill of Rights (1791) and the Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen (1789). We will explore the further developments of the language in the 20th century in particular, which brought a great extension of the number and application of human rights. Students will read landmark cases that touch upon contentious, and often politicised disputes between liberty and equality. Some emphasis in this course will be given to natural law and its connection to human rights. We will delve into the classical and medieval scholarship on natural law, starting with Plato’s and Aquinas’ views on right and wrong. This will be compared to the modern views on the same going back to Hobbes and Locke, the latter considered to be the founding father of the rights paradigm. Human rights in today’s traditional societies will be investigated through selected case studies. The aim of this course is to enable a critical intellectual appreciation of human rights past, present and future, but also to understand human rights across societies and cultures that vary from traditional to modern.​

200-level: Introduction to Public International Law
This course serves as a general introduction to public international law as a field of study and a professional discipline. Designed to provide students with a foundational knowledge of the creation and the evolution of the subject, it is divided into three parts dealing with a) general principles such as sources, subjects, and organizations of international law; b) specific domains including the regulation of the use of force, humanitarian law, and environmental law; c) questions regarding the politics of international law including compliance, effectiveness and enforcement.

200-level: Criminal Law & Criminal Justice
At the heart of criminal law and criminal justice is the discussion and debate of moral and legal justifications for criminalization and punishment. Building on this foundation, students investigate the main guiding principles of criminal law and criminal justice, confronting the concepts of criminal accountability, differentiated types of ‘guilt’, the essentials of justifications and excuse, important limitations such as the legality principle and other fundamental considerations. Students then apply theory to practice to gain mastery of legal reasoning skills in a simulated legal aid clinic.

200-level: Comparative Constitutional Law
Constitutions are the foundation of any state and its legal system. Constitutional law, as a field of study and practice, concerns fundamental questions that arise regarding the organization of a state, the attribution of power to public authorities, the division of power among them, and the relations between the government and individuals. This course offers insights into the features and functions of representative constitutions worldwide, as well as key principles of constitutional law. For this purpose, we will adopt a deliberately comparative approach, keeping in mind both the advantages and limitations of this method. The topics covered include basic concepts such as constitutionalism, the separation of powers, judicial review, federalism, and fundamental rights. In the second part of the course, we will delve into more advanced debates on constitution-making in divided societies, religious constitutions, and constitutional backsliding.

300-level: Principles of Private Law
Private law can play an important role in daily life. Whether enjoying life at home or stepping out the front door, intended and unintended interactions can have legal consequences for the persons involved. The rights and obligations associated with these situations are largely determined by a collection of legal fields known as private law. In this course, students closely examine general principles of property law, tort law, contract law, and other subjects, illuminated through comparisons of the legal systems in four different countries.

300-level: Foundations of European Union Law
European law has developed over the past seven decades into a complex system of institutions, instruments, and laws. This course addresses important areas of EU law and equips students with skills to approach and understand this legal system as it continues to evolve. Following an introduction to the bodies and competences of the EU, the various types of EU legal instruments, and the enforcement of EU law, important substantive law regarding the internal market is considered. Problem Based Learning is a key feature used in the course for learning how EU law applies in the real-world context.

Gateway Courses:

• For all 200-level and 300-level courses in Philosophy: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World

100-level:

• Introduction to Western Philosophy

200-level:

• Ethics
• Philosophy of Mind

300-level:

• Philosophy of Emotion
• Free Will, Time & the Self

Course Descriptions

100-level: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World
In this course we will introduce you to the way the five Government and Society-units (history, law, political science, sociology and philosophy) seek to understand the social world. We do this by teaching you how to formulate questions from different disciplinary perspectives as well as with a view to the different roles that you may have in society (researcher, student, citizen, human being) and the responsibilities that come with that. This includes debates about ethical dilemmas in research, learning to understand the difference between descriptive and normative approaches, and familiarizing yourself with the major theoretical and empirical approaches that are common to the disciplines. We also pay ample attention to critical thinking and the added values of studying these questions within the context of a liberal arts education. The course is co-taught by teachers from the different units and will introduce you to key tools and resources that enable you to learn to ask different and critical questions about our social world. We show you what are the most effective ways to research and answer these questions. All in all, the course will help you get a better feel for the different disciplines and enable you to optimize the course choices that you will make for your program at UCR.

100-level: Introduction to Western Philosophy
This course introduces central themes from the Western philosophical tradition, spanning 2,500 years of history from the ancient Greeks to cutting-edge work from our own time. We will become familiar with the issues discussed by philosophers, inquire into their significance and their relation to thought in other disciplines, such as psychology, law, physics, computer science, and political science. Most importantly, we will acquaint ourselves with theoretical methods and tools that have been used by philosophers throughout the ages to support their conclusions and ideas.

