Study programme

Importance of the interdisciplinary orientation

The appearances, types, and impact of violence in social interactions are complex and far-reaching. In this minor we bring together a diverse array of disciplinary approaches and theories to help students study this complexity and to help them reflect critically on the roles of violence in human life. The multidisciplinary character of the minor will present students with approaches they will not encounter while enrolled in a monodisciplinary program and, as such, will challenge them to think across disciplinary borders and ideas.

The minor is formed around a nucleus of lecturers from sociology, anthropology, development studies and child development, with a few guest lectures from other disciplines. Throughout the minor’s courses – the introductory course, followed by Violence 1, 2 and 3 - these disciplinary perspectives and their differences, overlaps and connections continuously come to the fore. The final course of the minor, the “Violence Project”, sees students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds working together in teams in research projects. Demonstrated (successful) usage of multidisciplinarity will be an important criterion in the grading of the project’s end result.

Entry requirements

• You can register for the minor Violence if you have finished the first year of your university bachelor or if you have finished the first two years (i.e., obtained 180 ECTS) of your HBO degree programme (Dutch higher vocational education). Students of all disciplines are welcome, however, some basic social scientific knowledge is required.
• The first course Introduction: Setting the stage for the study on violence is open to all students; students can follow this course without following the remaining courses of the minor. After you have followed this course you will be able to register for one or more of the three subsequent courses (Violence 1, 2, or 3). To register for the final course (The Violence Project), you have to follow all courses of the minor Violence.
• Only a limited number of students, 30 in total, will be able to follow the complete minor, including The Violence Project.

Enrolment and admission

Once you have decided to enrol for this minor, you'll need to do two things. Firstly, you must apply for admission to the minor between Monday 1 April and Thursday 3 June 2025. Subsequently, you need to register for the minor courses.

1. Apply for admission

• UvA students:  
  The application form will be available from Monday 1 April until Thursday 3 June 2025.  

• Non-UvA students:  
  The application form will be available from Monday 1 April until Thursday 3 June 2025.
  Non-UvA students must first register as a guest student through Studielink. You can find more information at uva.nl/bachelor-s/minors/  

2. Register for the courses

You need to register for all minor courses separately during the course registration period. You can find more information here .

More information