Sign up for the sample lecture in the Sciences
You can now sign up for the Sciences Sample Lecture! Please note that this activity is for prospective students considering the Sciences major. If you are interested one of the other majors offered at AUC, please sign-up for the Sample Lecture in the Social Sciences or the Sample Lecture in the Humanities.
This activity will not discuss the AUC programme. It is meant to give participants a sense of what a lecture is like at AUC. If you would like to get more practical information about studying at AUC and the academic programme, please visit the page dedicated to choosing your study or sign up for an Open Day.
Sample lecture: "A biologist's look at language” by Dr. Cor Zonneveld
Sciences lecturer at AUC, Dr. Cor Zonneveld will deliver a sample lecture titled “A biologist's look at language”. This lecture looks at the history and evolution of language. Language is a uniquely human way of communication. This fact alone makes it difficult to study the origin of language, and the absence of language fossils don’t make that job any easier.
Nonetheless, some progress has been made in this area, and Dr. Zonneveld will outline a few attempts. Interestingly, language itself can also be studied from an evolutionary perspective. Essentially, languages resemble biological species in that they exhibit heritable variation and differential survival. Languages thus evolve, which is something we can easily observe. In this lecture, Dr. Zonneveld will argue that language is a unique human adaptation and explore how language might have evolved. Finally, he will argue that languages themselves evolve, though at a much higher rate than biological organisms.
Participate in an AUC sample lecture
Prospective students who are thinking of applying to AUC frequently want to know what a class is like. With the diversity of courses offered, it can be difficult to choose a single representative class, as AUC students also take lab courses, conduct fieldwork outside of the classroom, participate in group work, immersive projects, give presentations and the subject matter often spans the Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities. Nevertheless, we want to give prospective students the opportunity to get a feel for how course material is presented, the style of lectures and how subjects are approached in the classroom.
For this sample lecture, the entire activity will take place on-campus in Amsterdam so that you can experience what a class is like and to better understand how course material is discussed.
