Sem01 (2025-2026) Simulating Crime and Justice

Course details

• Practical information

  Academic year
  2025-2026

  Semester
  1

  Period
  2, 3

  Day(s)
  Monday evenings and one full Wednesday (10 December, fieldtrip)

  Time
  Mondays: 18:00 - 20:30
  Wednesday: 9.00 - 18.00

  Number of meetings
  11

  • 10 seminars of 2,5 hours on Monday evenings
  • 1 day field trip

  Dates of all meetings
  27 October
  3, 10, 17, 24 November
  1, 8, 10  December
  5, 12, 19 January 2026

  Locations

  • Seminars will generally take place at VU, but exceptions may exist
  • The field trip will take place outside the VU

  Room
  tbd

  Credits
  6

  Course coordinator
  Joris van Wijk, Professor Criminology of Conflict-related Crimes and Post-conflict Justice

  Lecturers
  Speakers still have to be confirmed, but include experts in criminology.

• Learning objectives

  Upon completion of the course students have a comprehensive understanding of certain crime types, crime policies and elements of (international) criminal justice. They have acquired theoretical and practical knowledge in the domains of criminology, crime prevention and criminal law responses, as well as analytical tools to act as professionals in this field.

  By the conclusion of the course, students:

  • Have knowledge of and insight into the roles, responsibilities, limits and powers of various actors within the criminal justice system.
  • Are capable of analyzing real-world scenarios using theories and research methods from criminology or associated fields such as law and security studies.
  • Show evidence of having an independent, critical attitude regarding existing approaches to crime and crime control.
  • Are equipped to deal with ethical and legal dilemmas commonly faced in the field and consider competing principles such as justice, accountability, rights, and harm reduction.
  • Have become familiar with scenario-based roleplay as pedagogical tool. They practiced collaboration and presentation skills in an immersive environment.

• Working formats & structure

  The course combines interactive seminars with group assignments. The course promotes group dynamics and social learning activities. A field trip is part of the course.

• Assessment methods

  This is a pass/fail course; no grades are given. Students are evaluated based on:

  • Media production (group assignment) (25%)
  • Writing and presenting two group assignments (50%)
  • Participation and engagement in roleplay (25%)

• Study materials

  In preparation of and during the course students are required to read relevant academic literature that is either in the VU library or online available.