Interfaculty and extracurricular initiatives

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Bachelor Global Studies

As the result of the collaboration of educational designers from all UM faculties, Global Studies is a truly interdisciplinary programme. It is the only bachelor in the Netherlands to have 6 faculties equally teaching in it.

In this programme, students learn to understand and develop solutions for complex global issues. It is structured around five themes, each of which contains knowledge, theories, methods and academic & professional skills from multiple disciplines:

• Environment & Economy
• Migration & Citizenship
• Tolerance & Beliefs
• Peace & Justice
• 21st Century Learning

The bachelor Global Studies is not only bridging all faculties of UM, it is also bridging borders between nationalities. Beside having an international study community it includes a mandatory language training for the first two years and finishes with a field study and possibility to develop interventions to a destination in the Global South in the final year.

In all that time experts from all faculties of UM will help students to integrate knowledge from different disciplines to better understand and intervene in complex global problems.

Find more out about our bachelor Global Studies.

Minor Sustainability

Sustainable development is a complex and very multifaceted theme. If we want to know more about it and come up with good solutions to environmental, social and economic problems, we can draw on numerous disciplines. For bachelor students who are about to enter the labour market and want to contribute to a sustainable world, an interdisciplinary minor is an excellent opportunity to gain more insight into what sustainability means for different disciplines, regardless of their own background.

In this minor the environmental, social, economic, and institutional dimensions of sustainable development are addressed and, where relevant, illustrated with real-world sustainability problems and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The UM-wide minor on Sustainability (25-30 ECTS) started in September 2021 and students from across the six different UM faculties of UM signed-up. The minor has been built by teaching and research staff of all faculties at Maastricht University with various academic backgrounds. It is composed of a unique collection of courses, including skills modules in which students develop their competencies for sustainable development. The minor also provides an optional research project on sustainability. The minor is accessible to almost all UM students and aims for a unique cross-faculty learning experience.

More information on the Minor Sustainability can be found here.

Civic Engagement Activities

As part of the Global Citizenship Education initiative, UM started with the implementation of a project to recognize and value extra-curricular activities with a focus on social involvement and social impact. Maastricht University would like to recognize and appreciate intrinsically motivated students who contribute to society and/or nature. By doing so, UM signals the importance of students being able to develop beyond the curriculum. By facilitating the connection between the social field and the student, we hope students can contribute to initiatives that benefit other people, organizations and society at large, and develop personal and professional competences and an ethic of care. Civic engagement activities allow students to work on their global citizenship soft skills in a non-academic setting. Reflecting on these skills, students stimulate their personal growth and prepare for Lifelong Learning. The recognition of a civic engagement activity comes in the form of a digital Global Citizenship Edubadge.

The involvement of students and social (student) organizations is very important for this project. For example, in the spring of 2022, the project was discussed during a student session. Together we looked at what kind of activities should be recognized and valued, what criteria the activities must meet and what students find particularly important: the value of the recognition. For them, recognition of civic engagement activities by UM was a welcome sign of appreciation.

To simplify participation in the civic engagement activities and to provide an overview of the available options, a digital portal has been built where students can easily and quickly come into contact with various activities and social (student) organisations. Together with the students and social (student) organizations, we looked at what information students need in order to decide which activity suits them and how the portal can be as user-friendly as possible for organizations.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

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Using Design Thinking to Decolonise the Curriculum

The Using Design Thinking to Decolonise the Curriculum project, funded internally by Maastricht University’s EDLAB, was designed to take a more creative approach to issues surrounding decolonizing the curriculum initiative. Utilising an iterative, design thinking methodology, this approach was trailed with the MA in Globalization and Development Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Over a period of 10 months, students, alumni, and staff explored issues of diversity and inclusion, as well as voices which have traditionally been central to the curriculum as well as those on the margins.

The project conducted four workshops in Spring 2022 with the class of 2021-22,  with a follow-up feedback session with the class of 2022-23(none of whom had been involved in the earlier discussions)  in December 2022.

The non-confrontational, collaborative, and iterative nature of the design thinking approach proved extremely positive, not only to reach the stated goal of the project, eg, for each course coordinator to develop at least one new PBL activity to further diversity the curriculum, but in allowing students to have a voice in co-constructing the curriculum, and for staff to have opportunities to share information about their course design as well as new interventions.

The workshops differed in format, ranging from fully in-person to hybrid or fully online (due to Covid restrictions during periods when the project was being undertaken). But all took a design thinking approach to share ideas, gather feedback, and iterate to the next phase of the process. Feedback was extremely positive, both by those who participated in the process, as well as from the new cohort of students to the interventions embedded in the curriculum.

Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences

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Community-based learning BMZ2021: Care in Context

Project team of four students ‘adopts’ an organisation (e.g., diabetes association, breast cancer association) and analyses the organisation based on a collaboratively formulated problem statement.

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Work-integrated experiential learning BMZ2022: Schaarste in de Zorg

Students take a trip to authoritative governmental institutions within their field of study.

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Mini-internship BMZ2023: Kijken in de Zorg

During this four-day practical internship, students conduct a small-scale study into the experiences of people with various aspects of an organisation. The students will perform a short semi-structured interview and produce a concise report with results and advice. The practical internship also offers a glimpse of the daily routine of an organisation.

