Post by Laurens Hebly

The UCU Alumni Magazine Formerly Known As Quaquaversal

the semi-automatic soda pop innovation edition

photo / Peter Clausman â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;01

While designing the cover for this magazine we had the discussion whether it was in the interest of the UCU community to use the image of an alumnus holding a semiautomatic weapon. There are many ways to censor images and text and it is interesting how the message changes by,

for example, changing a gun into a musical instrument. Throughout the magazine you will find all kinds of curious censorships. Do you think we went too far in censoring the image on the cover? You can react to this question on our new blog: www.TalkingPost.org

Post the alumni magazine of University College Utrecht

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Brand spanking new Arise ye Idealists! Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the big idea?! A champagne lifestyle Editing De Stijl On-campus action From hospital to theater Development work 2.0 A language here, a language there Wild adventures in America Word - from the Dean Refusing to lock horns with the fierce mountain goat that is life Graduates 2010 1/2 & 2011 Who, what, where?

brand spanking W

elcome to this brand new Quaquaversal (or as those in the know like to say to bamboozle others: the QQV), the annual magazine of the UCAA. We would like to extend an especially warm welcome to the newly hatched alumni of the classes of 20101/2 and 2011! So this year we’re doing things differently, or at least that’s the idea. Some of you may already have noticed the smaller format and matte paper (hooray for the environment!), others may have noticed the change of title, from ‘QQV’ to ‘Post’. As this year’s goal is innovation, we hope to be a little more radical and path-breaking than even that. The editorial board is full of new faces: Iris Otto (’09), Kiran Coleman (’05) and Sarah Carmichael (’06) (respectively Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of the UCAA Board) have joined forces with Thijs van Himbergen (’03) and Laurens Hebly (‘01) to bring you an edition that we hope has achieved our ambition of “aiming for awesomeness”. This, if all goes to plan, is the start of a new QQV era, a postQQV era, as the title implies. We’re saying goodbye to the old and trusted format of the past ten years and bringing in something new. We want to build on the basis built through many years of hard work by previous QQV editorial boards, and take the QQV to a new level now that the alumni base is more mature, make it a calling card for UCU alumni and use it to promote UCU and its alumni community.

Post '11 | UCAA

So what is going to change? We hope to move to publishing twice a year and attracting content of a more varied nature. We also want to establish an interactive blog where all forms of content can be shared: photos, designs, music, films, musings on a pet-topic, stories, columns, essays, you name it; we want it on the blog (within reason). We have started the ball rolling on this by establishing a UCAA blog (please visit www.ucaa.nl to find the link through to the blog where photo and video content from various recent events can be found) but there is a long way still to go. The Post blog is called ‘Talking Post’ and can be found at: www.TalkingPost.org But we need your help. In addition to the more traditional pieces you’re used to reading, about alumni and their lives (which do make for a good read and are always much appreciated), we’d also like to see more opinion-based pieces on topics that affect our alumni in their work; from the doctor who wants to write a commentary on Dutch medical practices to the artist who wants to tell us something about the modern day art world; from the historian who would like to write a piece on the history of Utrecht to the physicist who feels a pressing need to share with us their love for waves. We would also like to incorporate a lot more visual content into the layout and for this we know that there are many budding photographers and artists amongst our alumni and would love to see you all wanting to contribute something to post.

So this, dear alumni, is a call to arms! Help us make your alumni magazine even more engaging, more exciting, more creative and even more innovative in the years to come. We know all you creative, thoughtful, and otherwise enterprising souls are out there, so get in touch! Affectionately (and enthusiastically) yours, Your UCAA Board

The UCAA Board consists of: Chair / Noortje van ‘t Klooster ‘09 Vice-Chair / Iris Otto ‘09 Secretary / Kiran Coleman ‘05 Treasurer / Sarah Carmichael ‘06 PR/External / Somaye Dehban ‘07

photos / InHere, Aafke Schaapherder ‘05 - www.aafkeschaapherder.com

We would like to take this opportunity to bid a fond farewell to two departing members of our team; Noortje van’t Klooster (‘09), who has served as our Chair for the past year, is leaving to do research in foreign lands, and Somaye Dehban (‘07), leaving us for commune living in France, who has been with us for longer than any of us can remember and whose valuable contributions, insights, and organisational memory will be sorely missed. A big thank you to both of them on behalf of the rest of the board! The UCAA is involved in the following: maintaining the alumni database through UCUniverse1, publishing Post, the organization and support of regional drinks in New York, London, Brussels, Oxford, Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and occasionally Paris, the representation of alumni affairs to College Hall, co-organizing Career Day, organizing scholarship fundraising events, making sure an annual alumni pub quiz takes place and last but not least organizing an annual alumni reunion (THIS YEAR THE ALUMNI REUNION WILL BE ON THE 30TH OF SEPTEMBER). Anyone who www.ucuniverse.com If you haven’t signed up yet, please do! For those of you who are signed up please update your contact details so as to be able to receive Post and any other goodies we might feel inclined to send you.

