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The Institutions Think Tank provides graduate students from several Research Masters programmes (History, Legal Research, Multidisciplinary Economics, Philosophy and Sociology) with an opportunity for hands-on interdisciplinary research collaboration in connection with the Utrecht University's strategic research theme "Institutions for Open Societies." The course aims to equip students with key conceptual and methodological tools for pursuing research related to how institutions serve function (or fail to function) to addressing key societal issues. The course also provides invaluable experience in working collaboratively.
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The course combines seminars with student-led research in addressing key issues rekatung to "Institutions for Open Societies." One of Utrecht University's four strategic research themes of Utrecht, "Institutions," brings together research into the ways in which formal and informal frameworks for human interaction – laws, customs, networks, organisations, etc. – enable or constrain the realisation of an open, democratic and equitable society, as well as determine a society's ability to absorb shocks and its sustainability. See: : http://www.uu.nl/en/research/institutions-for-open-societies.
The course begins with three lecture-seminars devoted to canonical texts and key concepts in this field of research, focussing on the five research themes within Institutions:
• Cooperation, Self-regulation and Collective Action
• Sustainability and Resilience
• Innovation and Economic Growth
• Equality, Inclusiveness and Social Mobility
• Democratic Governance, Citizenship and Trust
The texts, concepts, theories, and methods central to these themes form the shared background for the research developed by students in the remainder of the course.
In the second part of the course, students form multidisciplinary research teams to carry out their own research the role of institutions in (failing to) address a specific social challenge. Each research team produces a "Research Briefing Paper." The course concludes with a symposium in which the research teams present their results to a jury of experts.
Potential topics include:
Refugees and European Borders -- Funding Child Care -- Global Health Inequality and Pharmaceutical Patents -- Epidemics (Ebola, SARS, Zika) -- Labor Migration of Highly Skilled Workers ("brain drain") -- University Governance and Science Innovation -- Gendered Income Inequality -- Civil Liberties and Counter-Terrorism -- Inclusion, Accommodation, and Disabilities -- Blood Diamonds and other Conflict Minerals -- Trading Pollution Credits -- Regulating Movements of Capital -- Food Security -- European Integration.
Insterested students not in RMA History, Legal Research, Multidisciplinary Economics, Philosophy and Sociology should contact the coordinator.
Interested M.A. exchange students with a strong background in philosophy may qualify to take the course; however, they should first contact the RMA Philosophy coordinator: j.h.anderson@uu.nl
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