In the weekend of the 19th and 20th of February the TU Delft Debating Club proudly represented the TU Delft at the Erasmus Rotterdam Open debating competition. There were three teams debating, two judges and three spectators present. This shows we are growing as a debating club.
It was a long weekend, with no less than six debates on Saturday, a party afterwards, and – armed with a lack of sleep a last debate on Sunday. Unfortunately none of the teams made it to the finals; the competition was fierce with participants from all over the world. We did stay to watch the finals, and the debates were spectacular to watch! In the end everybody has learned a lot during the weekend and we are looking forward to our next competition!
Little impression of what the debate competition looked like can be seen in this aftermovie:
Al ruim 100 jaar vinden, tijdens de Internationale Vrouwendag (8 maart), wereldwijd activiteiten plaats rondom de positie van de vrouw. Met thema’s als economische zelfstandigheid van vrouwen, empowerment, seksueel geweld, zorg en arbeid, discriminatie en racisme. Anno 2016 zijn deze thema’s actueler dan ooit. Hoe werkt dat in de praktijk?
Ontvoeringen en vrouwenhandel vinden bijna dagelijks plaats, vrouwen hebben in veel landen nog steeds geen stemrecht en worden als tweederangs burgers behandeld en zelfs in het rijke Westen lopen vrouwen gevaar niet als gelijkwaardig te worden gezien. Vrouwen in de wetenschap hebben nog dagelijks met vooroordelen te maken. Hoe komt het eigenlijk dat je de vrouwen in de geschiedenis van de filosofie met een zaklantaarn moet zoeken? Waarom was het voor vrouwen zo moeilijk om door te dringen tot het bolwerk van de grote denkers? Ook in de sport komen vrouwen vaak op de tweede plaats. Ooit een praatprogramma op tv over vrouwenvoetbal gezien?
Om aandacht te vragen voor de positie van vrouwen organiseren Studium Generale en Sport & Cultuur TU Delft gezamenlijk in de maand maart activiteiten vanuit een politieke, filosofische, wetenschappelijke of sportieve invalshoek. Ook cabaret zal niet ontbreken. Maart: maand van de vrouw, ook toegankelijk voor mannen!
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL TENTOONSTELLING BIJ UNIT CULTUUR, TU DELFT
1 t/m 30 maart 2016
Het is honderd jaar geleden dat vrouwen streden voor hun recht om te kunnen stemmen. Er is gelukkig veel verbeterd, maar de rechten van vrouwen worden in grote delen van de wereld nog steeds ernstig geschonden. Hoe is het vandaag dan eigenlijk gesteld met de rechten van vrouwen?
De tentoonstelling verkent de huidige positie van vrouwen in de wereld met verhalen uit landen als China, Iran, Mexico, Zuid-Afrika of Ierland. Maar ook de kwetsbare positie van vrouwen in de huidige vluchtelingenstromen in Europa komt aan de orde. Aan de hand van ‘cases’ waarvoor actie wordt gevoerd door Amnesty International, ontmoeten we verschillende jonge vrouwen die strijden voor hun recht op informatie, onderwijs, vrijheid en het recht om over zichzelf en hun eigen lichaam te beschikken. Hun verhalen geven een levendig en dynamisch beeld van de wereld waarin vrouwen leven. De tentoonstelling stelt ook vragen bij de situatie in de westerse wereld. Zijn de gelijke rechten van vrouwen in onze cultuur wel zo goed verzekerd als we geneigd zijn te denken?
Women’s rights today
AN AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION AT CULTURE, TU DELFT
March 1-March 30, 2016
It’s one hundred years since women protested for their rights and demanded the right to vote. Much has changed since then, but in many parts of the world woman still play an inferior or submissive role. Where exactly do we stand, when it comes to the completion of equal rights for women?
This exhibition explores the current status of women in various parts of the world like China, Iran, South Africa or Ireland. Based on cases by Amnesty International we can meet all kinds of young women who stand up and fight for their rights on education, equality, freedom and the right to dispose of their own body and sexuality. Their stories give us a vibrant and dynamic view on various women’s rights topics. This exhibition also challenges us to rethink the current situation within the Western culture. Are women’s rights as well secured as we are inclined to think or take for granted?