would like to get involved with alumni activities or would like more information on alumni in general please e-mail us at info@ucaa.nl.

UCAA | Post ’11

::: Babak Mohammadzadeh

t is perhaps too soon to critically reflect on the Jasmine tide in the Middle East, but it sure proves to be one of those memorable and defining moments in our lives. After decades in the nepotist abyss, the authoritarian fundaments of the Arab world are crumbling beneath the feet of a new generation of freedom-seeking youngsters. The events in the past few weeks have meant far more than just a political awakening of the region. They also denote the increasing headway of a confident civil society in these previously closed authoritarian systems. We must remember those who have given their lives to realize their dreams and ideals, and those who are suffering, as we speak, under the boots of the trembling despots. In the end, the path to freedom is paved with much sacrifice, but human action necessarily entails optimism and hope for the future. I have often wondered whether there is some sort of generality involved in the human motivations that we all share. Isn’t it the case that the quest for per-

Post '11 | UCAA

sonal development is truly universal, regardless of where we reside on this planet? Isn’t it the case that all people require some higher form of abstraction, some ideal if you will, to pursue their dreams and ambitions? Without sounding too melodramatic, isn’t this exactly what we experienced at UC? After having been a graduate for a year now, I can only answer in the affirmative. Personal development, or to stay in familiar terminology, the quest for “excellence”, is the one thing that cultural relativists cannot relativize. We just need the social and intellectual opportunities available to us to fundamentally enhance the quality of our own lives and the quality of lives of others in our environment. I believe that such has also been the workings of our own UC campus. The UC bubble, so ridiculed by fellow University Colleges in Amsterdam and Middelburg, has not just served as a closed circuit; it has enabled us to think small prior to thinking big. UC Utrecht’s social coherence is absolutely unparalleled and its op-

...throw off the shackles of the cynics and fight for your ambitions! portunities for intellectual enrichment arguably one of the better in Europe. Those moments in Dining Hall, in the beloved Bar, on the Quad, in Voltaire, and even in College Hall have truly been amazing. It is because of this that I look back at my years in Utrecht, not with regret or sadness, but with tremendous satisfaction. Every year will bring us around 250 or so new idealists, groomed in the UC spirit. With every cycle of new graduates, this world is further enriched. So I say this to my fellow idealists, throw off the shackles of the cynics and fight for your ambitions! Babak Mohammadzadeh (’10) won UCAA’s Alumni Award in 2010 and is currently finishing his master’s degree in International Relations of the Middle East at the London School of Economics.

The Quaquaversal (QQV) needed to be rethunk. After 10 good years, the post-UCU magazine was ready for a post-QQV identity, and so there it was: post. post will be a magazine of thoughts, observations, analyses, reviews and (polite) rants. But also of photography, music, illustrations and other artwork. Where the QQV was a magazine by, for and about UCU alumni, post is still produced by alumni, but for a larger audience. We hope to broaden the appeal by covering a larger variety of topics, and become an interesting read for UCU students, alumni, their friends, family, colleagues and in-laws alike. But also, and perhaps especially, post is a magazine that wants to engage in a dialogue. Talk to its readers. That’s why we started a blog: Talking Post. Here, you can react to the articles and the art, or take part in an existing conversation. Visit: www.TalkingPost.org and see for yourself! Do you want to write, illustrate or take photo’s for Post? Send an e-mail to info@ucaa.nl

What’s the big idea?! UCAA | Post ’11

A lifestyle...

‘It’s one thing to fulfill the dream you’ve always had, but it’s another to fulfill the one you never knew about.’

