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fgw•nu is an internal publication for all staff members of the Leiden University Faculty of Humanities // nr6 • June2016
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‘Large publishers are profiteering from knowledge’
The Trump factor
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Three questions about the ASC Leiden
Career opportunities PhD candidates
Higher up often
means ‘further away’
Leiden University is committed to offering all its employees
good career prospects. This is apparent from our recently
improved career policy, which allows lecturers to obtain
senior lecturer positions. And yet, things are still far from
perfect: the career prospects of PhD candidates are distinctly
less rosy. At least, within the University. And even more so at
the Faculty of Humanities.
Thanks to the improved
career policy, employees with
a background in teaching and
employees with a background in
research are now both eligible
for senior lecturer positions.
This greatly improves the career
opportunities of lecturers, but
it also makes it abundantly
clear that another important
Et al
group, the PhD candidates, have
relatively poor career prospects
within our Faculty. Nearly all
PhD candidates wish to proceed
with their research at Leiden
University, but the reality is that
the scope is very limited. This is a
problem facing all disciplines, and
all universities, but at the Faculty
of Humanities, the figures are
gloomier than average: we can at
best accommodate no more than
30% of our PhD candidates.
Statistics do not lie
It is a hard fact that two out of
three of ‘our’ PhD candidates
will have to pursue their career
elsewhere. According to Gareth
O’Neill, himself a PhD candidate
and member of the University
Council, both PhD candidates
and the Faculty pay too little
attention to this problem. ‘Fewer
than 20% of PhD candidates in
their last year are actively looking
for a job. In years five and six,
this figure is still only 38%. It’s
as if they are oblivious of their
position, or even in denial,’ he
says. Not that he finds this so
very strange: ‘For years you are
told that you are among the best,
and you work hard to make it
true. If you’ve always been called
‘brilliant’, it takes quite a mental
switch to accept the idea that you
might not always belong to the
happy few who are allowed to
stay. But the statistics do not lie:
the odds that there is no place for
you are twice as high as the odds
that you can stay.’
Black hole
Not that it’s all doom and gloom
for PhD candidates. A CBS
study shows that 95% of all PhD
candidates in the Netherlands have
a job. More than three-quarters Achievements at the Faculty of Humanities
Alumnus releases CD
Migration research flourishing
Harpsichordist Aljosja Mietus studied Theology, and began the Practicum
Musicae at the Academy of Arts in his second year. Together with recorder player
Thomas Triesschijn, he has now released his first CD: Inspiring Bach. About
his choice of studies, Mietus says: ‘The reason that I chose to do the Practicum
Musicae was the environment at the Conservatory that you are exposed to.
Without the PM I would never have reached my current musical level.’ It has
proven worthwhile: Volkskrant critic Biëlla Luttmer called Inspiring Bach a
‘tasty bite’. The musicians funded their debut CD through a crowdfunding
campaign, raising the funds in a mere ten days. Quite understandable, says
Luttmer: ‘The gentlemen have a lot to offer.’
Migration is an important research theme at Leiden University. Researchers got together to discuss
their work at the Leiden Interdisciplinary Migration Seminars (LIMS), Leo Lucassen has given
online migration lectures for the University of the Netherlands, and the University will soon add
to its programmes a new migration track to the Master’s programme in History. The University
is also joining forces with Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam to
launch the interdisciplinary programme ‘Governance of Migration and Diversity’. The programme
brings together knowledge about migration and the management of migration flows from
various disciplines (political science, sociology, development studies, urban studies and history).
Programme secretary Job Weststrate: ‘This unique multidisciplinary perspective means that, in terms
of migration, graduates of the programme will look further than the current political order – they will
have a deep understanding of the issues.’
fgw•nu // nr6 • june 2016 | 1
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Joint Master in ontwikkeling
IThe Europaeum Vaclav Havel Programme began in
2013. Leiden University, Université de Paris and Charles
University Prague offer a one-semester exchange
programme, in which students on the two-year
Research Master’s in European Society and Politics can
participate. Coordinator Joost Augusteijn explains: ‘The
VHP arose from the idea for a joint master’s programme.
Due to the moratorium that applies until 2017, no
new master’s programmes can be launched in the
Netherlands. This programme was a creative solution.’