Het wordt hoog tijd om je als TU-student te verdiepen in de gebeurtenissen in de wereld. Niet alleen studeren is belangrijk, maar ook weten wat er om je heen speelt en je daar een mening over vormen.
In Broodje Politiek worden actuele thema’s aangesneden, waarover je in gesprek kunt gaan met de spreker/spreekster. De toegang is gratis. En niks “zal mijn tijd wel duren” of “ver van m’n bed show”, Studium Generale geeft je de kans om achter de ins en outs te komen van diverse politieke onderwerpen.
De vrouwen van het Kalifaat: slavinnen, moeders en jihadbruiden
Judit Neurink, als Trouw-correspondente werkzaam in Koerdisch Irak, sprak met een groot aantal door IS ontvoerde en vervolgens ontsnapte vrouwen, belde met vrouwen in IS-gebied en deed literatuuronderzoek. Dat haar bevindingen niet vrolijk stemmen is geen verrassing, de vrouwen leiden een slavinnenbestaan. IJzingwekkende verhalen.
Women in philosophy? You have to look very thoroughly and carefully to find out which women in philosophy were important. Why is that? Why was it so difficult for women to penetrate the stronghold of the great thinkers? Do women think differently? In the full three-part course of the series, the interesting women that everyone should know are covered.
At 1 March, we will dive into the whereabouts of Hannah Arendt. Hannah Arendt is an important political philosopher of the 20th century. She is well-known for her analysis of the totalitarian societies and the report of the Eichmann trial.
Arendt was born in 1906 in Hanover, and as a Jew, she fled to America in World War II. In 1951, she becomes famous for: ‘The Origins of Totalitarianism’, a study of the roots of totalitarianism. This has been awarded in every list of great books of the 20th century. Arendt argues inter alia that Nazism and Stalinism are two auctions of the same strain – an idea that is now generally accepted. Furthermore, Hannah Arendt’s has written the book ‘The Human Condition’ in which she defined the three human activities; labour, work and action with two mutually exclusive spheres: the political and everything else. See explicatory movie below.
As a celebration, Daan Rovers will bring an ode to Hannah Arendt, the most important woman in philosophy.
Daan Roovers, former editor of ‘Filosofie Magazine’, is a frequent discussion leader, interviewer and stand-up philosopher. She also teaches public philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. She has developed the month and night of the philosophy, was ‘Denker des Vaderlands’ and G8 Philosophy. Her main motive is investing in individual and collective brainpower and she is pleased that the public philosophy in the Netherlands is a great success. Roovers is one of the main lecturers in the series: ‘7 women in philosophy, you should know’.
Marianne Vos was born on 13 May 1987 in s-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands. Ever since she can remember she has had a love of sports, from ice speed-skating to rollerblading to cycling. She always wanted to compete! Marianne Vos first caught the cycling bug when she was 6, following her brother Anton to races had made her eager to jump on the bike and race as well. Marianne Vos got her first bike at the age of 6 and was racing by the time she was 8, it was meant to be!
When Marianne Vos won her first rainbow jersey in 2004, the thought of a career as professional cyclist first crossed her mind. Not many girls go professional on a full-time basis but she decided to give it a go and try her best. In 2008 Marianne Vos went to her first Olympics and came home with a Gold medal from the Points Race. According to Marianne Vos the Olympics is the pinnacle of sport and winning a gold medal there was “simply amazing”. In 2012 she returned to the Olympic games to win gold on the road race. The price she always wanted.
Marianne Vos’ dream is to make cycling more accessible and popular for women. Alongside the efforts and visions of many others, new and exciting initiatives such as La Course and the Women’s Tour of Britain have been launched.
Maxime Jonkers – Sports: Sailing, Study: Maritime Engineering
Maxime Jonkers started sailing an Optimist when she was only 6 years old. At the age of 12 she started competing in international contests. Since 2010 she is sailing a Laser 4.7 boat and in 2011 she became the European Champion in her class. Not only did she become European Champion, in the same years she also became European- and World Champion below 17 on the Laser Radial.
