The annual Create a Course competition was won by bachelorstudent Psychology Emilia Bienek and Biomedical engineering master’s student Sissi Chen with the course Sex, Stigma and Steroids: Debugging the Hormonal Code of Mind and Behavior. The prize is that the subject will be developed for the curriculum together with the two students. Sex, Stigma and Steroids aims to educate students from different departments on ‘the complex influence of hormones on behaviour, mental health and societal biases.’
The Create a Course Challenge is an annual competition organised by the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies at the UvA. Last years winners helped develop their courses as student assistants such as Decoding our Future (2023), Food Forestry (2022) and Cultures of Conspiracy (2021). (TM)
Today, Prime Minister Dick Schoof received the first copy of the Oxford Handbook of Dutch Politics. The book was presented by political scientists from various Dutch universities, including Sarah de Lange from the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The Oxford Handbooks are regarded as scholarly ‘bibles’ summarizing the state of knowledge in a particular field.
The handbook provides an overview of fifty years of research on Dutch politics, which was once renowned for its stability and consensus-driven approach, famously known as the poldermodel. It also highlights how societal and technological shifts have transformed the political landscape. New divides—based on ethnicity, education level, and gender—are increasingly shaping voting behavior. Additionally, the book delves into the impact of digital media and the changing information environment. (WW)
Amsterdam UMC paediatrician Arianne Teeuw was today appointed Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. This royal decoration is awarded to people who have personally dedicated themselves to society, the state or the royal house for a long time.
Teeuw receives the award for her commitment to children who have been victims of child abuse. For 20 years, Teeuw has worked on the identification, diagnosis, intervention and treatment of child abuse. Teeuw also played a key role in helping children and parents in the abuse cases of day-care centres Het Hofnarretje and Jenno's Knuffelparadijs. (SvdB)
With his essay ‘The Net of Hephaistos’, psychology lecturer Jos Verbrugge won the Joost Zwagerman Essay Prize on Monday evening 18 November. The 7,500 euro prize is intended for beginner essayists and was awarded in Alkmaar on writer Joost Zwagerman’s 61st birthday.
In ‘The Net of Hephaistos’, Verbrugge describes the story of a boy who is told he will go blind. According to the jury report, Verbrugge’s essay is ‘narrative, investigative, contemplative, heartbreaking, funny and literary’ and Verbrugge is ‘a writer who can put himself in perspective’.
Yesterday, Verbrugge wrote an opinion article in Folia on the ambivalence of demonstrating against cuts in higher education. (SvdB)
Amsterdam-based journalist and former editor of Folia Paul Damen has died. Damen worked as an editor and reporter at Folia in the 1980s. Prior to that, he had studied, among other things, political science and was a board member of the political science association Machiavelli. Damen excelled through his drive, curiosity and stubbornness, always looking for a juicy UvA story. After leaving Folia in 1988, a very diverse career in Amsterdam journalism followed: AT5, HP/DE Tijd, the Jewish Broadcasting Company and Jonet. He was also editor-in-chief of the Nieuw Israëlitisch Weekblad (NIW) for a year and wrote a number of books. Paul Damen turned 70. (DW)
Folia’s editorial coordinator Irene Schoenmacker won the annual Schiermonnikoog Literature Prize on the Wadden island of Schiermonnikoog last weekend with her Dutch poem entitled Wat men had kunnen horen. It was for the fourth time that the Schiermonnikoog Literature Prize was organised as part of the literary festival Meet Me At The Lighthouse. This time, the festival’s theme was: Listen! There were 257 poems submitted of at most 20 lines of poetry each. There were entries from all over the world, including from Germany, Thailand and Argentina. The shortlist included eight nominated poems. Schoenmacker won with her poem a so-called ‘listening house’, a ceramic piece of work by the Schiermonnikoog potter Aleida Blom, and a dinner voucher from a local hotel. She received the prize from Schiermonnikoog mayor Ineke van Gent. Commenting, Schoenmacker said: “It was a bit of a shock that I won the first prize, but I am immensely honoured.” See Schoenmacker’s recent interview with UvA poet Piet Gerbrandy here . (DW).
Two former professors of the UvA are going to press charges against Maccabi Tel Aviv football supporters for proclamations glorifying the war in Gaza ahead of last week's match against Ajax. They revealed this to the Dutch daily NRC, which reports. They are former professor of Holocaust and genocide studies Johannes Houwink ten Cate and former professor of migration studies and lawyer Ulli Jessurun d'Oliveira. They are filing charges of group defamation. According to the two, Maccabi fans are guilty of trivialising the crimes listed in the International Crimes Act.
At issue were the lyrics chanted by supporters of the Israeli football club on 7 November, en route to the Johan Cruijff Arena for the duel with Ajax: “The IDF [Israel Defence Forces] will win, fuck the Arabs [...] Why is there no school in Gaza? There are no children left,” was chanted. (DW)
The intake of international students at universities is falling, Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) reports in a press release. In academic year 2024/25, the intake of students from within the European Economic Area (EEA) decreased by 6 per cent compared to last year, from outside the EEA even by 9 per cent. It is the second year in a row that fewer international students are attending Dutch educational institutions. That the government wants to reduce this even further, the UNL president called a threat to the survival of study programmes. ‘An unfocused clearcut.’
A total of 338,400 students are enrolled at universities this academic year. This is down slightly from the previous academic year. Then, over 340,000 students were enrolled. The bachelors showed a slight decrease, while the masters showed a slight increase. At the UvA, on the other hand, the number of enrolments is rising, but the difference between bachelors and masters is also visible. The number of students at the bachelors decreases slightly, but increases significantly at the second (WW).