Getting to know the other and yourself is what students find interesting, a fact demonstrated by the great popularity of the minor Highlights from Psychology. This minor is taught at Erasmus University Rotterdam and attracts students from all kinds of fields of study, including those from outside Rotterdam.
Prof. Guus Smeets, professor of Psychology at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences and educational director of the Psychology and Pedagogical Sciences programs, is happy to see the "guest students" coming. An aircraft engineer from Delft, a lawyer from Leiden, sit with Rotterdam doctors, economists and sociologists-to-be in mixed working groups.
What explains the popularity of this minor? Smeets: 'Psychology is of course a subject that appeals to many people, so students like it too. And it circulates around because we have more than enough applications every year.'
No formulas
Can the Delft and Leiden students keep up over there in Rotterdam? Smeets: 'They have to get used to the fact that it is not about formulas with fixed outcomes but that we work with stochastic probabilities, for example. But other than that, it is material that anyone at university can handle.'
In order to be able to solve the major future, social problems, it is good that students already learn to cooperate with others and gain new insights.’
New insights
Smeets emphasizes the importance of diversity: 'In order to be able to solve the major future, social problems, it is good that students already learn to cooperate with others and gain new insights,' directly expressing the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus philosophy.
'Thereby,' says Smeets 'more understanding of human behavior can be extremely relevant for all disciplines where people are the main actors. Think, for example, of economics, law, business administration, political science, but also in architecture or ICT.'
Developing self-knowledge is important: who am I and how do I stand in society?'
Who am I?
With societal interest comes something else, says Smeets: 'Students these days are very focused on getting grades. Understandable, but I think it is important that we also offer them education. Learning how people work is one thing, but developing self-knowledge is just as important. Who am I and how do I stand in society? In this minor, they get an opportunity to explore those questions and introspect.'