In 2011 she also started sailing at the Topzeilacademie in Scheveningen, where she trains with the Delta Lloyd Talent team. Maxime choose to study in Delft because of the close access to training facilities in Scheveningen. A study had to be chosen that was located close to The Hague.
Maxime now studies Maritime Engineering because of her interest in mathematics and physics. Combining study with her sport is hard. Maxime can be found on the water for about 4 days a week and she also trains 6 to 7 times in the gym a week.
While being abroad for training in winter it becomes very hard to combine study and sports. Luckily Collegerama makes it possible to check colleges online. During international events it is not possible for her to study at all. Studying takes up a lot of energy and tires her. For Maxime sailing is her top priority so studying will have to wait during international contests.
Sietske Visser started archery at the age of 16 years, about 7 years ago. She combines her Master Integrated Product Design at Industrial Engineering with Archery, which is not always easy. In her Bachelor she spends many evening hours training and studying, with little free time left. But for Sietske, it is worth it.
Her biggest challenge is to do everything what she wants to do, without crossing her own borders. Managing tasks and time takes a lot of energy and involves taking hard decisions. There is only a limited amount of energy you can divide between study, sports and free time.
Part of the Celebration of International Women’s Day ’16 is the Amnesty International in-depth session about the exhibition on women’s rights. After this intriguing session, Maartje and Kine will play a compilation of their work ‘Goldberg Machine’. This compilation is Dutch spoken.
Maartje and Kine (http://www.maartjeenkine.nl) stormed theaters with their hugely successful debut program “Strange Folk” after their studies at the conservatory and TU Delft. This energetic, cheerful, endearing and sharp duo is like a fresh wind and toured around more than 120 cities.
In their second theatre play the “Goldberg Machine’, music and art are coming together in a comedy show about inventions, dreams and chain reactions. A dive into a world of scientists and inventive composers. Naturally wrapped in its own Maartje and Kine-style: humor, catchy Balkan beats, classic with a twist and virtuoso folk from all over the world. With a violin, accordion, banjo, ukulele, balalaika, trumpet, piano and many other instruments. A performance that ‘ll make you smile for 24 hours. A feast!
Maartje and Kine write a montly number for Giel 3FM and performed, among others at DWDD, the Top 2000, KunststofTV, Tijd voor Max, Lowlands, Oerol and the End Month Show of Martijn King on HumorTV. Maartje and Kine’s play: comedy and villainous.
Viermaal per semester organiseert Studium Generale een Broodje Filosofie, waarbij we in de lunchpauze een korte en bondige filosofische bite behandelen. Kom dus voor de Grote Levensvragen langs in de HIVE in de TU Library.
Het leven is niet leuk als je je mond houdt
door Marli Huijer, geinterviewd door Frank Meester
Marli Huijer is Denker des Vaderlands. Zij is bijzonder hoogleraar Filosofie aan de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam en Lector Filosofie en Beroepspraktijk aan de Haagse Hogeschool.
Marli is geen tegen-, geen mee-, maar een tussendenker, zij wil de stemmen van allerlei verschillende mensen laten klinken. Filosoof Frank Meester interviewt haar over een veelheid van onderwerpen, waarin Mali keer op keer benadrukt dat het belangrijk is je vrijmoedig uit te spreken.
Everyone gets confronted with difficult decisions and responsibilities in life. Engineers however face especially impactful choices. Should you work on a drone, knowing that it can be used for spying or to kill people? Or on robots that take away millions of jobs; ships that end up polluting Asian beaches; GMO’s or pesticides that destroy ecosystems; or electronics that end up in African landfills?
In short, there is a shadow side to all technology, and SG is curious how you feel about your place in it. This small survey will help us get a little bit more insight into that. Of course, your answers will be processed anonymously.
Whether you are a student, alumnus, or a staff member, this survey is for you!
When the TU Delft introduced the Free Zones on campus about a year ago, I have to admit my first thoughts were ragingly cynical. This must be a joke, I thought: in order to improve the quality of life on campus, a team of grown up people spent a good deal of time (and $$) working out a plan where a patch of land is emblazoned with a large red FREE ZONE text and outfitted with wifi, water, and electricity, so that students can do fun stuff outside. Sounds great in theory, but in practice these patches of land come with all sorts of regulations. And bureaucratic procedures. So they’re not exactly free. And they’re hardly being used at all, at all. And of course it’s too cold and wet most of the year to use them anyway, and so on and so forth.
