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Popular Culture: Theories and History

Written by uni due on .

The seminar will feature close readings and a critical analysis of key texts of popular culture theory from the beginnings of the 20th century to today. The seminar aims at facilitating a thorough examination of the philosophical, semiotic, political and cultural diagnostic implications of the approaches presented in the selected texts by thinkers such as Adorno, Hall, Storey, Fiske, Jenkins and others. Texts are not discussed in isolation, but will be embedded in their synchronic and diachronic interdependencies. In this way, the differences and similarities in the various approaches will be identified and the historical development of the discourse of popular culture criticism will become apparent.

There will be a moodle room for this seminar containing additional information and the texts. After the registration period, you will be informed by the lecturer regarding further course modalities and the log-in information for moodle!

Naturalism

Written by uni due on .

A young woman who fails to escape the poverty and violence of her childhood surroundings and becomes a prostitute, another young woman who spectacularly rises to stardom on the New York theatre stage, a greedy dentist who ends up being handcuffed to a corpse in the middle of Death Valley, and a Californian pet dog who joins a pack of wolves in Alaska: the plots and themes of some of the most famous works of (North) American literary naturalism (Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie, Frank Norris’s McTeague, and Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, respectively) are nothing short of epic, sensationalist, and melodramatic – and thus do not fit the conventional critical characterization of literary naturalism as a subset of realism at all. In this lecture, we will review traditional and revisionist critical approaches to literary naturalism and examine both canonical and less frequently read works of naturalism from the U.S. and Canada (including French Canada). In addition, we will also take a look at early adaptations and translations of literary naturalism, including D.W. Griffith’s A Corner in Wheat (1909) and some of the various German translations of Frank Norris’s The Octopus (1904/1954).

A Survey of American Literature

Written by uni due on .

This course will give an introduction to the diversity of North American literatures. Reading and analyzing texts from pre-colonial times to the present, we will try to get an overview of important movements and authors. In our discussions of writings taken from all main literary genres we will attempt to determine some of the characteristics of North American literature in general and of individual periods and writers in particular. Short introductory lectures on the various periods of North American literature will provide the literary and cultural contexts for our discussion of exemplary texts. Students should purchase the following text: Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985).

This class will allow students to improve their Analysis and Intercultural Knowledge competences.

BIP: From the City to the Country

Written by Niels Hexspoor on .

From the City to the Country is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) for Ph.D. students and prospective Ph.D. students that combines engaging, interdisciplinary workshops on urbanisation and agriculture, with practical workshops on 3M-presentations that will teach you to present your research in three minutes.

Take a look at the full programme-concept here! 

The in-person session will take place in Olomouc, Czechia from 24 to 28 November, 2025. The virtual sessions take place between November 18th and December 2nd, 2025.

During the virtual components the students will learn about the projected activities that will be carried out during the physical component. This will entail an intersection of transdisciplinary tasks regarding sustainability, agriculture, brown fields, architecture (urban sprawl) and the reflection of these societal impacts in the humanities and in the arts. Simultaneously, students will be tutored on 3M presentations.

To register, contact Marie Sieberova, (marie.sieberova@upol.cz). 

Headlines to Mindset: Shaping Public Opinion

Written by Sharon Feijen on .

In almost no political systems do citizens have direct contact with their political representatives. One could say – and scholars of political communication have done so – that politicians operate in a highly mediatized environment, where media are citizens‘ principal source of political information. The field of political communication researches how politics is represented in the media. For example, how do people search for information about politics, and has this changed in the so-called digital era? How do people learn from political news, and when does political ideology interfere in this process? Do media contribute to policital polarization?

In this course, we focus on the impact of political information on public opinion and behavior. This course helps students to find answers to political communication questions with a combined theoretical and practical approach. 

Practicalities

  • This online course takes place between 27 October 2025 and 12 December 2025.
  • The course is worth 6 ECTS.
  • The advised language level is English C1.
  • The target group is Master’s students in Social Sciences. However, students outside this field of study are welcome to apply with an additional short motivation letter.  

Registration
Interested students can send an e-mail to shortmobility@vu.nl with the following details: 1) Name, 2) home university, 3) current Master programme and 4) obtained Bachelor degree.

seizmic hackathon 2025: Rethinking food systems in the Anthropocene

Written by Benedetta Toledo on .