The Universities of Cracow and Barcelona have since
expressed an interest, and with 2017 approaching,
work has recommenced on the joint master. Augusteijn:
‘Paris has withdrawn, so four cities remain. The new
programme will be more integrated: all students
will begin together in Prague and spend the second
semester in Leiden or Cracow before choosing one of the
remaining three cities.’ Will the dream become reality?
‘The biggest hurdle is accreditation. We are working
hard on that now.’ If they succeed, the faculty’s first joint
master’s programme will start in 2017.
Interreligious love examined
In June, Leiden together with the University of Salento
and the Università L’Orientale of Naples will hold the
conference ‘Interfaith Love: Love, Sex and Marriage in the
Islamicate World from the Middle Ages to the Present.’
This three-day conference will examine how interfaith
love is perceived and represented. Diverse materials,
both Islamic and non-Islamic, will shed light on the
multifaceted representation implicit to the theme. Petra
de Bruijn is a member of the organising committee: ‘Two
faiths on one pillow and the devil in between; interfaith
love creates links and conflict. In this interdisciplinary
conference, we will show how this topic intersects not
only with art and literature but also with social structures,
in the present and in the past. Interfaith love is often the
subject of public debate, with regard to fragile national
identities in both the Middle East and –increasingly – the
West.’
Museum grant for research into
structuralist architecture
NWO has awarded a Museum Grant to Ellen Smit (Het
Nieuwe Instituut). Smit will be supervised by Caroline
van Eck in her research on structuralist architectural
plans. Architects such as P. Blom and A. van Eyck
presented their designs in the 1960s and 1970s in a
completely different way. The traditional black and white
drawings made way for abstract structures, geometric
patterns, collages, pamphlets and bright colours. In the
research, Smit aims to use structuralist plans to chart the
progress of innovation in architecture, and to try to link
current societal issues to the archive. Typical structuralist
terms such as ‘pattern’ and ‘structure’ still pervade the
debate on the design of urban areas. With regard to the
planned changes to the WSD Complex, the research will
provide some extra information, as the Complex is part of
the structuralist movement.
Read more:
Higher up often means ‘further away’
work in research. They make a good living,
on average between € 50,000 and € 75,000 a
year, and are generally happy with their job.
Ultimately, PhD candidates do find their way.
‘But this is often preceded by a substantial
‘black hole’,’ says O’Neill. ‘First of all, many
PhD candidates experience not being kept
on as a ‘failure’. Incorrectly, since this has far
more to do with what is statistically possible
or impossible than with personal qualities. But
people are often still hit in their self-esteem.’
Furthermore, the ‘black hole’ period can last
quite a long time because PhD candidates
tend to orient themselves to the labour market
relatively late – too late, in O’Neill’s opinion.
And the University does not stimulate
them in their efforts. ‘On the contrary.
Supervisors rarely focus on your future
career: they primarily push you to write
a good dissertation, preferably one that is
completed on time. Nor do they show much
understanding if you spend time orienting
yourself to the labour market. Many see it as
a waste of time, a distraction from the core
business: the dissertation,’ says O’Neill. As a
result, many PhD candidates complete their
dissertation with zero orientation to the labour
market.
‘Many PhD candidates
experience not being kept on
as a failure’
gives PhD candidates a ‘normal’ period of
time to complete their dissertation as well
as the opportunity to acquire valuable work
experience.’
O’Neill also believes in the importance of
better tuning to the needs of the labour
market, for instance via clear competence
profiles, career events, meet & greets with
the corporate sector, and career counselling
opportunities – facilities that are already
being developed for students, and that can,
according to O’Neill, quite easily be extended
to include PhD candidates.
The Faculty’s vision
FGW.NU did not miss out on the
opportunity to ask our Dean, Wim van den
Doel, about the Faculty Board’s perspective
on the matter. He confirms the urgency
of the situation. ‘For the great majority of
our PhD candidates, the future lies outside
the Faculty. We should not look upon this
as a failure; on the contrary, it is good for
society that their talent is not hidden from
the world behind university walls. But it
does mean that it is important to prepare
our PhD candidates for the labour market.
And we definitely believe that the Faculty
has an important role to play in this context.