::: Arjan Ackerman

ne year ago I realized I’d saved enough to travel the

hippies who endlessly spout unsubstantiated conspiracy

world for a year. I thought that over for a moment

theories about ‘The Man’. I considered it a somewhat silly

and three months later I was on my way. Since

pursuit, an evasion of real life. But here I sit in a rickety

then I’ve passed through the USA, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,

Cambodian bus that’s taking me from god-knows-where to

Bolivia, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Thai-

god-knows-where-else and I can tell you that this has been

land, Laos and Cambodia, with Vietnam and India still coming

the best year of my life.

up. And of course I’ve run into UCU people everywhere, both by plan and by chance.

I could come up with a long list of the amazing things I’ve seen, people I’ve met, experiences I’ve had, but you can find all

I’d never dreamed of doing a big trip, going backpacking,

that on my blog (www.theotherflyingdutchman.com). Now that

or - shudder - staying in a dirty hostel with cold showers and

we’ve moved beyond that cheap plug, the more pertinent ques-

paper walls, spending my days surrounded by dreadlocked

tion about this trip is Why?

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right / various modes of transportation used during world travel (dolphin added for idyllic effect)

From a rational perspective, all the pieces fit. I had recently considered changing jobs to pursue new challenges. I wasn’t tied down to anyone or anything. I’d bought an apartment but the full mortgage wouldn’t kick in until September 2011 allowing me to rent it out for a tidy profit. And when the company I worked for was sold I received an unexpected bonus that pushed it all over the brink. But even if that set of circumstances was pretty unique, the main reason for going was very simple: because I could, so I would. It’s the sense of adventure that makes this trip worthwhile, not knowing from day to day where I’ll end up, who I’ll meet, what

‘It’s the sense of adventure that makes this trip worthwhile, not knowing from day to day where I’ll end up, who I’ll meet, what I’ll do.’

...on a budget

I’ll do. And I’ve come to appreciate that the larger the challenge of traveling, the greater the reward. Don’t think about it, just go

It’s one thing to fulfill the dream you’ve always had, but it’s

and do it. Problems only appear big before you set about resolv-

another to fulfill the one you never knew about. I’ve been

ing them. Without knowing it at the time, it’s in that exact same

lucky enough to do this, and it’s a year I will always carry close

spirit that I decided to do this trip in the beginning.

to me. And definitely something to reminisce about over the course of the next cold, wet Dutch winter.

In Peru I saw a slogan on a hostel’s wall that read ‘Backpacking: a champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget’. It’s rung true this entire time. You don’t need a lot of money to travel. You also don’t need a lot of time. And you don’t need to be looking to find yourself, either. The only thing you need is the openness to explore, to accept that there will be setbacks, hairy moments, frustrations, and then to not let those distract you from all the amazing things that are happening around and with you.

Arjan Ackerman (’04) followed his graduation with a MSc in Sociology from the University of Amsterdam. From 2007 until 2010 he worked as a media co-ordinator and then as an internet project manager for Tommy Hilfiger. From July 2010 until May 2011 he was engaged in a round the world trip.

UCAA | Post ’11

Editing De

Stijl

::: Lieke Wijnia

t is not the UCU campus which is the most remarkable feature of the Prins Hendriklaan, but the neighbour across the street: the Rietveld-Schröder house. Square shaped, covered in primary coloured details and a flat roof with a lookout: this house was a triumph of modernism when it was built in 1924 and it still is. A visit to the house is to enter the mind of the Utrecht architect Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964). You wander through rooms in which every aspect is thought through and in which every detail has its own function. This house is an exponent of one of the Netherlands’ best-known art movements: De Stijl. When thinking of De Stijl you indeed quickly think of Rietveld’s red-yellowblue chair and Piet Mondriaan’s famous

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line paintings. However, in addition to these monumental works, De Stijl consisted of many more features. The movement had a significant influence on contemporaries. It was about creating an entirely new style of art, which could be applied to every aspect of daily life. To reach this new modernism, debates and conferences were held, often ending up in fierce disagreements. One of the most famous debates was between Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondriaan about the use of diagonals. Mondriaan favoured a ban, while Van Doesburg thought them valuable in the new art. I got to the bottom of these tumultuous developments, through a freelance job as photo editor for a new book called The Story of De Stijl. The authors of the book are curator Hans Janssen of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague and