Not to mention the fact that naming them Free Zones is highly reminiscent of the “free speech zones” in the USA, where democratic protestors are corraled into fenced off areas where they are allowed to “safely” protest and exercise their democratic freedoms.
And not to forget the implication that everything outside the Free Zone is, somehow, Not Free. Did you consider that? You’re walking around or sitting in an implicitly unfree zone right now.
So much for my ragingly cynical first reaction. I don’t want to be a hater, or at least: I don’t want it to end there. Luckily, it turns out there are positive aspects to the Free Zone phenomenon as well. A way that they can be used for a greater purpose: namely, to house refugees on campus. The pamphlet below is a brilliant satirical piece by pseudonymous student Karel de Kleijne. Let us know your thoughts on the Free Zones and the refugee idea in the comment section below.
In 2014, there were over four hundred Indian students at the TU Delft, second only in number to Chinese students in the ballooning population of internationals. There is an active student’s association, ISA, representing Indian students and organizing cultural activities and parties from Diwali to Holi. And now for the first time there has been a joint event organized by ISA, SG, and S4S, to highlight the cultural differences and similarities between engineering in Europe and in India.
And why not? Know thy neighbor, I always say (I don’t actually know my neighbors).
A university is a great place for cultural exchange. And with four hundred Indians walking around and working on this campus, it serves us as a community to get to know each other. And who better to facilitate that than those who know both cultures: students who have done projects abroad in India, and Indian students who have worked and studied at home as well as in Europe.
The “Indian Expedition” event, hosted by local celebrity student Nitant Shinde from Aerospace, introduced four speakers. First up was Maarten Duijnisveld, former chairman of S4S, who traveled to India in early 2014 to set up projects for Delft students through the Amrita University in southern India. Second was Mick, who with two fellow students is traveling to India in November this year to complete one of those projects. Specifically, they are going to use solar energy to give a much-needed boost to the local production of lemon grass oil in the rural south. The third speaker was Brian Baldassarre, an Industrial Design student who went to India in 2013 with his group to redesign the handlebars of the local rikshaws in Varanasi to offer more comfort to the drivers. Fourth and last was Vidyut Mohan, who together with his American partner went to the rural north of India to develop a biofuel industry, by turning pine needles into fuel through a process known as torrefaction. There is an enormous excess of pine needles in government-planted forests and a lack of jobs as well. So here’s to hitting two birds with one stone.
Each of these projects met with different challenges, successes, and failures because of the cultural divide, as became clear in the stories these students shared. You can still get an impression of their stories from their presentations, which you can see by clicking on the images below.
Interesting fact: of the over four hundred Indian students in Delft, less than ten made it to this event. Why so few? Your theory is as good as mine, but it’s clearly something SG has to work on in the future.
*Update* The TU Delft iGEM team won the overall prize of the competition this weekend (28 september 2015). Out of over 200 teams from universities across the world, congratulations!
What do you know about the future of synthetic biology? As for me, I’ll admit I’m no expert. Life sciences seem like a pandora’s box to me, waiting to completely disrupt all the biological systems on our planet. But maybe I’m just an optimist 🙂
Last August, a dozen students from across the TU got some hands-on experience in developing ideas and business plans for up and coming technology in this field. Led by the students of this year’s iGEM team (iGEM stands for International Genetically Engineered Machine), a workshop was held to spread knowledge and awareness about synthetic biology and to get feedback from, frankly, a bunch of (enthusiastic and capable) noobs.
SG helped sponsor and plan this workshop. Have a look below for a summary of the event, or open the pdf here!
Studium Generale, onderdeel van de TU Delft, biedt verdiepende en geestverruimende activiteiten aan. Van bitcoins tot Einstein en van politiek tot filosofie. SG daagt je uit om jezelf niet alleen als ingenieur te ontwikkelen, maar ook als individu!
