General Education: Global Challenges
The general education programme is called ‘Global Challenges’ (25 EC) and is aimed at educating students to contribute in a positive way to solutions for Global Challenges. All students are therefore required to take four general education courses which contribute to their broad perspective on dealing with these challenges as well as introduce them to several fields of study. In an interdisciplinary way you discover how you can contribute to positive approaches to global challenges.
Global Challenges 1: Peace (5 EC)
This course addresses not only the historical, political and cultural background of the theme, but also the role of international relations, religious influences in conflicts and possible solutions. You will apply this general knowledge in a case study of a single region, country, or nation. While learning more about the case, you will train your academic skills, such as searching and evaluating literature, academic reasoning and critical thinking, as well as your interdisciplinary skills.
Global Challenges 2: Sustainability (5 EC)
This course uses a similar concept as Global Challenges 1. The course focuses on aspects of sustainability, including introductions to ecology, energy systems, and geology. Instead of regions or countries, an aspect of sustainability is used as the case. Although the main focus is on the scientific background of sustainability, you will also study the political, social, and international matters related to it. In addition, you further develop your academic skills while studying these topics.
Global Challenges 3: Justice (5 EC)
The third Global Challenges course continues to build on the topics raised before. Justice has more than only legal aspects. When does a person that justice has been done? Does that differ from culture to culture? These questions and others are topic of discussion in this course.
Global Challenges 4: System Earth (5 EC)
In this course students will learn about the main processes in System Earth, its main global cycles (e.g. water, nutrients, and carbon) and its energy balance. Furthermore, they will learn how humans interfere with these global cycles and with the energy balance and how this leads to the environmental problems we are confronted with. Students will also learn how to quantify relevant issues quickly
Disciplinarity and Beyond (5 EC)
In this course students explore the origins and evolution of the academic disciplines -- how knowledge has been organised into distinct 'fields of inquiry' in European history.
Emphasis will be on how and why these fields developed into their current forms, how they relate to each other, and especially on whether there are interesting and innovative 'gaps' in between them.
Hence, they will consider the possibilities offered by multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches, and the cutting edge of knowledge, leaving them well prepared to make the most of their studies at LUC The Hague.