Dr. Michael White of York University. The chapters of this book each reflect on a dispute in the development of De Stijl movement. It shows how art movements do not just suddenly arise, or are logical developments from one movement to the next. Instead, art is man made and does not represent a uniform set of rules but is subject to constant discussion. This might sound logical, but is often forgotten when art history is written. Working in the beautiful Berlage building of the Gemeentemuseum, I researched and collected the images, which will be printed in the book. In total this consisted of about 350 photos, located in archives all around the world. In addition to the text, photographs play an important role in art history books and heighten the joy of

below / exterior, interior Rietveld-Schröder House, Utrecht, 1924 - Centraal museum right / first edition of the Rietveld Chair, ca.1918 - RKD

reading these, as the Facebook group Art History Kids still get to read Books with Pictures testifies. I got to do archival research in such archives as the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History), KB (Royal Library) and the NAi (Dutch Architecture Institute). The golden rules in photo research: coloured photos always beat black and white, the lesser an image is previously published the better, and photographs need to have an unexpected feature to make a valuable contribution to the text. You’ll discover there are a lot of seemingly interesting, but meaningless photographs. And also in photo research, Murphy’s Law applies. When searching for a specific photograph, you’ll always find something you were not looking for but that is very useful in another chapter. As curator in the Gemeentemuseum, Hans Janssen does not only do research and work on new exhibitions, but is also project manager. Which means that he, along with the other curators, manages the exhibitions from start to finish, including arranging practical matters like transport, loans and designing the exhibition layout. This job description results in packed working days, which is why he hired me to do the photo research. It took a full six weeks to com-

‘... art is man made and does not represent a uniform set of rules but is subject to constant discussion.’

plete it. The book The Story of De Stijl will accompany the opening of a semi-permanent display in the Gemeentemuseum, this coming September. As the museum owns the largest collection of Mondriaan paintings, it is the perfect departure point to create an exhibition on De Stijl. Important characters you will get to know in the display and the book are amongst others Theo van Doesburg (architect, painter, designer), Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud (architect), Cornelis van Eesteren (architect, urban planner) and Vilmos Huszar (painter, designer). They will completely change your view of De Stijl.

UCAA | Post ’11

And what impeccable timing: Mondriaan and De Stijl seem to be everywhere. For instance, Dutch production company EMS Films co-produced a documentary on Mondriaan’s studio in Paris. It beautifully visualizes how Mondriaan’s studio reflects his thoughts on art. The opening scene depicts the coloured fields on the walls, in front of which Mondriaan places a red box and moves it around. It reflects his working and thinking process and how he literally lived in his art. As in the RietveldSchröder house, to walk through this studio is to walk through the artist’s mind. The film will be aired on Dutch television in September. The rebuilt studio is also on display in the Mondriaan House in Amersfoort, the house in which Piet Mondriaan was born. In a curious twist, the man who plays Mondriaan in the documentary’s re-enactments, Bob Kaufmann, is associated with the Mondriaan House and was responsible for the reconstruction of the atelier. He is also one of the country’s Mondriaan experts. In addition to this domestic surge of interest in the movement, a very successful De Stijl exhibition is on display in the Centre Pompidou in Paris and another one will open in the Lenbachhaus in Munich this spring. It shows how De Stijl is slowly but finally conquering other European countries. I once had to explain to a French Erasmus student that Van Gogh really was not a French artist. Remarkably, this confusion never existed around Mondriaan, even though he created his most monumental works in France too. When he went to Paris, he decided to erase an A in his last name and from then on signed his paintings with “Piet Mondrian”. He did this because it sounded better in an international context, but also because this way the letters make the sentence “I paint modern.” And Mondriaan certainly did. Despite the many disagreements, he and the other De Stijl artists worked entirely different from their more classical contemporaries. Maybe that is why Mondriaan’s art is still so attractive these days. But this does not mean his contemporaries should be ignored. That is exactly what the Gemeentemuseum exhibition and the book The Story of De Stijl aim to accomplish, to show all the artists of the movement in their full glory. And I am happy to have had a part in this. Lieke Wijnia (’06) continued her studies in Utrecht, London and Amsterdam, doing a combination of Cultural Heritage, Art History and Journalism. She has worked for a number of museums and art-related institutions and most recently she has been working as a freelance editor, writer and image researcher, having set up her own company http://prenezlaparole.wordpress.com

Post '11 | UCAA

‘I once had to explain to a French Erasmus student that Van Gogh really was not a French artist.’

