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Social interactions are increasingly taking place through digital technology, transforming society at the level of individuals, groups and at a global scale. The recent developments in digital technologies provide both challenges and opportunities. Importantly, the societal consequences of digitalization are not inevitable: They can be shaped and regulated through interventions. In this course, we will discuss aspects of digital society based on four key themes:

1. Dualism: Digital technology can connect us, but it can also divide us.
2. Authority: How digital platforms influence traditional institutions and power structures.
3. Attention: Understanding this new currency of the digital economy.
4. Abundance: How digital environments differ from anything before.

The course contains the full diversity of research, not only in terms of theories, but also in terms of methods. Students learn that they can use different research methods to study the same issues, and they learn to identify the unique strengths and disadvantages of these approaches. In this way, the course prepares students for mixed methods research.

Registration

Interested students can send an e-mail to shortmobility@vu.nl and will then receive the online application form. Please make sure to finalise your registration before 14 October 2025. Please reach out to the Aurora representatives at your home university to discuss the possibilities for funding.

Practicalities

• Aurora students can attend this course fully online.
• Aurora students that will connect online are required to use their webcams to ensure an engaging interaction. If you cannot comply with this requirement, you cannot be admitted to the course and if you not comply, you cannot be awarded your ECTS.
• Aurora students will be offered specific online Q&A and engagement moments that are obliged to be attended.
• Upon successful completion of the course you will be awarded a digital Microcredential.