Bezoek onze lezingen, workshops, debatten, films en documentaires over de meest uiteenlopende onderwerpen met bekende en onbekende schrijvers, wetenschappers, journalisten of politici, vaak op de scheidslijn van techniek en maatschappij; soms controversieel maar altijd kritisch. Ook over jouw rol als ingenieur in de wereld. Onze activiteiten zijn vrij toegankelijk en (bijna) altijd gratis. Blijf op de hoogte van onze activiteiten, bekijk onze online lezingen en schrijf je in voor onze wekelijkse nieuwsbrief.
Recording: Joris Luyendijk: Dit Kan Niet Waar Zijn
Onder de titel ‘dit kan niet waar zijn’ sprak Joris Luyendijk op woensdag 25 maart jl. in de Aula van de TU Delft tegenover 1800 (!!) zeer uitgelaten mensen, over het bancaire systeem van deze wereld. De grote zaal van 1000 man zat afgeladen vol en alle extra toeschouwers moesten naar de tegenoverliggende collegezalen, uitgerust met een videoverbinding met de grote zaal, waar zij bijna twee uur lang Joris verhaal over de bancaire wereld konden horen. Het werd steeds warmer.
Met de nodig humor, en na vier jaar UK ook met het zo typische gevoel voor Engels ‘understatement’ kwam er een snoeihard, duidelijk en zeer begrijpelijk verhaal over hoe onze wereld zich van de ene naar de andere crisis sleept. Het meest verrassende, en ook de reden voor de titel van zijn boek, is dat het iedere dag opnieuw kan gebeuren. Want hoewel het gaat over mondiale systemen, die systemen worden door mensen gevuld. En het hele pallet aan mensen in diverse monetaire, bancaire en andere aires kwam voorbij – anoniem, want bang voor op staande voet ontslag vanwege het spreken over het systeem waar zij inzitten met derden – en het werd er maar niet beter van.
De grote toestroom, ook van jongeren, laat zien dat mensen genoeg hebben van weer een volgend bericht over het verhogen van de salarissen en bonussen van topbankiers en politici die er bij staan en er naar kijken. In het licht van verhoogde collegegelden, studentenleningen, belastingen, opcenten, WOzetten, verhoging van de AOW en pensioenleeftijden en alles waarmee jong en oud iedere dag mee geknipt en geschoren wordt, wordt het kennelijk tijd voor een drastische systeemherziening. Hoe die er uitziet vertelt Luyendijk niet, en eerlijk is eerlijk, dat is zijn taak ook niet. De eerste stap is bewustwording en de tweede is …… ja wat eigenijk?
Wie moet waar iets aan doen? Komen de verandering van onze politici? Dat lijkt er niet op. Inmiddels 7 jaar verder in de crisis en diverse kabinetten verder kunnen we alleen maar concluderen dat het aantal opstappende corrupte bestuurders is toegenomen. Voor de rest is het business as usual. Komt de verandering vanuit het zelfreinigend vermogen van de sector zelf? Keep joking. Een van de steekwonden van de avond was ‘perverse prikkel’. Moet er dan eerst een mega crisis ontstaan?
Luyendijk kreeg te horen dat toen Lehman Brothers viel in 2008, de insiders – bankiers – hun moeders en vrouwen belden met de mededeling dat er meteen gehamsterd moest worden, de auto moest worden afgetankt, het geld van de rekening gehaald, goud uit de kluis, de koffers klaargezet…. Een mondiale financiële meltdown – bijvoorbeeld als de vele triljarden in derivaten niets meer waard zouden blijken te zijn, immers digitaal geld is vooral ‘vertrouwen’ – leidt tot het op slag stilvallen van computers, handel, pinautomaten, cashmachines etc. etc. Dit kon goed worden gezien in IJsland – een land vergelijkbaar met een middelgrote stad in Nederland – waar in een paar uur de schappen van de supermarkten leeg waren en niet meer werden gevuld. IJsland is trouwens het enige land in de wereld dat wel zijn bankiers in de gevangenis heeft gestopt en waar de problemen fundamenteel zijn aangepakt en opgelost….
Voorlopig blijft het nog even de kat uit de boom kijken. Experts zijn ijselijk wantrouwig en zien inderdaad maar een uitweg. Een nieuwe, definitieve crisis. Maarja wat dat zal brengen… ?
