Honours Programme Social Sciences

Honours Programme Social Sciences at Radboud University

Are you interested in exploring the topics of Creativity and Personal Relations from diverse perspectives within the social sciences, such as psychology, communication sciences and sociology? Do you want to find out how horses can help you to deal with insecurity and collaboration? And would you like to do so together with other motivated students? Then the Honours Programme Social Sciences is a great choice for you! 🎓

What’s in it for you?

• An interdisciplinary outlook on diverse social issues
• The opportunity to find out more about creativity – how to measure and stimulate it
• The prospect of learning about personal relations (between individuals and social groups)
• The unique chance to experience how horses help you deal with insecurity and collaboration
• An additional challenge on top of your regular studies
• A larger, more diverse network – you will meet fellow, motivated students from your own faculty and beyond
• The opportunity to improve key skills such as presenting and essay writing
• Personal development – by working independently and moving past your comfort zone

For whom is this programme?

You start in your second or third Bachelor's year and the programme takes one year.

Schedule your time flexibly

You spend an average of 6 hours per week on the Honours Programme Social Sciences. Every week looks different, but you spend your time attending meetings and doing (team) assignments. One week the emphasis is more on attending meetings, the other week you work more on the (team) assignments. You are flexible in scheduling your own time for the (team) assignments.

A day in the life of honours students Kristin & Ava

Programme Structure

First semester

• Kick-off
  You start this Honours Programme with a kick-off. You will meet fellow students from the Faculty of Social Sciences. And you will learn more about the precise content of the programme.
• Creativity course
  During the first semester, you follow a creative course on ‘Creativity’. You will have the opportunity to learn from various experienced guest speakers and academics, who approach the theme from their own specialisations (e.g., AI, Psychology, Cultural Anthropology, Communication Sciences, Educational and Pedagogical Sciences or Sociology). Together with your fellow students you will think about ways to measure creativity, stimulate creativity and you will have creative freedom in designing your own proposal together with your group.
• Science in Society day
  In November there will be a thematic Science in Society day, together with students from all honours programmes, both from faculties and Building Bridges. During this thematic day, you will zoom in on a social topic and work on this topic in creative interactive work groups.
• Individual feedback meeting
  During the individual feedback meeting, you will get the chance to exchange with the programme director and coordinator about your experiences and progress in the honours programme. You can share your thoughts and provide your feedback on the programme as well as work on defining your learning goals for the second semester.

Second semester

• Personal Relations
  We offer you a novel series of lectures revolving around on the topic of Personal Relations! What do Personal Relations between individuals and social groups even mean? That depends on the perspective! For instance, from the perspective of Communication Sciences this can entail building up and maintaining relations with others through digital media. That can be perceived as rather impersonal or, in fact, lead to very close, personal communication. Find out more about Personal Relations from our enthusiastic guest speakers covering various viewpoints including AI, Psychology, Sociology, Cultural Anthropology and more. Discuss with our guest speakers and your fellow honours students about this topic.

First & second semester

• Equine-assisted Learning
  Develop your personal and professional skills with the assistance of horses! Throughout the year, you will engage in practical sessions accompanied by horses. Each will tackle a different skill, for instance how to deal with insecurity, how to cooperate effectively with others and more. Between the visits to the stables reflection tasks will support you in working on these different skills relevant for your personal and professional development. The concrete experience during the sessions will give you the opportunity to further experiment and reflect on (new) behavior in everyday situations that you will encounter subsequently within and outside of your study context.
• Skills Labs
  In addition, you will be offered a variety of Skills Labs, where you can improve the skills of your choice. Perhaps you want to learn about Visual Storytelling. Or gain more experience in writing and presenting in English. You take control. You choose the two skills modules that suit you from a wide range. You take part in one Skills Lab per semester. What is unique about these Skills Labs is that you follow them together with students from other Honours Programmes and many other faculties. It is therefore also an excellent and enjoyable way to build a diverse network.

Honours certificate

If you successfully complete the Honours Programme Social Sciences, you will receive a special Honours certificate. A nice proof of the academic and personal development that you have gone through.

Factsheet

• Type of education: Research
• Study hours: 6 per week
• Result: Certificate
• Organisation: Radboud Honours Academy

Contact information

If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Marlene Meyer at marlene.meyer [at] donders.ru.nl (marlene[dot]meyer[at]donders[dot]ru[dot]nl).