Course Description
Web Design for the Underfunded Academic is a summer school dedicated to helping academics and researchers create effective, visually appealing websites with minimal resources. This course provides practical solutions for budget-conscious scholars who want to enhance their online presence.
Topics Covered
- Cost-effective web design principles
- User experience (UX) and minimalist design
- Search engine optimization (SEO) without paid advertising
- Smart CSS techniques for styling
- Utilizing free hosting and open-source tools
- Pitching and refining academic websites
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Design and launch a functional academic website
- Apply UX and accessibility principles to web projects
- Optimize content for visibility without paid SEO tools
- Utilize free resources to maintain a professional web presence
Assessment
Participants will be assessed through a final website pitch, where they present and receive feedback on their web project.
Recommended Literature
- Krug, S. (2014). Don’t Make Me Think. New Riders.
- Norman, D. (2013). The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books.
- McGuire, S. (2017). Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS. Packt Publishing.
📢 Education Budget Cuts: Why This Matters
Recent budget cuts in higher education across Europe — including the Netherlands — have sparked concern among academics, students, and educators. Resources are shrinking, support is dwindling, and many institutions are forced to rethink their strategies.
At Web Design for the Underfunded Academic, we see this as a call to action. Our summer school provides tools, techniques, and creative thinking tailored for working under pressure. Let's turn challenges into innovation — together.
🎧 Sounds of the Underfunded Academic
Need a soundtrack for your coding sessions or design breakthroughs? This curated playlist is crafted to match the spirit of creative constraint — elegant, focused, and just a little emotionally chaotic.
- Bach – Prelude in C Major, BWV 846: Elegant, calming, and structured — like semantic HTML
- Aphex Twin – Avril 14th: Gentle, melancholic, but somehow motivating
- Brian Eno – An Ending (Ascent): Ambient genius for deep focus
- Idealism – “Both of Us”: Warm, nostalgic, and beautifully minimal
- Radiohead – Everything In Its Right Place: For when you wish everything was in its right place
- LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great: Because debugging at 2 AM is emotional
- Sufjan Stevens – Should Have Known Better: Reflecting on past academic decisions
- Tycho – A Walk: Instrumental electronic to keep the momentum going
- Bon Iver – 33 “GOD”: Melancholy meets experimental inspiration
- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Intriguing Possibilities: The perfect track for making last-minute design tweaks
👀 Want to see what a previous student has done for their project? Check out this inspiring example.