What is the A Broader Mind for students course?

The A Broader Mind for Students course is built around eight societal theme’s. Students collaborate with students from other degree programmes and learn to approach the themes from multiple academic disciplines. The starting point for tackling each theme is a personal question and a challenge facing society.

	Personal question	Societal question	Powered by
Track A
Success & Failure	“How can I achieve success by learning from my failures?”	“Can we break the societal taboo on failure?”	School of Business and Economics
Poverty	"Do I unintentionally perpetuate poverty?"	"What can society do to reduce poverty?"	Social Sciences
Human Body	"Will I modify my body in the future?"	"What are the (moral) limits to biotechnical applications for human health?"	Law
Rebellion	"What kind of rebel am I?"	"To what extent does society need Rebellion?"	Humanities
Track B
Viewpoints & Worldview	"What is my worldview, and what can I do to broaden my perspective?"	"How can I live with people who have different and conflicting worldviews?"	Religion and Theology
Health & Happiness	"How can I improve my own happiness?"	"How can we help create a happier place for others around us?"	Medicine/Dentistry/ACTA
Digital World	"How do I weigh up the ethical benefits and risks of digital innovation?"	"How is society influenced positively and negatively by digital innovation?"	Behavioural and Movement Sciences
Sustainability	"What is my role in causing, identifying and solving the plastic problem?"	"Join the quest and help to solve the plastic waste problem!"	Science

	Open to all VU Amsterdam Bachelor students (1st – 3rd year)
	English-taught
	Interdisciplinary with a mix of challenging on- and off line activities
	Period 4 and 5 with the exception of regular exam weeks 6 offline meet-ups on Tuesdays OR Wednesdays between 17:30-20:00 hrs Study load: approximately 40 hours (± 3hrs/week). Online activities can be completed in your own time
	Track A: Success & Failure, Poverty, Human Body, Rebellion Track B: Viewpoints & Worldview, Health & Happiness, Digital World, Sustainability
	Upon successful completion you will receive a certificate
	Sign up through this website in December More information about will follow on this website. For questions feel free to contact us via [email protected]

Get inspired by the different themes of the A Broader Mind Course, watch the movies:

Rebellion I change rules... what do you do?	Sustainability I change waste... what do you do?	Success & Failure I change failure... what do you do?
Poverty I change perspectives... what do you do?	Human Body I change perfection... what do you do?	Viewpoints & Worldviews I change biases... what do you do?
Health & Happiness I change well-being... what do you do?	Digital World I change contact... what do you do?	Introduction course I change learning... what do you do?

Imagine it. Build it. Change it.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam challenges you to design your own educational programme. Together with a diverse group of students and lecturers from all faculties, you will strengthen your substantive, creative, entrepreneurial and organizational abilities by helping us build the A Broader Mind for Students Course. You can participate in the building process in two different ways:

• Join the A Broader Mind for Students review team (Light). In monthly development sessions – approximately 1½ hours once a month in September, October and November 2020 – you will provide feedback on the course content and generate ideas to help us improve the course.
• Join the A Broader Mind for Students building team (Substantive). Become a course developer working with a committed team on the further development of one of the A Broader Mind themes. Under the guidance of an expert chairperson, you and your teammates will give shape to one of the ABM themes: Success & Failure, Health & Happiness, Viewpoints & Worldviews, Sustainability, Human Body, Poverty, Rebellion and Digital World. You will come together for a number of team meetings to brainstorm on new ideas, write the assignments and create new course material. In addition to participating in the review team development sessions mentioned above (Light), you will also meet with your team members during monthly development sessions from September 2020 till January 2021. You will need to budget about 8 to 10 hours per month. You and your teammates will set the dates, locations and meeting times. Use the form below to register for the information sessions, where you’ll get more information on participating in the building process as either a Light or Substantive team member.

Session 1: Monday, 7 September 2020
17:30 – 18:00 – A Broader Mind for Students Course information session
18:00 – 19:30 – A Broader Mind for Students Course development session (Light)

Session 2: Wednesday, 7 October 2020
17:30 – 18:00 – A Broader Mind Course for Students information session
18:00 – 19:30 – A Broader Mind Course for Students development session (Light)

Session 3: Monday, 26 October 2020
17:30 – 18:00 – A Broader Mind Course for Students information session
18:00 – 19:30 – A Broader Mind Course for Students development session (Light)

Join in!If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to [email protected]

We are looking for enthusiastic senior students to guide a group of students during the A Broader Mind for Students course. You will help students with both online and offline activities, provide feedback and assess the final assignment. You will be given a training course on coaching skills beforehand, and intervision-style trainings have been incorporated into the course to assist you in your role as guide. 

Duties

• Coach 24 students
• Give feedback on the interim assignment after period 4
• Give feedback on and assess final assignment
• Check attendance for offline activities
• Provide guidance for offline activities (e.g. designing an app through Guided Design on the Digital World theme)
• Supervise online activities, such as online discussions and assignments
• Contribute to the further development of the ABM course

Nicola, Transnational Legal Studies: “I have a phobia of everything that is inside the human body. So I had to skip my biology classes!”	Stella: “My nick name is ‘Ajax’. Fun fact: I’m doing a study —Societal Resilience— which has six students in total.”	Pramod, MSc Computer Science: “My nick name is ‘Algorythm’. I am a student of 3 universities at the moment.“

For the Final Assignment students are asked to formulate a personal challenge based on what they have learned from the A Broader Mind for Students course, things that have struck them as intriguing or that have changed their perspective and convert this personal challenge in a creative manner. The way to do is, is entirely free.

Alix Achen & Charlotte Krack Students Psychology, Behavioural and Movement Sciences “We want to show you that living sustainable is easy, rewarding and even fun.” - Blog: Greenguide

Saskia Stam Student Health Sciences, Science “I signed up for the Red Cross for the ready2help programme. This means they can call me when there is help needed in my neighbourhood.”  - Photograph and painted stones: Leave a sparkle wherever you go

Elmar Nijkamp Economics and Business Economics, School of Business and Economics “Show them what you feel, pop their bubble and don’t lock your rebel in any room.” - Poem and video: Rebels locked away in their rooms

The A Broader Mind course is led by Govert Buijs, Professor of Political Philosophy and holder of the Goldschmeding Chair in Economics and Civil Society at the Faculty of Humanities.
[email protected]- +31 (0)20 598 66 83

PROGRAMME TEAM
If you have any general questions about A Broader Mind, please contact the programme team:

Erna Klein Ikkink
[email protected]
+31 (0)20 - 598 4037