For example by supporting PhD candidates,
just as we support students, with specific
tools and skills, or by organising meetings
with former PhD candidates who work in
other parts of society, so that they can share
their experiences. I cannot yet say what form
this will take, but we will certainly focus on
preparing PhD candidates for the labour
market. In fact, this is one of the action
points in our Faculty’s Strategic Plan.’
Easier and more normal
O’Neill has clear ideas on how this situation
can be improved. Together with PhD
candidate Wieneke Jansen, he has written a
memorandum on career guidance for PhD
candidates for the University Council. In
the coming months, he and Wieneke plan to
further elaborate their ideas together with
Eline Bergijk (Faculty of Sciences). They
expect to present their recommendations in
the course of the coming year, but O’Neill
is happy to give us a sneak preview. ‘Our
tenets are that PhD candidates have to claim
ownership of their career opportunities
and that the University has an important
facilitating role to play in this context. We do
not think that the University should shove
things down people’s throats or make them
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compulsory, but they can certainly make it
easier and ‘more normal’ for PhD candidates
to orient themselves to the labour market.
A good example of how this can be done
is the ‘Professional PhD Programme’: an
adjustment in the PhD contract to allow the
PhD candidate to work for a company for 0.2
to 1 FTE for three to six months of the project
time. Lengthening the university contract by
the duration of the company appointment
The Humanities: more urgent than elsewhere
This issue is more urgent at the Faculty
of Humanities than at other faculties, for
two reasons:
> We have a relatively large number of
PhD candidates. At the end of 2014
our Faculty had 754 PhD candidates,
of whom 122 were internal PhD
candidates, 84 contract PhD
candidates (on a grant), and 548
external PhD candidates.
> Humanities experts with a doctor’s
degree who do not find a position
within the University do end up
finding work, but more often than
average in part-time positions.
Moreover, their salary tends to be
lower on average than that of other
PhD candidates.
Being well prepared for the labour market
is therefore particularly important for
our PhD candidates to be able to find
interesting and well-paying jobs.
‘Large publishers
are profiteering from
knowledge’
What do you do when you no longer find the conditions of your publisher acceptable? Do
you agree anyway to continue publishing? Professor of French Linguistics Johan Rooryck
decided otherwise. Rather than agree to unacceptable conditions, he chose to terminate his
collaboration with Elsevier and go his own way. And now?
You left Elsevier with the entire editorial board
of Lingua. What led to this decision?
‘The conflict with Elsevier started more or less two years ago, but
our discontent had already been growing for some time. I had
been chief editor of Lingua since 1999 and during this time I saw
the relationship become increasingly strained. At first we had a
one-page contract, but by the end it was a contract of 25 pages.
Everything I did for the journal became their property. They even
meddled with the composition of the editorial board. Once I was
asked, for purely financial reasons, to find an editor from mainland
China. And Elsevier was becoming increasingly more expensive. At
some point libraries could no longer afford to stock Lingua. As a
result, people no longer wanted to write reviews for us. ‘You work
for the enemy,’ we were told. That is why we left to start our own
journal, Glossa, with a new publication model.’
And Glossa stands for open access?
‘It stands for fair open access. This is a specific form in which
we try to lower costs. The current publishers are prepared to do
everything in open access, but only as long as we pay for it. At
Elsevier the article processing charge of Lingua [APC, the amount
asked for making an article publicly accessible, ed.] is around
€ 1800 per article. And the authors are usually required to pay
this charge themselves. However, the actual costs of making an
article available in open access are approximately € 500; anything
above that is pure profit. I understand that a profit has to be made,
but this is simply profiteering from public funds. And it bothers
me because there is no alternative. It’s like forcing everyone to
drive in a Ferrari – without caring whether they can afford it or
not. Knowledge is a public utility, just like water and electricity.
Everyone should have equal access to it.’
How does the Glossa model work then?
‘In our model the APC is paid from a fund financed by six Dutch
universities and research funding organisation NWO. We also use
this fund to pay for the costs of transitioning journals to a fully
open access system. After five years, a worldwide consortium of
libraries, the Open Library of Humanities, will take over payment of
the APCs. This approach has already been used in other disciplines.
You can transition your journals to this model within five years
using public funds.’
What responses did you get?
‘I have had a lot of support from the university community;
everyone found it an excellent initiative. This gave me the feeling
that I was on the right track, as did the responses from the outside
world. I manage two Facebook pages and when I published my
first Glossa articles there, I reached fifteen thousand people in
four days. So it is something that people care about, even outside
linguistics.’