The Gemeentemuseum exhibition opens on the 17th of September 2011 in The Hague. The Mondriaan documentary will be shown on Dutch TV on the 20th of September, Avro (NED 1). For more information and links go to: www.ucaa.nl

below / Studio Mondriaan, Paris, photo by Paul Delbo, 1926 - RKD (flowers added for colourfulness)

::: Omri Preiss

or all of you who have graduated, be it years ago or only just, here’s a quick news report from campus, to keep you up to date with UC affairs, from a UCSA Board perspective. This year has been as eventful as any: parties in the bar are still going on (Tuesdays and Thursdays in case you were wondering), committee activities have been abundant, with various new additions to the fold, and some exciting new events and projects are going on. In general, our Board has tried to pursue two objectives simultaneously: firstly, to make the UCSA as inclusive as possible by stimulating arts and cultural events, extra-curricular intellectual pursuit, and generally trying to make people feel at home on campus. Secondly, we have worked behind the scenes to formalize much of the admin-

istrational functions of the UCSA: clear financial overview, archiving, coherent guidelines and other tedious indulgences, so that future generations of boards and committees will be able to distinguish between their behinds and their elbows, and have some experience

been transformed from a light science oriented magazine into a full blown academic publication, and has been a big hit. It will merge with Eidos this year. Inter-UC activities (there are now 5 University Colleges in the Netherlands) have really developed this year,

carried through. Also, we have a reformation of our relationship with ASIC at hand, or Student Revolution as they like to call it.

with regular meetings, an agreed forum (the aptly named University Colleges Student Representation in the Netherlands – UCSRN) and many ambitious joint projects. On top of that we have kept last year’s fresh traditions of Unity Week and the Golden Keys. All that is just a flash of all the work that all the committees and teams have put in this year: there is too much to mention here.

Here’s a quick taste of some of the committees: we have had the Environmental Working Group and the Community Service Committee reform and join the UCSA – both have been very active, especially with a string of environmentally themed movie showings and lectures. UCTV, expanding on from last year has produced some very entertaining material that all of you can see online, and FilmCo has finally had their premier, with a new Art House branch (CinemaCo) showing movies every Saturday. HumCo has had one of their most successful years on record in terms of fundraising, while TribalCo and MusicCo, both traditionally notoriously hippy-ish have actually been very organized with lots of events on the calendar. SuperStickySurfaces has been going strong, with a twist of black humor and sharp political satire of both on-campus and off-campus affairs, while productions of Macbeth, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Arsenic and Old Lace have blown the socks off of UC audiences in the fall. We have also had several large inter-committee events, such as a large Winter Wonderland Christmas event, a popular CultureCo Food Trippin’ expo and two lively Committee Trails, which replaced the old Introweek Committee Markets. Also, the magazine Scope has

By the time you read this we will have had the History and Heritage Festival in April, which you hopefully attended, and, if not, heard good things about, as well as an Inter-UC Championship and a Politics and Language Conference. No doubt this Spring semester will have been intense but hopefully a lot of fun for all those graduating, and hopefully all of you graduated people will have had a chance to take a peek and stay in touch with the bubble. All in all, what we wanted is to make whatever it is that is possible in the minds of UC students materialize into actuality; to facilitate our members pursuing their interests (be it artistic, social, or intellectual), give them a good time, and most of all, make campus feel like home. Hopefully when all of you come back to visit, it will indeed feel like a return home. Bon voyage. Omri Preiss (’12) is the departing Chair of the 2010-2011 UCSA Board.

UCAA | Post ’11

From hospital... ::: Interview by Dora Tordjman

arilien Mogendorff (class of 2001) started at University College Utrecht in 1998 with the idea of becoming a doctor. She never made it to the hospital but thanks to UC she will be graduating from the theater school of Maastricht with the play Salome by Oscar Wilde. What did you study at UC? I started as a pre-med. However, I discovered that my ambitions were much more geared towards Social Sciences and theater than medicine, so after the first year I switched to Social Sciences with a minor in Drama.

What are you doing at the moment? I am working as a project manager for exhibitions at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. I am also doing a parttime training program for directing and teaching at the Toneelacademie in Maastricht. I am currently working on my final directing piece called Salome by Oscar Wilde. Why did you choose ‘Salome’ as your final project? I really wanted to work with text instead of improvisation. Up until now I have mainly worked on plays that started from improvisations or other sources of inspiration. For this project I wanted to start from text, because of my interest in texts and also to challenge myself and broaden my directing skills. In addition, I am very intrigued by the story of Salome and find the piece fascinating. It’s such a rich text from the end of the 19th century and I want to see how I can put it on stage as a contemporary piece.

