Honoursmodule: Beyond the Culture of Contest

Course manual 2022/2023

Course content

This is a practical course, primarily aimed at building capacity to move from a culture of contest to a culture of cooperation. First, by first exploring concepts such as contest versus cooperation, trust and meaningful conversations a shared language and conceptual framework will be built. Scientific foundations of this conceptual framework will be investigated using a variety of sources. This framework will then serve as a means to analyse one’s own environment through structured conversations and reporting in small groups. Based on this analysis, the groups identify what is needed for strengthening cooperation and trust within one’s own environment/organisation. These analyses and proposals will be collected in a report, and each participant’s personal learning will be presented in short presentation.

Study materials

Syllabus

• Syllabus Moving Beyond the Culture of Contest, around 10€

Objectives

• Analyse the culture of an organisation in terms of contest versus cooperation
• Present her/his analysis in a compelling and cohesive manner
• Contribute to the emergence of a environment of trust through meaningful conversations
• Reflect on her/his own attitude and behaviour in relation to building an environment of trust

Teaching methods

• Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
• Self-study
• Presentation/symposium
• Seminar

The course consists of weekly meetings on Wednesday evenings from 17 to 19 o’clock. The sequence will start 7 September 2022. After some sessions we suggest the reading of specific literature. The purpose of the study of the literature is to raise understanding and to find the language to express ideas and thoughts. After other sessions the participants build their capacity to engage in meaningful conversations or in the reading reality of their environment. All participants will engage in a small research project.  Towards the end of the course the participants present their findings.

Learning activities

Attendance

Additional requirements for this course:

Absence needs to be communicated to the course coordinator. If absent more than once, we may have to conclude that the requirements for the course have not been met.

Assessment

Assessment will be based on active participation in the seminars, the assignments and research project, and the presentation of the outcomes of the project.

Assignments

Individual assignments will be given after the seminars. The research project will be done in small groups. No grades will be given, but participation in the assignments will be evaluated and is a prerequisite for passing the course.

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Last year's student feedback

In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.

Contact information

Coordinator

• Martijn Rep