Did you ever regret taking this step?
After some thought: ‘I don’t generally think in terms of regret.
And besides, it is too soon to think of that; we’ve only just
started. So far everything has gone well [he laughs], but there
are certainly obstacles. It hasn’t been easy and at times it
was downright frightening. The publisher was of course not
‘Of course I was a bit apprehensive when
I sent that letter to Elsevier’
pleased and they tried to obstruct us in different ways. For
example, the name Lingua officially belongs to Elsevier, so
we had to give it up, even though we think that the name
of a journal belongs to the editors, the people who created
it. We are the ones who gave the journal its reputation; the
publisher’s role was purely that of facilitator.’
Is your initiative the start of a trend? Is fair
open access becoming the norm?
‘I hope so. We transitioned two other journals to the Glossa
model and we hope that a few more will follow. We still
have enough money for one or two more. Other journals are
certainly interested, but caution is still an obstacle sometimes.
Scientists who are also journal editors are reluctant to take
their journals on what they see as an adventure. And it fgw•nu // nr6 • june 2016 | 3
fgw•nu
Read more:
‘Large publishers are profiteering from
knowledge’
really is difficult, because you have to negotiate and be prepared
to fight and set up a whole new system. Scientists are not always
eager to participate. Or they may be enthusiastic themselves, but
the rest of the editorial office is not. In such cases, they may value
their editorial office more than their principles.’
‘We are the ones who gave the journal its
reputation; the publisher’s role was only
that of facilitator’
What is the impact of Glossa on the Faculty?
‘I hope to have inspired others by showing them that it’s possible
to transition an existing reputable journal to fair open access
within four months. It only requires a few minutes of political
courage. Of course I was apprehensive when I sent that letter to
Elsevier, but in the end it feels good to contribute to a world in
which knowledge is available worldwide at a reasonable price.
The fact that this initiative originates here, of all places, reflects
positively on our Faculty. We are the faculty with a broad view of
the world. This is why we find fair open access so important.’
Humanities experts on
the Trump factor
Facts &
Figures
About valorisation by Leiden
humanities researchers in
practice
Humanities alumni find good
jobs despite the crisis. The job
market survey completed by
alumni reveals that:
Johan Rooryck
fair open access initiative Glossa can be found via
http://www.glossa-journal.org/
71%
of the alumni find a job within two months,
of which 74% are jobs at degree (academic
or professional education) level.
Nearly half of the
‘Trump can dominate because the field is so
fragmented’
completely different level of rhetoric, and that’s just great! Once
you hear Trump speak and are caught in the campaign fever,
you’d have to be made of stone to not profoundly enjoy what is
a distant government ruling remotely. This aversion to power and
happening. Finally, American elections are extremely accessible.
government has always been part of the American culture and it keeps
It is really easy to follow the candidates step by step if you know
emerging time and again. Add to this the growing economic inequality
where to look. This gives the media their shot of crack!”
48%
find a job via their
network.
abroad. 44% of
the international
Colophon
fgw•nu is a periodical for the staff of the Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University.
Chief editors // Menno Tuurenhout, Gerdine Kuggeleijn, Marjolein Aarts
Advisory editors // Wim van den Doel, Sanne Arens, Gareth O’Neill, David Cörvers,
James McAllister
Executive editors // Joost Kroon, Romy Koreman, Marieke Enter
alumni work in the
benefited economically in the last few years, and they have had to
witness many jobs disappearing to newcomers. Add to this a number of
other fears, such as fear of terrorism, and you get this kind of comical
situation.’
12% of the Dutch
alumni work
and the demise of the middle class. The latter group has certainly not
The furore caused by Donald Trump in the Republican
presidential primaries speaks to our imagination. It looks like
a complete nightmare: the rich business macho as President.
But to what extent should we really worry about it? And why
do we all find Trump so fascinating? A number of Humanities
experts present their perspective on these questions.
12%
alumni (48%)
‘The question of whether what is
happening is relevant, is in itself completely
irrelevant’
Netherlands.
Alumni score high in
the education and
research sectors (16%
Van de Bilt suspects that in the unlikely event of Trump being elected
President, the Wilders and Le Pens of Europe will no doubt start
This does not mean that we can easily predict the relevance of
and 11% respectively).
claiming that they agree with him and that the time has come for them
the American presidential elections for us, says Van der Lubben.