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Can you tell me more about your background? When I entered UC I thought I wanted to be a doctor but knew deep in my heart that I wanted to do something with theater. The interesting thing is that during my interview with the dean at the time [Hans] Adriaansens, he said “the moment you start talking about theater there is a light in your eyes” and went on to say “I will let you into this school, but you have to promise me that you will listen to your passion for theater and be open to that road. You can try pre-med, that is fine, but I want you to listen to your heart and do theater as well.” I took his advice! What did you do? I really thought that pursuing a career as a doctor would be a great idea and I would do theater on the side. But during my first semester as a pre-med I realized I didn’t get all that excited about it and got anxious about the idea of becoming a doctor. Besides that, I figured I would probably be too emotionally involved with everything. The turning point for me really was the exchange I did with the University of Santa Cruz in my 5th semester at UC, where I took some challenging advanced acting courses. At that point I decided I wanted to explore theater further. In 1998 you started UC with the idea you would become a doctor, what were your plans by 2001 when you graduated? I decided to combine Social Sciences and theater and did a Masters degree in Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. After my Masters I was at a point where

I was on the verge of deciding to go for a PhD, but I first wanted to go back to my passion for theater and decided to travel to the United States for a while. I lived in San Francisco and in Philadelphia for one and a half years, while mainly acting and teaching theater to children. In that period I realized how much I loved the theater as a whole and decided I really wanted to be a part of the creative process, not only as an actor, but also as a director and teacher.

Is there something you would like to say to UCU alumni? I think everybody should come to my shows! Actually I also think it would be interesting to make an alumni piece. That would be interesting to do at an alumni event or something. But what I also want to say is that I am very curious what became of everybody. What I truly strongly believe in is, if people haven’t done it yet, that they should follow their biggest passion and go for that.

Is there anything you’ve learned at UC that you have been able to use as a theater director? It is sort of a mindset that you take with you. The Shakespeare projects I participated in at UC were very intense; I learned a lot of acting skills there and learned how to work with text. But what I’ve really learned from UC is working with a group of people and good analytical text skills.

Do you feel that at UC creativity was stimulated? Yes certainly, absolutely!

Now 3 years later, you are nearly graduating from the theater school of Maastricht. What are your goals for the future? Continue my career in theater! What I want is a combination of things: directing pieces with theater groups, I want to create pieces with my own theater company, in which I also act myself, and I want to teach part time. I strongly believe that in theater it is all about connection, both artistically and socially. I think I am quite idealistic also and would love to, for example, make shows with people from different backgrounds with no experience. Inspire people through the art of theater!

Do you know if this is still the case? No, I do not know. I would be quite interested in knowing. But you know what I would really like is to become a drama teacher at UC at some point or do some projects with the students. I always thought that the students were very enthusiastic and inspiring and most of them are very special people who want to make something special of their lives. So you are applying? Am I applying for a job? Yes of course, drop my name!

Dora Tordjman (’01) completed a master’s in European Studies at the University of Amsterdam and has subsequently worked as a recruitment consultant and office manager.

‘People should follow their biggest passion and go for that.’

UCAA | Post ’11

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photo / Peter Clausman (‘01) “For me, photography is a way to study life. It is about focus, attention, being in touch, not taking things for granted, letting things blossom, celebrating life, create new approaches and opening up views. It is a way to express myself and to experiment in a way I cannot at my daytime job at Rabobank. Having a career means that my livelihood doesn’t depend on photography, so I can do with it what I want. You could argue not to explain or give information about a photograph and to let it “speak for itself.” I think accompanying text can help to make a photo look better, but it can also prevent an open look. The photograph in the table of contents is a jazzy rendering of a (car) trip at sundown. The rhythm of the lighting gives the whole a structure. It prevents complete incoherence. The colored parts complete the composition and stand out energetically on the lazy background of the dark earth that flows into the lightened horizon and the deepening night sky. I just love the small (‘happy little’ - remember Bob Ross?) lines of light on both sides. The photograph on these pages was taken during some urban exploring in Bangkok; a pickup truck buried underneath a collection of rusty wheel axles. It invites the viewer to wander from the known road and explore. The contradiction is the rough rusty subject strongly contrasted against the soft pastel colors.” www.clausman.eu

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a small selection of journal illustrations from Anna Denise’s ‘Moleskine’ project | www.annadenise.nl

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“Since 2007, I have kept an illustrated journal. Every day I draw and write about what I did or thought about that day. It started as an attempt to get back in touch with my creative side and has turned into a daily, almost meditative, activity to chronicle my life.” Anna Denise van der Reijden (’05)

UCAA | Post ’11

Development work 2.0 ::: Naomi Becht

‘Unfortunately, money does not grow from trees indeed.’

