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Contemporary issues from a broader perspective

Each semester, the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies offers a wide variety of elective courses. The following five courses will be starting soon and still have some spots left:

What were the artistic key moments in the independence of Suriname and the Dutch-Caribbean colonies?

From slavery times we know that dance, music, storytelling, proverbs and clothing were crucial in conserving people’s souls, giving shape to resistance and shaping communities. In The Unknown Caribbean: Artistic Key Moments in Dutch-Caribbean History, you will hear black eminent scholarly speakers from Suriname, Curaçao, the USA and Europe, hear live music, see visual arts, engage in theatre and smell the Caribbean! 

How does the coronavirus pandemic fit into the big picture?

The past year and a half have shown that outbreaks of infectious diseases still pose a global threat. How has the world responded to pandemics before and what lessons can be learned for the future? In the online Pandemic lectures, each week you will see two videos recorded by experts exclusively for this course; one will discuss our understanding of an aspect of the current coronavirus pandemic, and the other will place that understanding in a broad historical or futuristic perspective. The videos are followed by online live Q&As with the experts.

What are the societal consequences of the rapid technological advances in artificial intelligence?

The course Human(e) AI addresses important questions in a wide range of contexts, such as AI and Democracy, AI in Cultural Heritage, Regulatory issues around AI, AI in Medical Image Analysis, Natural Language Processing, and the Human-AI Interaction. Each of these themes will be covered in a guest lecture by an expert in the field.

Are we witnessing a new Cold War? 

The relationship between Russia and the EU continues to be under stress, partly due to the detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Russian cyberattacks and attempts to interfere in Western democratic processes. On the world stage, we see Russia turning to its old allies and major players. Russian Geopolitics brings together expert perspectives on how Russia is testing geopolitical waters and is exploring new contours of cooperation and influence around the world.

Wie steunt de wetenschap met geld en middelen, en hoe wordt ons beeld van wetenschap beïnvloed? 

Het vak Wetenschapsgeschiedenis (NL) neemt je mee op een tijdreis door de wetenschap die je voert langs Aristoteles, Galileo, Descartes, Newton en Darwin tot aan hedendaagse wetenschappers. Meld je aan en verbeter je inzicht in de onderlinge verwevenheid van de wetenschappen!

Open to UvA employees

These IIS elective courses are open to employees of all UvA faculties. Each staff member can take up to 30 EC per year free of charge.

Registration and more information

Registration is open. For more information, please read the detailed course descriptions on the IIS website.