Other popular sectors
to come to power too. ‘It’s funny to see how much Wilders and Trump
‘The question of whether what is happening is relevant, is in itself
resemble one other. They don’t even have to spend that much money
completely irrelevant. It’s just what is happening. There is no test
are editing (10%),
on campaigning: just make sure your Tweets get enough attention,
for establishing whether our degree of attention is justified. It all
and you’re done. The Dutch anti-immigrant wing would no doubt feel
has to do with how much relevance we attribute to it. Normally
strengthened by Trump’s election. And we would probably have to pay
speaking, there are criteria for what makes the news. The more of
more as a NATO member state. Trump’s motto is: ‘We are protecting
these ‘hard news criteria’ apply, the more important we consider
communication (7%)
and consultancy (5%).
Alumni with internship
experience find work
Adam Fairclough, Professor of American History, attributes
voters in a nation of more than 350 million inhabitants. Trump
Europe and they don’t pay us enough for it.’ In that sense he is clearly
the news to be. Journalists debate every day about which topics to
to which they aspired
Trump’s current success first of all to his image. He comes
feeds anti-immigrant sentiments and overt racism, and this greatly
of the isolationist school: keep to your own, but as soon as American
show on the evening news, however. The result of these complex
more often (56%)
across as someone who speaks his mind, no matter the
appeals to a small but loud and active group of voters. This is the
interests abroad are endangered, throw a big army into the fray.’
debates is what we call the news. We therefore see ‘the news’ as
Concept and final editing // LIEN+MIEN Communicatie
consequences. ‘He appeals to elements that have always
group that provides him with his representatives.’ But Fairclough’s
a social construct. This is characteristic of the Leiden school of
Art direction // Creja ontwerpen
been popular within the Republican Party: xenophobia,
view of the election results is concise: ‘I expect a crushing defeat for
thought.’
Printing // UFB
racism, misoginy, anti-immigrant sentiments and anti-
the Republicans. A large portion of the party would never vote for
intellectualism. He portrays Congress as dysfunctional.
Trump, or even actively campaign against him. But there is no suitable
Obama’s inability to collaborate with Congress has led
alternative. Kasisch is too left-wing by current Republican standards,
to frustration among the public, and Trump is using this
and the other candidates are complete jokes. The fact that the field is so
Historical bias
‘My mother worries about Trump. I cannot convince her that
to his advantage. His prejudiced statements are seen as
fragmented allows Trump to dominate.’
It is not surprising that Trump is causing such a sensation in America.
it is all rather far away from us. He is part of a large political
But why do we talk so much about him here in the Netherlands?
system, and in America of all places, the counter-powers are
Fear and inequality
Sebastiaan van der Lubben, assistant professor in Journalism and
well organised. You also have to explain to people what is going
Dr Eduard van de Bilt, assistant professor in the Master’s programme
New Media, explains. ‘We have a historical bias towards America. We
on within the Republican Party, and what the voting ratios are
higher-level job more
North American Studies, also sees in this a perpetuation of
all learn from the Americans: our journalists learn from them how
in America, so that they can put things in perspective. It’s a
often.
Trump’s ability to play the Republican primaries. ‘Only a
long-standing American traditions. ‘Why did America claim its
to follow campaigns, and our politicians learn how to conduct them.
complete mess over there at the moment, and that’s the good
small number of people vote in the primaries: 10 million
independence in the first place? Because Americans did not trust
Also, there are no elections as spectacular as American elections. It’s a
news!’
Cartoon // Bas van der Schot
Photography and illustrations // Juliën van Eck, Joost Kroon, Universiteit Leiden Beeldbank, Shutterstock, Creja ontwerpen
Address:
Faculty of Humanities ,
Department of Communications and Recruitment
Room 2.06D, Lipsius
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel.: 071-527 5888
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courageous, a challenge to political correctness. They even
contribute to his popularity.’
The second element, according to Professor Fairclough, is
klimaatneutraal
natureOffice.com | NL-001-250202
gedrukt
4
‘Aversion to power and government emerges
time and again’
The mess is good news
And yet there is no cause for worry, according to Van der Lubben.
