Vrije University - Summer graduate programs
Summer Course in The Beautiful Mind: Global Mental HealthOnline Netherlands
DURATION
2 Weeks
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Jul 2025
TUITION FEES
EUR 1,360 / per course *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* Students, PhD candidates and employees of VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC or an Aurora Network Partner €765 Students and PhD candidates at partner universities of VU Amsterdam €1035 Students and PhD candidates at non-partner universities of VU Amsterdam
Key Summary
Introduction
We will discuss the concept of culture and its importance in looking further than just diagnostic criteria for mental health illness.
How young is too young to diagnose a child with bipolar disorder? What is the solution to alcohol addiction in South Korea? What is normal and does normal even exist? We invite students to explore questions such as these and travel with us “down the rabbit hole” of global mental health. The course will offer a broad perspective on mental health through discussions of the most prevalent and impactful mental health disorders around the world and the complexity of mental health as a public health issue.
The course will begin with an introduction to mental health followed by in-depth lectures and workshops on current mental health diagnostic methods. We will use this newly acquired knowledge to discuss treatment options both on an individual and community level. We will dive into the realm of policy-making and regulations on a national and international scale. Special attention will be paid to the development of student’s critical thinking by discussing the ambiguity of mental health. Lectures and workshops will focus on issues such as the ethics of mental health, cultural influences, and stigma. Students will work together in groups to investigate and review questions about global mental health, analyzing and reporting on topics through medical and cross-cultural psychiatric lenses.
Course Overview
- Course level: Beginner/Advanced Bachelor's & Master's levels
- Coordinating lecturer: Aniek Woodward
- Forms of tuition: lectures, seminars
- Forms of assessment: group assignments and personal reflection
- Contact hours: 45
Gallery
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Equal Access Scholarship
Application Procedure
Application for the Equal Access Scholarship will open in Febraury
Great that you are interested in applying for the Equal Access Scholarship. You can apply to the scholarship between 12 February and 1 April. Please be aware that it is only possible to select one course.
The results of the scholarship selection will be announced in May. Since we have a limited number of scholarships available for a large number of applicants, we suggest - if possible! - to complete your payment at the time of your course application to guarantee your place in the course. However, if you are not able to come without the scholarship, you can just wait until the announcement. If you would like to come, regardless of whether you will be granted the scholarship, it is best to secure your place in the course by completing your payment via our regular application form. If the scholarship is granted to you, the tuition and accommodation fees will be reimbursed.
Deadline to submit your Equal Access Scholarship application: 31 March (23:59 CET).
Requirements
When you apply via the Equal Access Scholarship application form you will be requested to upload the following documents:
- Curriculum Vitae/Résumé (CV) stating your educational background.
- Professional Letter of Reference Including:
- His/her/their experience working with you (either in an academic, professional, or volunteer setting)
- His/her/their motivation for recommending you for the scholarship
- Complete contact information
- His/her/their experience working with you (either in an academic, professional, or volunteer setting)
- His/her/their motivation for recommending you for the scholarship
- Complete contact information
- When filling out the scholarship form, we will ask the following questions*:
- Why are you interested in joining VU Amsterdam Summer School?
- What’s your motivation for selecting this course?
- How you will use the information you learn to make a positive impact in the future for both you and your community?
- Why do you deserve this scholarship?
- Why are you interested in joining VU Amsterdam Summer School?
- What’s your motivation for selecting this course?
- How you will use the information you learn to make a positive impact in the future for both you and your community?
- Why do you deserve this scholarship?
Please stick to a maximum of 150 words per question.
Green Travel Grant
At VU Amsterdam Summer School we are also committed to VU's sustainability goals and we aim to reduce the environmental impact of mobility, and specifically, student travel. Therefore, we are thrilled to offer Green Travel Grants to encourage sustainable travel for students attending our summer school.
Where can I apply?
Once the courses have been confirmed to run in mid-May or June, we will send out a newsletter to our participants with a link where they can apply for either funding for train travel or funding for bus travel.
The application period will last two weeks, and we will select the winners via a lottery system. More information on the specific deadlines can be found in the newsletter we send out in May.
How does it work?
For students to receive the economic compensation they will need to submit their purchased travel tickets via email within two weeks after being selected as winners of the grant. Once the deadline to submit their tickets has passed, the students will receive the reimbursement.
Welcome to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Summer and Winter Schools
Last chance to apply!
Curriculum
- Introduction
- Health Systems
- Social Media and MH
- Disability in GH
- Excursion with Amsterdam City Rights - Insight into the lives of undocumented people in Amsterdam
- Historical roots of GMH
- Law, Ethics and Human Rights MH
- MH rehabilitation and support services
- Common MH disorders
- What is culture and the role of Culture in GMH
- Interview training
- Art therapy and Participatory action research
- GMH internships and research (presentations by various young researchers)
- Inter and transgenerational trauma
- Poster presentations
- Case of Orthorexia Nervosa
- Art therapy, the case study of Ukrainian refugees in NL
- Stigma and Mental Health
Program Outcome
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Gain basic knowledge about the mental health organisation (from diagnosis to rehabilitation)
- Learn to understand the factors that influence mental health status and service provision both on national and international arena
- Take an interdisciplinary approach to the issues of mental health and gain insight how mental health is connected to other health-related problems
- Practice designing a mental health community based intervention
- Develop abilities to critically assess and debate about the complexity and ambiguity of mental health problems
- Meet and work together with peers from various countries and backgrounds