200-level: Ethics
Our actions and decisions are structured by the ways we think about values, about what the good is. This course explores theories of moral reasoning, building upon historical and contemporary sources. In the first part of the course, we will examine the main theories in ethics – virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism – as well as questions pertaining to moral knowledge, motivation, responsibility, and the relation of happiness and pleasure to ethics. The second part of the course focuses on practical ethics, touching upon topics such as animal rights, privacy, future generations, war, punishment, euthanasia, disability, racial and gender equality.

200-level: Philosophy of Mind
In this course, we will focus both on important work from the history of the philosophy of mind and on contributions from recent scholarship. We will begin by taking a close look at Descartes’ dualism and its legacy, exploring dominant approaches to the mind during the past century, and examining the debate concerning the nature of consciousness. Additional topics to be discussed include the possibility of intelligent and conscious machines, animal minds, the identity of persons over time, transformative experiences, and the impact of novel technologies on the ways we experience the world.

300-level: Philosophy of Emotion
Emotions are a basic aspect of human experience, but they have been, throughout the history of philosophy, contrasted with and sidelined by the pursuit of rationality. This course provides the opportunity to engage with key questions in the study of emotions from a philosophical perspective. Topics we explore in the course include the nature of emotions, the role of emotions in ethics, the rationality of emotions, emotions in art. We consider sources from the history of philosophy, as well as contemporary research on the emotions from philosophy and additional disciplines.

300-level: Free Will, Time & the Self
What does it mean to be free? How significant is the impact of luck on our decisions and choices? Does affirming the existence of free will involve asserting that the future is genuinely ‘open’? These and related questions resonate throughout the history of philosophy, and are addressed in fascinating new ways in recent thought. In this course, we explore the nature and scope of free will and inquire into relations of the debate on free will to questions concerning the reality and experience of time, and the nature of the self. The term will be divided into three modules, as we examine these issues and their connections.

Gateway Courses:

• For all 200-level and 300-level courses in Politics: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World

100-level:

• Introduction to Political Philosophy

200-level:

• Theory of International Relations
• Foundations of Comparative Politics

300-level:

• European Union Politics
• Public Policy Analysis
• Peace & Conflict

Course Descriptions

100-level: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World
In this course we will introduce you to the way the five Government and Society-units (history, law, political science, sociology and philosophy) seek to understand the social world. We do this by teaching you how to formulate questions from different disciplinary perspectives as well as with a view to the different roles that you may have in society (researcher, student, citizen, human being) and the responsibilities that come with that. This includes debates about ethical dilemmas in research, learning to understand the difference between descriptive and normative approaches, and familiarizing yourself with the major theoretical and empirical approaches that are common to the disciplines. We also pay ample attention to critical thinking and the added values of studying these questions within the context of a liberal arts education. The course is co-taught by teachers from the different units and will introduce you to key tools and resources that enable you to learn to ask different and critical questions about our social world. We show you what are the most effective ways to research and answer these questions. All in all, the course will help you get a better feel for the different disciplines and enable you to optimize the course choices that you will make for your program at UCR.

100-level: Introduction to Political Philosophy​
In this course, you will be introduced to the most influential philosophical approaches with regard to politics. We will look at  political notions such as authority, freedom, equality, democracy, human rights, pluralism, multiculturalism, world poverty, the environment – and much more – both with an eye to contemporary discussions and classical texts. This is the course in which you get to read the great classics from Plato until Hannah Arend and John Rawls. Writing essays and giving presentations will be central in the assignments.

200-level: Foundations of Comparative Politics
Foundations of comparative politics provides you with the key analytical tools to analyze  and compare political systems and the development and functioning of democracies in particular. We examine major phenomena such as democratic backsliding, the decline of political parties, the rise of populism, the shift from a print-based to an internet based media, the rising importance of non-majoritarian institutions such as courts and central banks, and the impact of globalization and internationalization on domestic politics.

200-level: Theories of International Relations
This course aims to provide students with an in-depth introduction to the field of International Relations (IR).
The first part introduces students to the basic theories of IR.
In the second part, students will (learn to) analyse, with the help of the concepts and schools of thought from part 1, current thematical problems in international relations. Some topics; climate change, energy, water & natural resources, humanitarian intervention, North-South & South-South-relations, international economic crisis.
The course ends with a negotiation simulation of the UN Security Council.

300-level: European Union Politics
European Union Politics introduces students to the unique institutional constellation of the European Union as a political system that was once characterized as an UPO: an Unidentified Political Object. The EU is loved and hated at the same time: whilst populists rather like to see it vanish, time and again every European crisis seems to only boost its role in tackling a wide variety of European problems that are cross border in nature: immigration, banking, security, climate change. How does the EU actually do this and how does it impact politics at the national level?