Intussen wil (en kan) de politiek geen verandering realiseren en beginnen de burgers dan maar zelf initiatieven: Onsgeld: http://onsgeld.nu met de Verleiders die volle zalen trekken en bijvoorbeeld de Peuro https://www.peuro.nl. Nog steeds een groeiend aantal burgers ondertekent deze initiatieven en er zullen er ongetwijfeld meer volgen als weer de volgende staatsbank zijn topmensen nog rianter beloont en voor de baliemedewerkers een volgende ontslagronde aankondigt.
Misschien wordt het tijd voor een paar simpele oplossingen: Basisinkomen? Of misschien wel helemaal van het geld af? De toekomst zal het leren. Belangrijk voor nu is stil te staan bij de vele signalen die klinken zoals die van Joris Luyendijk. Een fijn boek om te lezen. Misschien wel omdat we er zelf middenin zitten…
VOX is looking for new board members for the academic year of 2015-2016. And since I advise the board, that means I’m looking too.
SG wants to further the amazing ability of VOX Delft to call together socially-minded thinkers. They are always open to new ideas and freely experiment with the challenge of bringing diverse people in Delft together. All nationalities, all kinds of cultural backgrounds, students of all ages coming together to discuss ideas, events, technology, and ideology, no matter how far out. VOX is unique in Delft, and it’s hard to put into words. We had some video shot earlier this year, without audio, to give an idea of what VOX discussions look like at least. I challenge you to sit through it all and wonder what these people were talking about 😛
Who is it for?
Any student can apply, Dutch or international, bachelor or master, engineer or Industrial Designer (bad joke). Do you spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about the world? Are you creative, critical, cynical, or devoted to exploring truth and reality? Maybe a little stubborn but also open to hearing other people’s craziest ideas? Definitely give the VOX board a heads up if you’re interested.
The board meets at least once a week to set up, prepare and evaluate the goings on of their weekly activities.
This includes playing with the established formats and inventing new ones,
spreading the word that VOX and its events exist, both physically and digitally,
seeking out expert voices and source material to anchor a discussion. The board is assisted by Studium Generale and usually meets in my office in the Library.
What does the board do?
Board duties include moderating a discussion when necessary, to ensure an open and creative talk.
Towing the line between expressive freedom, hierarchy, and structure.
Defining the vision and plan for VOX for the coming year.
Managing finances, keeping a schedule for the year and booking locations.
Buying food and drinks for the discussions.
Working with an international (and local) team, bridging cultures and concepts.
Collaborating with other associations.
Writing or blogging about interesting topics and conversations.
And generally spreading the word about VOX, so that we can “find the others” in Delft.
Expect to be involved anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a week, including the weekly events.
What do you get out of it?
The VOX board is the most laid back and dynamic board I know, and I’ve seen quite a few boards and associations over the past few years in Delft. This is an opportunity to learn leadership and organization skills, and what it takes to make sure that none of your fellow thinkers have to do their thinking alone. You get to create and manage a home for all the great minds on campus that aren’t fully satisfied with the college experience of beer, money trouble, and exams. That’s pretty special.
Finally, through SG, you can get financially reimbursed in the form of RAS-months. $$
Delft has a small but dedicated group of students who are taking matters into their own hands to save the environment. The Sustainability Community is creating a network and spreading information and awareness on sustainability, ecology, and green initiatives on campus, in Delft, and around the globe.
During the International Festival of Technology they launched the Green Guide Delft, available here in PDF form, which gives an overview of all the initiatives, organizations, shops, and some practical tips to live as green as possible in Delft.
cynical. This must be a joke, I thought: in order to improve the quality of life on campus, a team of grown up people spent a good deal of time (and $$) working out a plan where a patch of land is emblazoned with a large red FREE ZONE text and outfitted with wifi, water, and electricity, so that students can do fun stuff outside. Sounds great in theory, but in practice these patches of land come with all sorts of regulations. And bureaucratic procedures. So they’re not exactly free. And they’re hardly being used at all, at all. And of course it’s too cold and wet most of the year to use them anyway, and so on and so forth.
