In the last period of this academic year I gave the course Eating, Customs and Health, mandatory for first-year students Health and Society. As part of this course students were to execute a small research, in order to practice their interviewing skills. I asked the students to study the importance of a particular part of a diet (such as meat, dessert, or breakfast) for two groups of people (such as students following different study programs, or students with different nationalities) and to study the health effects of that part of the diet in the eyes of the respondents. They were also asked to compare the two groups.
PhD course: Gender & Diversity in Sustainable Development
An exciting new PhD course, co-taught by two RSO faculty members: Bettina Bock and Jessica Duncan.
Come join us in The Netherlands for this exciting course! Space is limited so apply soon! More information: http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/activity/Gender-Diversity-in-Sustainable-Development.htm
Vacancy for a Lecturer and Education Coordinator Sociology and Anthropology of Development
The section Sociology and Anthropology of Development (SADE) – composed of the Sociology of Development and Change (SDC) and Rural Sociology (RSO) Groups – is looking for a highly motivated person to teach (and coordinate) courses, to supervise BSc and MSc and internships and to plan and coordinate educational activities within SADE, with a view to promote high-quality educational processes. In terms of time allocation it will be a 50/50 division between lecturer and education coordinator.
As lecturer you will co-develop and teach courses in the Bachelor and Master programme in International Development Studies. These courses focus on the sociology of agrarian and rural development, food sociology and sociology of development . The lecturer will give lectures to smaller as well as bigger audiences, lead discussion lectures, and tutor group work. The lecturer should be able to teach in both English and Dutch. Furthermore the lecturer will supervise BSc and MSc thesis students and internship students, which may also include students from other programmes than International Development Studies.
The role of coordinator is a diverse one, in between operational and strategic levels. The preferred candidate will be able to quickly switch between working with the secretariat on executing a range of practical tasks and with the education managers and chairs of SADE as well as broader Wageningen University bodies such as the Educational Institute (OWI) and the programme committees to provide input on strategic and policy levels. A sense of the importance of the smooth functioning of educational processes is expected as well as the ability to set up communication activities (information, public relations, marketing) around educational and other SADE activities. More specifically, the role of education coordinator includes the following main tasks: Continue reading
ESRS 2016 Postgraduate Autumn School, October 3-7, Wales: ‘Researching Globalization in a Rural Context’
This year’s ESRS Autumn School will explore the theory and practice of researching globalization in rural context with a programme led by Michael Woods and the research team from the European Research Council GLOBAL-RURAL project at Aberystwyth University. The theme will examine key aspects of globalization as experienced in rural localities in both the global north and the global south, including agri-food globalization, global economic restructuring, international migration, transnational tourism, cultural globalization and responses to global environmental change, as well as how rural communities and individuals respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by these processes. The Autumn School is aimed at PhD students working on relevant issues in social science disciplines at universities and research institutes in Europe.
See for more information: ESRS Autumn School
PhD course Gender & Diversity in Sustainable Development
September 19 – October 14, 2016
Lecturers:
Chizu Sato (SCH)
Bettina Bock (RSO)
Margreet van der Burg (SSG)
Jessica Duncan (RSO)
Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk (RHI)
Janneke Pieters (DEC)
Elisabet Rasch (SDC)
Inequality lies at the center of current debates about sustainable development, from which a number of policy issues, including Sustainable Development Goals, emanate. Yet, how social (in)equality contributes to creating sustainable development often remains invisible in research. This course enables participants to recognize linkages between gender and diversity and sustainable development in a contemporary globalising world.
The topics covered in this course are:
- Introduction: key concepts in gender studies
- Trends form a historical perspective
- Economics: macro and micro perspectives
- Work and care
- Population and migration
- Food security and governance
- Environment and natural resource management
- Global politics
The last topic will be covered in a public lecture by Prof. dr. Melissa Leach (the Director of the International Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK) who will connect global policy and local practice in support of sustainable development from a gender and diversity perspective.
Topics will be surveyed from perspectives that attend to the intersecting diverse dimensions of inequality, such as gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and nation, to mention just a few. Intersectional perspectives will be put in context in time and place to explain changing constructions, perceptions and interpretations of inequality. This course examines sustainability historically, as well as both in the global South and the global North, illuminating differences across time and geographical locations and their dynamic interactions.
Rural Sociology Wageningen University 