Job market survey of 3,489
than alumni without
Humanities bachelor’s,
that experience
master’s and research
(48%). Also, alumni
master’s alumni in the period
from 2012 to 2015 with
with internship
a response percentage of
experience, relevant
30.4% (1,092 respondents)
work experience
or international
experience find a
fgw•nu // nr6 • june 2016 | 5
fgw•nu
Cultural differences in
the lecture hall
There are many international lecturers working at our faculty. What springs to mind if they compare higher education in
their homeland with higher education in the Netherlands? And what problems do they face as international lecturers?
Three questions about the
African Studies Centre Leiden
The close bond with the African Studies Centre Leiden has become even closer now
that the ASCL is an interfaculty institute – with ‘our’ Wim van den Doel as chairman of
the board. We asked him and ASCL Director Ton Dietz three questions about this more
intense form of collaboration.
1. //
2. //
WHY IS IT AN ENRICHMENT THAT ARE THERE IDEAS YET ON HOW
THE ASCL IS NOW PART OF THE
TO USE THE CLOSER RELATIONUNIVERSITY?
SHIP WITH ASCL FOR NEW
TEACHING AND RESEARCH ACWim: ‘Africa as a continent is attracting a lot of interest worldwide,
among other reasons due to its very rapid demographic growth and fast
TIVITIES?
economic development. It is becoming increasingly relevant to bring together knowledge of Africa and other continents. The fact that the ASCL
staff are now officially our colleagues makes it easier to engage in more
intense collaboration. There are fewer procedural and practical obstacles.
For students, for example, it has become easier to work together with
ASCL researchers.’
Ton: ‘Students and fellow researchers are showing more and more interest in Africa and we are better placed to serve this interest as an official
division of the University. And our relatively vulnerable position as an
independent research and documentation centre also played a role. Our
worst nightmare is what happened to the Royal Tropical Institute when
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs withdrew its financial support. For our
continuity it is better to be part of a university, especially one where area
studies belongs to the core business. This offers us the opportunity to
reach out to fellow researchers.’
Ton: ‘Plenty of new ideas! For example, we are seriously considering
establishing a university-wide minor in African Studies, for all those
International Studies students. There are also lots of new research plans,
such as studying the area of Finance & Integrity in collaboration with
the Law Faculty, or devoting more attention to African heritage in
collaboration with the Faculty of Archaeology. We are now in the last
year of ASCL’s current research programme and we are taking our time
to further explore these new ideas.’
Wim: ‘The University has made funds available to develop new initiatives from the bottom up. There are lots of ideas, but they need some
time to crystallize into concrete plans. This also applies to the plans for
the minor: it might easily take two years before we can offer an entire
new minor.’
3. //
3
IN CONCLUSION: ASCL IS NOW
AN INTERFACULTY INSTITUTE.
WILL ASCL EVER BE PART OF OUR
FACULTY?
Ton: ‘As far as I am concerned, it is certainly one of the possibilities.
Leiden currently has an Executive Board that supports us wholeheartedly,
but future members of the Board may have different views. From this
perspective it may be better to operate under the safe wing of a faculty,
since we would rather not be cut up into smaller pieces like the Centre
for Environmental Studies. But this is anticipating problems that may
never arise.’
Wim: ‘For the next five years ASCL will be an interfaculty institute, with
a board representing the three most closely involved faculties: Social
and Behavioural Sciences, Law and Humanities. In the final year we will
evaluate this situation and decide on the next step for the future. The
organisational form should always optimally facilitate teaching and research, and avoid falling prey to dogmatic thinking. It may be very useful to
be part of a strong, flexible and large-scale faculty, certainly for ASCL.’
‘Relatively big role for
‘Hierarchy and academic ‘A lot of freedom
‘People always offer an
bureaucrats with no
rank play a bigger role
to devise your own
opinion, even if they are
experience in education’ here’
syllabus, but little ethnic wrong’
Who: Professor Jonathan Silk
Who: Dr Sara Brandellero
Who: Dr Bastien Boutonnet
diversity’
What: Professor of Buddhist Studies
What: Lecturer in Brazilian Literature and Culture
What: Linguist
Country of origin: United States
‘The American undergrad system is very open
compared with the Netherlands. A chemistry
student can – or is even expected to – follow courses
in art or other humanities subjects, for instance.
