Eligibility
You must at least be a sophomore with a 2.5 grade point average to apply to this program. Science and engineering students will be given first preference. Remaining openings will first be filled with students from Calvin's Dutch language and culture program, then by all other Calvin students.
Cost
The final program cost is based on many factors and is not known exactly until the number of students in the group has been identified. The financial information page covers the details that go into the cost of the program and rough estimates for each. The price for The Netherlands semester will include:
- Tuition (four courses)
- Round-trip air transportation from Grand Rapids to Amsterdam
- Room and Board
- Residency Permit
- Excursions
Additional expenses not included in program fee: textbooks, passport, spending money, medical insurance (required) and independent travel.
Accommodations
You will stay in university housing: private rooms with en suite bathrooms, shower and refrigerator, common kitchen.
Courses
Two courses are required for all students in the Studies in the Netherlands Program.
1) During the January interim prior to the off-campus semester, all students (except those who have already taken such a course) will enroll in a one-semester hour course in Dutch language and culture offered at Calvin. This course will be in addition to a regular interim course.
2) All students will be enrolled in the following course, taught by the Netherlands semester program director:
| STNL 230: Toward Environmental Sustainability in the Netherlands: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Practices | |
| This course introduces students to major episodes in the history of environmental modification, control and management in the Netherlands. The water management history and current environmental challenges of the “low” Netherlands as related to coasts, rivers and land are examined as well as the changes and current policies related to forests, dunes, rivers, wetlands and heaths of the ‘high’ Netherlands. The course addresses the present-day shift from conquest and control toward cooperation and sustainability. Dutch climate change policies and initiatives are explored. Lectures, guest speakers, field trips, discussions and films will all be part of this course. | 4 semester hours, cross-cultural engagement and global/historical studies core |
At the VU University Amsterdam, you will enroll in three courses in addition to STNL 230. These will be taught in English. Most students will take two science courses from the list below and one humanities/social science course (that will count as a Calvin core course) from the university’s list of courses, taught in English.
Science courses
The VU University Amsterdam has agreed to offer the following courses in English. Calvin science and engineering students will normally register for two of these. Both Calvin and VU University Amsterdam students will be enrolled in these courses.
| Electricity and Magnetism (VU 420016) | |
The course consists of three parts: electrostatics, magneto-statics, and electromagnetism. With the experiment as guideline, concepts such as Coulomb force, electrical field, and electric potential are introduced. The same applies to such magnetism concepts as the Lorentz force and the magnetic field. The electrical and magnetic properties of materials will be explained. In the next section of the course time dependent phenomena such as induction are treated in order to ultimately arrive at Maxwell’s description of electrical magnetic phenomena in an integrated framework. Toward the end of the course electro-magnetic waves will be covered. This course is equivalent to Calvin’s Physics 235. |
6 ECTS units or 4 Calvin semester hours |
| Materials Science (VU 420194) | |
Materials play an essential role in our society. To produce such a very wide variety of products, natural and synthetic materials are used including inorganic and organic substances and polymers. A thorough knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of these materials is therefore necessary for durable and quality production. In the lectures the building blocks of chemistry (atoms and elements) and their mutual interactions will first be reviewed. Then the course will examine how bonds and materials can be fashioned from these building blocks. This will be accomplished with examples: nuclear energy (isotopes) and energy from fossil fuels. Then attention will be paid to the use of soaps and detergents in the cleaning products industry. Because today the large majority of materials are made from plastics and polymers, extensive attention will be paid to the synthesis, properties and uses of synthetic and natural polymers and plastics. This course will serve as an elective in the chemistry program and as a basic science elective in the engineering program. |
6 ECTS units or 4 Calvin semester hours |
| Human Evolution (VU 470055) | |
Students taking this course will become acquainted with the discussions about the reconstruction of human evolution and will develop insight into the arguments used by different disciplines to support such reconstructions. Students completing this course will be able to:
|
6 ECTS units or 4 Calvin semester hours |
| Developmental Biology | |
The goal of this course is to give insight into the molecular mechanisms which direct the development of eukaryote from egg cell to fully grown at the basis level (level 1). Special emphasis is placed on the role which the regulation of gene expression plays in fixing the building of embryos, the differentiation of cells, and the regulation of the cell cycle. Attention will also be paid to the methods and techniques to explain the underlying mechanisms. In the lab, in particular, attention will be paid to the interpretation of experimental results. This course will serve as a biology elective. |
6 ECTS units or 4 Calvin semester hours |
| Digital Spatial Data (VU 450023) | |
Students will learn the basics of Geographic Information Systems, Global Positioning Systems, Spatial Statistics, and Remote Sensing. They will learn to work with digital spatial data: collecting earth science data via remote sensing and global positioning systems, inferring information from remotely sensed data, processing of spatial data with geographic information systems and applying spatial statistics to these data. This course will serve as a basic science elective in the Engineering program. |
5 ECTS units or 3 Calvin semester hours |
Humanities and social science courses
A variety of humanities and social sciences courses are offered in English by the Free University. Most of these courses are 5-6 ECTS units, or 3-4 Calvin semester hours. Normally, science and engineering students will take one bachelor level course from the VU Guide for Exchange Students. This course can, upon approval, earn Calvin core credit or serve as an elective in the program of the student. Engineering students, in particular, will use this course to satisfy a Calvin literature requirement.
Apply
The preliminary application is available here or in the Off-Campus Programs Office. If you are interested in this off-campus semester, make an appointment with the professor in your major listed below. Applications for Spring 2013 are due by May 1, 2012.
Contact
The Studies in the Netherlands advisory committee members are listed below. The primary contacts are Henk Aay and Robert Hoeksema. Biology or chemistry students interested in this program should consult with John Ubels or Eric Arnoys. Contact Herman DeVries if you are in the Dutch language and culture program. All other students should contact Henk Aay.
Program Director, Spring 2013
Doug
Vander Griend, Chemistry, 526-8729
Other contacts:
Robert Hoeksema, engineering department, 526-6167
John Ubels, biology department, 526-6219
Eric Arnoys, chemistry department, 526-6051
Herman DeVries, Germanic languages, 526-6804
Past and Future Directors
Spring 2010 - Henk Aay, Geology, Geography & Environmental Studies
Spring 2011 - Uko Zylstra, Biology
Spring 2012 - Henk Aay, Geology, Geography and Environmental Studies
Spring 2013 - Doug
Vander Griend, Chemistry
Spring 2014 -
Robert Hoeksema, Engineering