Apply now to participate in the seizmic hackathon 2025 in October 2025!

Now in its 5th edition, this workshop is one of the most established educational initiatives within Work Package 3, “Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation” of the Aurora European university alliance.

The seizmic Hackathon hosted by Università Federico II of Naples will be composed of an online lecture (1 October 2025) and 5 days of in-person workshop from 20 to 24 October 2025 at the Università Federico II of Naples.

The aim of the hackathon is to offer participants a design-based learning experience that addresses some of the most pressing challenges of our time—climate change, the exploitation of labour and territories by global agribusiness, and growing socio-economic inequalities. Participants will be invited to tackle these issues from a radically interdisciplinary perspective, integrating diverse fields of knowledge from the outset, including social entrepreneurship, design for social innovation, agroecology, and circular economy.

This edition will specifically focus on urban agriculture and permaculture within the Neapolitan context. Some workshop activities will take place in a community garden within Parco Viviani, a park situated in one of Naples’ most central and historically significant areas.

We will also benefit from the collaboration of co-teachers and co-facilitators from our Aurora partner institutions— Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) and Copenhagen Business School (CBS)—with whom we are engaged in the research project “Inclusive Nature in Higher Education and Research: Fostering Regenerative Communities”, funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) in France.

Application procedure:

  • Each university takes care of the application, selection and nomination of max 5 students (with internal deadlines for the application).
  • Each university will email to aurora.seizmic.hackathon@gmail.com the list of nominated students by 22 September 2025.
  • Each university will send the grant application information to the selected students.
  • Interested students should reach their Mobility Office as soon as possible to apply for this opportunity. 
  • All the students participating will be provided with a Certificate of Attendance.

For info: aurora.seizmic.hackathon@gmail.com

Download the flyer to discover more: seizmic hackathon 2025

The LOUIS-competence framework

Written by Alma Agustsdottir on .

The LOUIS-competence framework in making learning outcomes, assignment descriptions and feedback rubrics in a university course.

This course is open to PhD students and academic teaching staff, actively teaching a course/module. It is conducted in three parts:

Part 1 (week of 6-10 October 2025)
A half-day online session to introduce the overall aim and structure of the course, the role of participants in each part. Participants will also present the courses they intend to “work with” during the course.

Part II (20-24 October 2025)
A five-day week on-campus work in Reykjavik. At the end of the week the academic teachers will present their own identified link between their own course learning outcomes, their selected assignments, and the feedback rubric for that assignment. Then, within two weeks after the workshop in Reykjavík, the participants submit their paper, providing the learning outcomes, the assignment description, and the feedback rubric (all in English), according to a pre-described format. They will individually receive feedback on this paper.

Part III (week of 10-14 November 2025)
A half day online session where participants will present their overall learning outcomes and next steps in the development of their teaching, as well as what further support they will require to ensure said development.

Further information available on the University of Iceland course catalogue.

For questions on the course, please contact: aurora@hi.is

News Production & Citizenship

Written by Aniza Pourtauborde on .

In an age of misinformation, polarised opinions, and shifting media landscapes, understanding how information is publicly shared as news has never been more important.

In this blended course at VU Amsterdam, students will examine the powerful role of journalists, sources, and the public in shaping what becomes newsworthy. You’ll explore how digitisation is transforming news production processes and analyse how public debates develop around everything from global conflicts to cultural events like the Eurovision Song Contest.

This course is offered in a blended format, with both online and in-person sessions:

  • Online from 1 September to 24 October 2025
  • In-person from 13 to 24 October 2025.

How to Apply

Interested students can send an e-mail to shortmobility@vu.nl with the following details:

  • Name
  • Home university
  • Current Master programme
  • Obtained Bachelor Degree.

The target group is Students in Social Sciences. However, students outside this field of study are welcome to apply with an additional short motivation letter.

If you are interested, please reach out to the Aurora representative at your own university. They can also tell you more about the Aurora funding opportunities in order to pay for other costs such as short-stay accommodation and travel expenses.

Download the course flyer: News Production & Citizenship.