Do chemistry here and that is all you do. The
programmes are also very compact: in three years
you are expected to know everything.
Dutch high school graduates are better prepared
than American ones, but they soon lose that
advantage. That is because American universities
devote more attention to good academic writing,
whereas here in the Netherlands it is only when you
start writing your thesis that it becomes apparent
whether you have actually learned how to do this.
Universities and faculties have more autonomy in
America. As a university you are given the mandate
to develop programmes as you see fit. Here it
is programmes rather than universities that are
accredited. What is more, this is done by bureaucrats
who have no experience in education, but just want
to follow the rules. Anything that does not fit within
an existing programme is unlikely to be given space.’
Country of origin: England
‘The first thing that I realised when I came here in
2011 was how easy the transition was. The students
were very receptive, and I got on well with them
from the start. I was also able to engage students in
a meaningful way, and they were open to Englishtaught lectures.
It is relatively cheap to study here. In England, it can
cost four or five times as much, so students’ main
priority is what they can get out of their degree
afterwards. Students in the Netherlands value their
degree more for the knowledge that it imparts. I am
impressed, for instance, with how many students
from different degree programmes follow the minor
in Portuguese.
What strikes me is how hierarchical things
can be here. In England it is more common for
responsibilities in the faculty to be independent
of academic ranking. There is more mobility in
England in that respect. For the rest, I would advise
learning Dutch quickly. In the beginning you don’t
always get round to it because you are thrown in at
the deep end. The advantage is that you do get used
to it fast.’
Who: Professor Nira Wickramasinghe
What: Professor of Modern South Asian Studies
Country of origin: Sri Lanka
‘What struck me when I started here was the
freedom that I had to devise my own syllabus. At
the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka there was
much more interaction between colleagues, heads
of department and deans when it came to devising a
syllabus. You had to defend why you wanted certain
topics included.
I am originally a historian, and I approach my work
more in terms of a topic than an area, but if you
are working on a non-Western or non-European
topic here you are immediately classed under Area
Studies. Since I came here, I have been forced to see
myself as the representative of an area? rather than a
certain approach. The only contact I have with other
historians is contact that I have sought out myself.
Furthermore, the University is not very ethnically
diverse. It is mainly a white, male university. There is
greater diversity at the VU and Erasmus University,
for instance. When portraits of female professers
were recently hung in the Senate Chamber, I saw
that I was the only non-white female professor, while
Dutch society is so diverse!
Country of origin: France
‘People here know when to take a break or stop
for the weekend. I worked in the United States and
there you work constantly. The work-life balance is
much healthier here, but people still get a lot done,
more perhaps. You do not have to prove yourself by
working non-stop.
People are more likely to do things because they
find them interesting. There is less of a sense of
obligation that makes people work on something
they are not interested in. What I also appreciate is
that people always want to discuss things and are to
the point. They always offer an opinion, even if they
are wrong.
You do have to be a bit proactive. People do not seek
you out; you have to get out there. If you manage to
shout louder than the Dutch, you will get noticed.
You need to embrace that, because it means that you
do not constantly have to show that you are working.
“You’re here. Good luck!” is the attitude here.’
More about the African Studies Centre Leiden can be found on // www.ascleiden.nl
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fgw•nu // nr6 • june 2016 | 7
fgw•nu
Long live Lubotsky
Lucien van Beek was awarded a Veni grant last year for
research in which he analyses the use of classical Greek
dialects in Homer’s epic language. Alwin Kloekhorst was
awarded a Vidi grant in 2014 for his research into the
disintegration of the Proto-Indo-European language,
the common ancestor of all languages of Europe and
India. Both work in the Comparative Indo-European
Linguistics research group, which is led by Professor
Sasha Lubotsky. This research group is unique in the
Netherlands and under Lubotsky’s leadership has
become one of the biggest and most renowned IndoEuropean centres in the world. Van Beek, Kloekhorst
and their colleague Tijmen Pronk therefore seized on
Lubotsky’s 60th birthday as an opportunity to honour
his work, and organised, in collaboration with LUCL, the
‘Indo-Iranian and its Indo-European Origins’ workshop
with contributions from 22 specialists. Lubotsky: ‘I feel
honoured that so many colleagues from all round the
world came specially to the workshop in Leiden, at their
own expense. I consider it a sign of great appreciation
of the Leiden school of Indo-European.’
