Global Responsibility & Leadership

The course aims at understanding human behaviour within the context of individual, social, cultural and environmental factors. We will examine how these factors influence people's behaviour, cognition, and thinking as well as the way people make choices. We will cover basic research methods and theories from social psychology (social cognition, social influence, group processes etc.), giving a clear insight into the social psychological perspective and methodology. In addition, we will talk about those classical social psychology experiments, which will hopefully be a great source of inspiration for you to design similar approaches and experiments in the future.

In particular, the course will address the Sustainable Development Goals of 3 (good health & well-being), 5 (gender equality), 7 (affordable & clean energy), 10 (reduced inequalities), 11 (sustainable cities & communities), 12 (responsible consumption & production), 13 (climate action), and 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).

Information Technology (IT) for Interdisciplinary Studies offers a unique blend of digital literacy, IT methods for scientific research, and technology integration in the social sciences and humanities.

The Earth System course provides students with a solid grounding in the dynamics of our planet. Special attention is paid to the pressing environmental challenges facing the 21st Century. The course provides the necessary concepts and analytical tools to link specific local issues to a global framework. The course lectures will be supplemented by practical exercises, and a group project where you will further research a current environmental issue and present your findings.

Introduction to Global Health is one of the foundation courses, aiming to introduce students to basic concepts, theories and challenges of global health. Throughout the course, students learn about the historical development of health and improve their understanding on socioeconomic, political and structural factors that shape health as a quality of life.

This course offers an overview of key concepts in language and culture, with a focus on applying them to offer deeper understandings of current events. For example, we may explore the topic of race through an analysis of worldwide #BlackLivesMatter activities, or gender and sexuality through trans-rights movements, or religious diversity through speaking with experts in shamanism. By using concepts from the scientific fields of linguistics and anthropology, we will interpret international events from a fresh perspective and see how language and culture saturate human affairs.

This course is an introduction to international relations and international organisations. Students gain clear insight into the political perspective and the concept of power. Topics such as governments and non-state actors, responsibility, accountability, geopolitical developments, global governance and political theory are all addressed.

This course will help students understand the dynamics of energy transition, including issues of climate change, development and sustainability. It will address the necessary structural changes in our energy systems and conceptions of energy. Students will gain insight into different models of transition and the connections between technologies, resources, governance, economics, behaviour and the culture of energy at different scales.

This course covers the fundamentals of micro- and macroeconomics. The microeconomics part of the course covers economic decision-making by individuals and firms, and the determination of quantities and prices of goods. The macroeconomics part of the course covers issues such as economic growth, trade and inequality. This course offers a unified approach, combining the two fields (micro- and macroeconomics) offering students insights into the interaction between individuals, households, firms, and governments, functioning at different levels of the society.

In this course, students learn to execute and report on a complete qualitative research project. To this goal, students go through the qualitative research cycle, comprising the design cycle, the data collection cycle, and the analytic cycle. Students start with formulating a SDG-related research question, and after critically engaging with the literature, they design their research instrument, collect and analyse data, and finally write and present a research report. When collecting data, interviews will be used (but in the course, there is also attention for focus group discussion and observation). The students also work on weekly assignments, group discussions, and literature presentations.

Statistics I introduces students to foundational concepts and techniques in statistical analysis, with a strong emphasis on understanding and interpreting real-world data. The course covers descriptive statistics, core principles of sampling and probability, and introduces methods for statistical inference.

The Personal Leadership Lab (PLL) invites you for a 8 week intensive journey into self-discovery.

The focus is on personal development and specifically, on exploring how you relate to yourself, others, and the planet. You will be challenged to take an active role in shaping a space of collective reflection and mutual trust, where each can find a voice and improve their understanding of themselves. We will reflect on essential topics such as altruism and compassion, the power of emotions and habits, listening and compromise, and more fundamentally, on what being human means to each one of us. Beyond leadership trainings emphasising a skill-based approach, the PLL focuses on cultivating principles and the right mindsets. It is therefore anchored in the philosophy of liberal education.

Statistics II is a course designed specifically for second-year students pursuing UCF's bachelor's program in Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL). In this course, you will apply essential statistical methods and techniques to analyze and interpret data related to climate, energy, environment, public health, and economic development.

Have you ever wondered what's wrong, if anything, with the herd immunity strategy to handle the global pandemic? How to repair historical injustices inflicted on colonised countries? What do we owe to people living with severe disabilities? The ethics course will tackle these questions and many more, related to the ethical norms that ought to govern our collective life. Students will be introduced to major ethical theories and challenged with thorny ethical dilemmas. Together we will discuss a wide range of topics, from animal rights, queer politics, privacy and security to post-colonialism. We will do so by listening to thinkers from various backgrounds and by arguing with each other.

The University College Fryslân (UCF)'s Living Lab (LL) concept is a co-creation process between students, researchers, and public and/or private organisations. LLs are an opportunity to develop new ideas, products, services and business models that solve societal challenges. The aim of the LL is to integrate academic and experiential (non-academic) knowledge, using transdisciplinary collaboration.

Based on project descriptions provided by private and public stakeholders from the region and abroad (the host organisations), students identify a problem relevant to their research interests and capacities. Together with their academic supervisor, students then translate this into a question which is suitable for academic research. They identify the relevant connecting disciplines, apply academic or scientific theory, come up with a suitable methodology, collect and analyse data, and provide answers to the research questions or hypotheses. Students report the results of the findings by way of providing recommendations for the stakeholder.

The LL will address at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals per project, depending on the project. The LL teaches students to apply theoretical knowledge to a practical situation therefore contributing to students' mastery of integrated and applied learning.

The Capstone is the academic culmination of the GRL degree and consists of the bachelor thesis and a portfolio. It is the biggest leadership challenge of the third year. By the end of the semester, you will showcase your mastery of knowledge and intellectual skills in your semi-independent research, as well as your development of personal and social responsibility in the portfolio. You complete the Capstone in the final two terms of year three. You will be rewarded with 10 EC. Your overall grade is based on your bachelor thesis (70 percent) and a grade for your Portfolio (30 percent).