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Digital global citizens PGZ2226: The Role of Culture on International Health Care and Public Health Practice

Students are asked to develop a method for global communication among colleagues and citizens using any available (free) social media platform in a new and innovative way. This platform should be capable of allowing 5-10 people to participate in a community health needs assessment for public services. This platform must be sensitive to cultural barriers and assets of a particular population. An important aspect of the training is also to get to know these cultural minority groups, get to know their specific health problems, barriers and needs.

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Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience

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Collaborative online intercultural learning PSY4126: Virtual collaboration for the common good

Students in Maastricht will collaborate with international students. Students will prepare a presentation and a short intervention or research project proposal on a humanitarian topic the students adopt. To contextualise the assignment, the team will have to identify a problem/case description situated in a foreign country.

Community-based learning City deal: Creating Knowledge Project

Students are asked to develop a project plan with the local community in order to improve the quality of life in Randwyck or Mariaberg. Students can collaborate with students from other disciplines (e.g. Public Health students from UM or Built Environment students from Zuyd). Project themes can be: vitality, loneliness, safety, inclusivity and urban nature. The City Deal project stimulates collaboration between higher education institutions and Trajekt, neighbourhood networks, and social and safety teams.

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Improv theatre for character strengths PSY3383: Improv(e) your soft skills

Through different methods of improvisational theatre, students will playfully develop a positive, open, and curious attitude, learn acceptance for ambiguous or uncertain situations, and gain trust in oneself and others, thereby promoting spontaneity, flexibility, creativity and problem-solving.

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Course International Psychology and Climate Change

This course is a student-led and student-created elective at Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.

The climate crisis is an intersectional major challenge of contemporary society. In order to tackle it and mitigate its effects, transdisciplinary insights are required. At the same time, the already devastating consequences on (mental) health need to be recognised and dealt with. As human behaviour is at the root of these challenges, Psychology, the science of behaviour, gives important approaches.

To get an insight on how psychology and climate change are interrelated, this elective seeks first, to provide a basic understanding of climate change. At the same time, the two-way human-nature relationship gets explored. Thus, students will learn why humans cannot be seen independent of the environment and how cultural perspectives on nature differ.

Next, the focus lies on the role of psychology. Part of that are the consequences and anticipatory effects of climate change on mental health (e.g climate anxiety, trauma). Additionally, students will investigate findings about how both individual and social processes result in (un-)sustainable decisions and behaviours. And how these factors can be used to promote sustainable behaviour.

An essential goal of the elective is to apply the newly gained knowledge. Throughout the whole course of four weeks, students will develop a project in collaboration with other students. The project will deal with creating a strategy about a self-chosen aspect of climate change. Furthermore, self-reflection tasks will enhance the learning process throughout the course.

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Faculty of Law

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Service learning ECA: Maastricht Mediation Clinic

This activity offers students real-life experiences in assisting disputing parties in reaching a mutually agreeable resolution. Students conduct actual mediations guided by professional mediators at Trajekt (Jongeren en Studentenbuurtbemiddeling).

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Moot Court SSC2024: International Law

Students participate in a moot court concerning an international dispute. First, each student individually writes a memorandum of pleading on the defence of the party the student is representing. Subsequently, students representing the same party convene and draft a joint memorandum of pleading and determine their strategy. Students introduce pleadings, parties’ arguments are discussed, and each team presents a concluding statement.

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Legal philosophy (MET3003)

The students read the literature, and have to be willing to delve into theoretical and counter-factual approaches to understand the foundations of law. Prior to the tutorials, the students should form a reasoned opinion based on their engagement with the literature and the discussion tasks.

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International Business Law (PRI3008)

As part of the negotiation strategy assignment, each student group submits a culture-mapping filled by their individual members. Furthermore, each group, representing a particular party, negotiates the dispute at issue with the other group, representing the other party.

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ICC Mediation Competition

Students develop skills such as active listening, problem solving, negotiation skills and the generation of creative solutions.

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Honours +

Students are responsible for their own learning curve and must be prepared to learn in a self-directed way. They have previously chosen the topic(s) of their interest, so the team divides workload in terms of their respective academic disciplines. This process entails interdisciplinary learning and team work.

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Client Consultation Competition

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Bachelor’s honours programme

Students are required to read the prescribed literature. They reflect upon the discussion prompts and are expected to actively participate in the personal leadership seminars. 

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Faculty of Science and Engineering

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Role-playing a briefing exercise SSC3011: Public Policy Evaluation & Analysis

Students integrate their knowledge about policy analysis and deliver a short policy memorandum. They then conduct a briefing exercise based on the written memoranda. In a role-play, one team represents policy analysts presenting the memo. The other team represents the client committee, critically and constructively questioning what is presented.

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School of Business and Economics

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Design project-based interventions RIG4408: Global Policy Challenges in Comparative

Step-by-step, students develop a grant application using real-life template documents to contribute to the solution of a global development policy problem at a regional or local level.

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Ethical dilemma EBC2056: International Financial Accounting

Students test the boundaries of ethical financial reporting, facing two scenarios in which specific reporting choices can serve personal purposes of a manager, rather than that of society. Students will need to apply the accounting knowledge gained during the course and evaluate which reporting choice best reflects reality. No right or wrong outcome exists, but the reporting choices made by the students will need to be justified using economic arguments. This triggers a discussion on ethical reporting and accounting rules.

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