Friday May 1 | Albert Camus’ The Plague explained in ten minutes

“Pestilence is so common, there have been as many plagues as there have been wars, yet plagues and wars always find people equally unprepared”

Probably the most talked about book at the moment: The Plague by Albert Camus, a timeless novel on the confrontation with our mortality and the absurdity of our existence. Although we encourage you to read the book, you might be too busy quarantining at the moment 😉

Fortunately, The School of Life provided the opportunity to learn about Camus’ The Plague in just 10 minutes. Hopefully this just makes you want to read the book some more 🙂

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #StayingIn as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus areas: Mental Health, The World After Corona, Arts & Culture and other online events.

Thursday April 30 | Who are those people hoarding toilet paper?

Stop hoarding and keep your social distance! That’s what we have been told over and over since the corona measures were announced. Yet the first couple of weeks, supermarkets were plundered nonetheless. But since the government put a fine on group gatherings, most people seem to take the social distance-rule seriously. Even during Kingsday we remained in the ranks.

So did we adopt new moral values and become leaders by example overnight? Were we total egocentric morons to start off with, and was a worldwide crisis necessary to make us good people?

‘Surprisingly, people who uphold moral values like prudency or charity can just as well be the ones that hoard and ignore social distance,’ says TPM researcher Caspar Chorus in this short video. He researches choice behavior, for example of people and how they act when facing a crisis like we do today. ‘There is little to no correlation between the moral values people uphold and their moral behavior.’

So that person hoarding could just as well be you. Sounds depressing? Hold on, we’re not entirely lost. Watch the video below.

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #StayingIn as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus areas: Mental Health, The World After Corona, Arts & Culture and other online events.

Wednesday April 29 | Arts education from home

A few weeks in quarantine and we’re becoming more and more used to being hermits. Being locked down also gives the opportunity to express yourself. So this week it is time to find our inner creative voice!

Students of the Master in arts education in Amsterdam have put up this website with all sorts of projects to take on from home. For example the project cARTography. Take a stroll through Vermeer’s Milkmaid and discover hidden clues, talk to characters and use all of your senses. This text adventure will take you on a journey through a painting. As you interact with the text, you will uncover information bit by bit, building your own imagery around it. You can share any results via Twitter or Instagram. Go nuts!

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #StayingIn as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus areas: Mental Health, The World After Corona, Arts & Culture and other online events.

Tuesday April 28 | The world after corona

Every Tuesday in the coming weeks we’ll be exploring one of the cultural reactions to the pandemic: the rise of ideology. From all across the political spectrum opinion makers are talking about “the world after corona,” predicting what will change and what will stay the same. Today’s first outing into online ideology is an interview with Naomi Klein, noted leftist author of “This Changes Everything.”

“What’s clear,” she says, “is that there will be no gradual shift. The whole system has collapsed, so there are going to be big changes. Whether it’ll be similar to what we experienced after 2008, which changed people’s lives for the worse, or a major transformation, like in the 1930s with the New Deal. One way or the other, there is no going back to the former normal.”

Which points do you agree or disagree with? Which dangers loom large, and which opportunities do you see at the horizon? Put your own thoughts in the comments.

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #StayingIn as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus areas: Mental Health, The World After Corona, Arts & Culture and other online events.

Monday April 27 | Staying connected with StayDelft

Do you also miss hanging out with your friends in Delft? Or do you miss meeting new people? StayDelft is here to help you stay connected!
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Set up by students who were also missing the student life, StayDelft aims to provide fun events to keep you entertained and connected with your fellow students, without leaving your couch. Think of an online pub quiz, pictionary night, or workshops. There’s something fun for everyone! Does this sound interesting to you? You can join the Slack group via this link.

Events take place on Zoom, and this week’s offerings include meditation, sports, cooking, games (from chess to Cards Against Humanity) and literature. Check out the weekly schedule!

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #StayingIn as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus areas: Mental Health, The World After Corona, Arts & Culture and other online events.

Friday April 24 | I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!

Sound familiar? It’s a classic line from the movie Network (highly recommended) but it’s also how some of us feel about the corona crisis and the restrictions we’re under right now. Frustrated, irritated, angry.

It can escalate into full blown righteous indignation, as comedian Ticked Off Vic from New York demonstrates as he vents his anger at the US government’s handling of the corona crisis (warning: lots and lots of swearwords). Is it healthy behavior? Sure, venting can be healthy; but it can also hurt you or the people around you. Check out this short article on Psychology Today for tips on how to recognise and manage your coronavirus anger before it goes too far.

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #StayingIn as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus areas: Mental Health, Fake News, Arts & Culture and Philosophy.

Thursday April 23 | Shout out to our SG colleagues!

Did you know that every university has a Studium Generale (or an equivalent) bureau?

Like us, they have been sharing ánd creating thought-provoking online content. Take, for example, the podcast with philosopher Marli Huijer from our colleagues at SG Erasmus (in Dutch). Or the pandemic webinars brought to you by SG Utrecht (in English).

Stay tuned for more interesting content by us and our SG comrades!

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #StayingIn as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus areas: Mental Health, Fake News, Arts & Culture and Philosophy.

Wednesday April 22 | Broadway & Dutch National Theatre

Of course there’s little that can replace the genuine theatre experience of red plush seats, heavy velvet drapings and spotlights on a stage. Still, check out today’s tips and set up your own theatre from home.

The coming weeks renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber releases his famous #musicals for free on his Youtube channel The Shows Must Go On. Every Friday evening from 20.00 there is new one available for 48 hours, after which it is gone. #Broadway from your couch.

The Nation

Have you seen all there is to see on Netflix? Feel like something different? Het Nationale Theater presents the #theatre play The Nation on their website. It’s like watching a Netflix series but on stage. In six episodes the audience can bingewatch the play online, which is about a little boy from the Schilderswijk in The Hague who suddenly disappears. Theatre meets crime series in this beautifully recorded cross over. Worthwhile to have a look. It is in Dutch.

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #StayingIn as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus areas: Mental Health, Fake News, Arts & Culture and Philosophy.

Tuesday April 21 | How the truth became whatever makes you click

Just like our education and healthcare systems, our information supply has been heavily commercialised in the past decades. Truth has become a product, aimed at satisfying a need. The advent of digital capitalism turned truth into whatever makes you click.

Read this article by Rob Wijnberg from The Correspondent, and for a deeper dive, check out this profile of Evgeny Morozov by Maurits Martijn. For Dutch readers we recommend Morozov’s recent contribution about Big Tech and the current pandemic.

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #stayingin as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus area’s: Mental Health, Fake News, Arts & Culture and Philosophy.

Monday April 20 | Meme therapy

Humor can be a great coping strategy in hard times. And there’s some great internet humor out there poking fun at the COVID-19 crisis. The added bonus for the socially-minded thinker are the jokes that convey thinly-veiled criticisms of our society. Which of these jokes gets you laughing, cringing, and thinking in new ways?

Studium Generale created a Corona Care Package to make #stayingin as pleasant as possible. In the following weeks we will share videos, blogs, articles and podcasts within four focus area’s: Mental Health, Fake News, Arts & Culture and Philosophy.