Met performance en spel naar
een nieuwe wereld
Aansluitend bij het interdisciplinaire onderzoek ‘Van
voetbalvrouwen tot vrouwenvoetbal’ organiseert
PhD-kandidate Nathanja van den Heuvel op 7 en 8 juli
de conferentie ‘The Politics of Performance and Play.
Feminist Matters.’ Het perspectief is weids: spel in
brede zin wordt onderzocht als startpunt voor sociale
ontwikkeling en verandering. Binnen een materialistischfeministisch kader reflecteert het symposium op de
theoretische, politieke en artistieke uitdagingen omtrent
‘performance & play’. Van den Heuvel: “Het gaat bij
deze conferentie om de kracht van performance-kunst
en spel om de wereld anders voor te stellen, en dat
specifiek met betrekking tot feministische, filosofische
vraagstukken. Door juist niet alleen theoretici, maar
ook kunstenaars uit te nodigen, onderstreept de
conferentie daarnaast het groeiende maatschappelijke
belang van samenwerkingsverbanden tussen kunst en
wetenschap.”
Column
The personal opinion of a humanities researcher. This time:
On the frustrating realisation
that insights are not enough
Our teaching is sometimes less about learning than about unlearning. Some students
start off with a headful of untested ideas on gender and sexuality, or homophobia
and racism. Cultural sciences are a fantastic playground in which to challenge these
prejudices and discover why you think what you do about these topics, how this relates
to social power structures and how to look differently at the staggering plurality of
human existence.
Knowing versus doing
When, alongside my work as a lecturer and researcher, I was assigned the task of devising
the University’s diversity and inclusion policy, I brought along these insights from the
cultural sciences. This cultural criticism would guide me. I soon realised, much to my shock,
that this would not work at all. This is because of what we have learned from training
courses that aim to raise awareness of diversity. Such courses have a short-lived effect.
Awareness of implicit prejudices does not help you to be inclusive. Quite the opposite: the
more you try to fight your prejudices, the more they affect you.
Irreversibly tainted
The only solution is to outwit ourselves. At those times when we are assessing others, we
need creative procedures that prevent prejudices from playing a role. Other countries are
considering a lottery system for job applications: three names from a (diverse) shortlist
go into a hat and one is picked out. I think it’s fantastic. Then you really do accept that you
are irreversibly tainted by prejudice.
Ingrained inequality
There is great enthusiasm for diversity in our faculty, but inequality is sometimes ingrained
in the procedures themselves and the often random way in which they are applied. For
instance, all too often staff are not allowed to take leave to which they are entitled, leave
that is particularly essential for women (such as parental leave). Our current appointment
procedures have resulted in an overwhelmingly white academic staff, and our codes of
conduct and complaint procedures are unclear.
Bridging the gap
Isabel Hoving, lecturer and
researcher at the Centre for
the Arts in Society, has been
the Leiden University Diversity
Officer since 2014
Want to continue the discussion?
[email protected]
NOG Day, 10 June 2016, workshops
The Troubled Marriage of Scholarship
and Policy-Making
If we want to change such inadequate procedures, we need a constant and truly open
discussion – with everyone involved – on the inclusive working environment that we wish
for at our faculty. The recent discussions on work pressure were a first step, and here we
once again need all the insights that cultural sciences have to offer, all the critical insights
into prejudice, exclusion and power relationships. Once more the frustrating realisation
that those insight alone are not enough rears its head. How can we as cultural scientists
bridge this gap?
One image,
a thousand words
The first steps have been taken to update the Leiden
University websites and UniversiteitLeiden.nl is live.
Images take centre stage on the website, and not
without reason. Not without reason, because good
visual content reinforces our message. Most people
think in images and process images many times faster
than text. The accessibility, navigation and search
functionality of the site have also improved enormously
compared with the old one. Not all of the Leiden
University websites have transitioned to the new
design yet. The staff and student portals (programme
sites) will be ready to go live at the end of 2016,
and the recruitment websites studereninleiden.nl
and mastersinleiden.nl will follow in 2017, as will the
research project websites.
This photo was used for the article ‘Sexual responses can be learned and unlearned’ from 8 March, 2016
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