Social Challenges

Course goals

At the end of this course, students are able to:

1. Define and compare societal challenges and explain why they matter for social policy and society in an independent and scholarly manner.
2. Interpret and critically assess multiple theoretical approaches to societal challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective.
3. Integrate insights from professionals with scientific and theoretical knowledge on societal challenges.
4. To be able to apply and relate this combined academic and practical knowledge to challenges in health & well-being, work and care, climate change and sustainable behaviour, and social cohesion & diversity.
5. To be able to summarize and integrate this knowledge independently in written form, in a clear and well-organised scholarly manner.
6. To be able to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team of students to apply and visually represent this knowledge in a clear and convincing manner aimed at external stakeholders.
7. To be able to understand how policy and intervention proposals are developed and implemented in a complex societal context, taking account of the specific characteristics and disciplinary backgrounds of the actors involved.

Content

How many of you have wondered whether welfare states can sustain themselves in the face of multiple, consecutive crises (global recession, pandemic, energy crisis, migration crisis)? Or what has to be done to address the wicked problem of climate change? Do you wonder how countries differ in their approach to health and well-being and what this means for public health? Maybe you’ve wondered about the way processes like population ageing, flexibilization, and rising gender equality affect the way people combine work and care, or the implication of these processes for different individuals, groups or society? Or why the arrival of asylum seekers, migrants, and (climate) refugees seems to have created a 'permanent crisis' across European countries that seem unable to solve the puzzle of creating cohesive societies in the light of increasing diversity? These questions, and the answers to these questions, form the core of this course: Social Challenges.

...and why they matter for social policy and public health…
Throughout this course, you will be introduced to four contemporary social challenges that are central to the master’s program: differences in health & well-being; combining work and care; climate change & sustainable behaviour; and social cohesion & diversity. We will present state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary theorizing and research in combination with a social policy perspective to outline how these challenges are dealt with in practice. This course will familiarize you with all four challenges while giving you the opportunity to develop a rich and more in-depth understanding of one challenge in particular. Note that we focus primarily on societal challenges in Europe. However, we introduce students to parallel discussions in other contexts, such as the Global South.

...and what can be done about them.
In line with the goals of the Master’s program, this course forms the basis for studying contemporary social challenges, policies and interventions. It provides you with the disciplinary and interdisciplinary theories and concepts needed to understand, analyse, reflect on and address these challenges, also by integrating practical insights from professionals in the field.