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With the start of the academic year, the new edition of the Create a Course Challenge 2023 is now in full swing. The IIS challenges all UvA students to submit their ideas for a brand new elective course.

Make education fun, challenging and meaningful

Every year, the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (IIS) organises the UvA Create a Course Challenge, in which students can think along with us about how teaching should be organised, what courses should be taught, the kinds of methods that should be used and the roles students and lecturers should play. This year there is a special edition of the Create a Course Challenge, with focus on: Future Change!

This challenge invites all students to step outside the box and think about how education can be fun, challenging and meaningful. 

Special Edition: Future Change 

The world is changing and so is education. The future demands innovative solutions to current challenges. Therefore, for this special edition of the challenge, the focus is on contributing to the changes our society needs. Change is a broad concept that can be considered from many different perspectives, such as technological, economic, ecological, political, social, psychological and philosophical change. When developing your course, think out of the box and across disciplines.

How does it work?

The Create a Course Challenge consists of four rounds. First, students submit the first draft of their idea before 10 October. Then they will have time to develop their course in more detail using our Action Plan, which they'll hand in before 1 November. Our curriculum developers will select the best ten ideas, and all UvA students and staff may once vote for their top three between 8 and 15 November.

The five students with the most votes will pitch their ideas during the live finale on November 23. That evening, the jury will choose one winner. Together with the curriculum experts of the IIS, the winner will immediately start working on further developing the course. The winning course will be offered as an IIS elective to the entire UvA community in the next academic year.