300-level: Public Policy Analysis
Processes of globalization and privatization have dramatically changed  the capacity of national governments to make public policy: things governments do and not do in response to collective problems. Which actors would present themselves as alternative policy-makers in today’s globalized world? The EU, WTO, UN, NGOs, companies, even citizens themselves? What are the effects, strengths and weaknesses of involving these in policy-making?

Gateway Courses:

• For all 200-level and 300-level courses in Sociology: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World

100-level:

• Introduction to Sociology

200-level:

• Qualitative Research Methodology
• Social Stratification & Inequality
• Modern Sociology
• Social Movements & Environmental Justice

300-level:

• New Issues in Contemporary Social Theory
• Social Memory & Historical Justice

Course Descriptions

100-level: Thinking Across Disciplines: Dilemmas in Understanding the Social World
In this course we will introduce you to the way the five Government and Society-units (history, law, political science, sociology and philosophy) seek to understand the social world. We do this by teaching you how to formulate questions from different disciplinary perspectives as well as with a view to the different roles that you may have in society (researcher, student, citizen, human being) and the responsibilities that come with that. This includes debates about ethical dilemmas in research, learning to understand the difference between descriptive and normative approaches, and familiarizing yourself with the major theoretical and empirical approaches that are common to the disciplines. We also pay ample attention to critical thinking and the added values of studying these questions within the context of a liberal arts education. The course is co-taught by teachers from the different units and will introduce you to key tools and resources that enable you to learn to ask different and critical questions about our social world. We show you what are the most effective ways to research and answer these questions. All in all, the course will help you get a better feel for the different disciplines and enable you to optimize the course choices that you will make for your program at UCR.

100-level: Introduction to Sociology
This course focuses on the concepts, theories, and methods of sociology. The course pays particular attention to the socio-historical context in which key authors, such as Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Du Bois, developed their ideas. Students will be able to identify and formulate sociological problems and questions through different theoretical perspectives. Students will consider the advantages and limitations of a selection of theoretical approaches and methodologies in sociology. The course is not limited to the historical temporality of “classical authors”. Instead, it focuses on social problems related to race, gender, and class across different societies and periods. The problems studied in the course will be chosen in discussion with the students during the first part of the course. We will read original works by key authors and contemporary scholars.

200-level: Qualitative Research Methodology
This course provides students with qualitative research tools that can be applied in a variety of academic and professional situations. Attention is given to the initial design and setup, to different stages in the research process itself including data-analysis and interpretation of data, and to writing up and presenting one’s findings to an audience. By focusing on the description, analysis and understanding, and explanation of other people’s actions and words, we try to come closer to making sense of what other people consider to be ‘real’ about this world.

200-level: Modern Sociology​
Building on the insights of the Introduction to Sociology course, this course seeks to understand the trajectory of the discipline of sociology in its historical context, namely “within the culture of imperialism and [in the embodiment] of a cultural response to the colonized world” (Connell 1997: 1519). This course examines some of the leading social theories and ideas that have shaped the debates in sociology in the 20^th century and discusses sociological discourses about modernity in a critical manner.

200-level: Social Stratification & Inequality
Whether based on race, gender, class, or nationality (to name only a few examples), conditions of inequality have existed throughout human history. As opposed to earlier times, however, such disparities are no longer regarded as inherent but as socially generated and subject to change. The fight against inequality—often and seemingly paradoxically in the face of their effective rise—is likewise the key driver behind some of the most powerful social movements of our time. This course invites you to explore the complex systems of social stratification that create, reproduce, condition, and shape various forms of inequality within and across societies around the globe.

200-level: Social Movements & Environmental Justice
This course examines socio-environmental conflicts and cases of environmental degradation that directly harm social groups, particularly those vulnerable to different types of social exclusion and inequality. Furthermore, it examines the responses led by social movements to these harms. Since the 1980s, socio-environmental activists have engaged in multiple interventions in rural and urban spaces at local and global levels. We examine social movement theories and concepts that help us understand the global environmental justice movement by focusing on cases taken from the Environmental Justice Atlas.

300-level: New Issues in Contemporary Sociology
This course builds on the subjects studied in Introduction to Sociology and Modern Sociology. The main objective of this course is to introduce students to key debates in sociological theory from a global perspective, including authors from the Global South. We read works on Queer theory, Critical theory of Race and Racism, and analysis of contemporary social problems.

300-level: Social Memory & Historical Justice
Contemporary societies experience different types of violence, often in response to old cycles of violence. This course explores how societies remember past atrocities, massive crimes, and human rights violations. It will examine, through the social science lenses, diverse attempts at dealing with historical injustice and building more just societies. Considering the unique position of UCR in Middelburg, this course will work with the Zeeuws Archive on the transatlantic slave trade and the social movements involved in the struggle for recognition of the legacies of slavery in the Netherlands. It will also examine the institutional responses of museums in dealing with the past. We will have guest speakers from local organiza­tions, a museum visit and debates about contemporary and old problems of historical justice.