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fter completing his Bachelor’s degree at University College Utrecht and doing a Master of European Studies at Cambridge University, Wouter Durville (‘01) worked as a manager at Heineken and Bain & Company. But he wanted more. And he wanted it better. “I wanted to do something I could be proud of. Just earning lots of money did not give me that feeling,” Durville says. In November 2010, he launched ONEforONE (www.oneforone.nl), an organisation that uses the buy-one-giveone principle. The colourful shoe brand TOMS, for example, gives a pair of shoes to a child in a developing country whenever a more affluent customer buys a pair of shoes. ONEforONE uses the same concept on a different level, applying it to energy and water. To provide people in developing countries with energy, ONEforONE teams up with Greenchoice, a Dutch energy company supplying electricity purely generated from renewable sources. Every new customer that signs up for Greenchoice via ONEforONE automatically supplies a solar panel, lamp or charger to someone in Kenya. But how can we provide another person with such things without paying more ourselves? As far as I’m concerned, money does not grow from trees. Unfortunately, money does not grow from trees indeed. But there is a way to play around with supply and demand, and Durville did it. When he approached Greenchoice with a mass of potential customers, Greenchoice was able to offer him a substantial discount. Part of that discount benefits the ONEforONE consumers themselves, while the other portion of the savings is funneled to ONE-

forONE’s partner organisation ToughStuff for the development of solar energy in Africa. Durville remarks, “We wanted to do what we’re good at, which is Dutch marketing, and let others do what they’re good at”. As such, ONEforONE is not just another NGO, but a buying association that efficiently links supply and demand and channels its profits to those who are in need of things we have come to take for granted. Call it Development Work 2.0. In the same way, ONEforONE partners with Pump Aid, an organisation that establishes sustainable supplies of clean water and safer sanitation provisions in southern and eastern Africa. This time, however, ONEforONE has designed its own product: a water bottle made of stainless steel,

‘... with each bottle sold a lifelong of clean drinking water is sponsored for someone in Africa.’ recyclable, light but strong, and available in different sizes and colours. And most importantly, with each bottle sold a lifelong of clean drinking water is sponsored for someone in Africa. From the revenue made by the sale of the bottles, a minimum of €2,50 per bottle is transferred to Pump Aid who builds water pumps that can be maintained by poor rural communities without any assistance.

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All of this fits well into ONEforONE’s two main goals, namely to fight poverty and stimulate social entrepreneurship. From the very start, Durville was concerned that his aid would not disrupt local markets. As everyone who read Jeffrey Sachs’ The End of Poverty or any other book on development aid already knows, giving out products for free is often detrimental to the local economy of developing countries. But in ONEforONE’s energy and water projects, local entrepreneurship and independence is fostered instead. The money raised with Greenchoice is particularly directed towards Tough Stuff’s Solar Village Entrepreneur (SVE) programme which provides micro loans and training to people who want to establish small, profitable solar businesses in Africa. It seems ONEforONE is faring well. Although the Dutch government wants to cut down on development aid by 900 million euro’s, the interest of the Dutch population in helping other people nonetheless continues to be there. With already more than 4,000 Facebook fans (www.facebook.com/ oneforonenl) and hundreds of followers on Twitter, ONEforONE’s popularity is growing strong.

Naomi Becht (’10) is now studying Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford.

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So what’s next? “We are currently working on ONEforONE Insurances. Like energy, insurances are ongoing and can create a steady stream of funding for our development projects,” Durville notes, “but for now, it would be really great if our UCU alumni also switch to ONEforONE Energy, drink tap water from our bottles and help to spread the word.”

A language here, a language there How to learn the local língua

::: Mascha Alexandrova

s the world is getting smaller, the demand for people with knowledge of multiple languages is growing exponentially. Consequently, learning a language can take a variety of forms these days, including some of the most technically innovative methods which allow you to catch up on your language of choice through your iPod. While taking a language course is probably still one of the most effective ways, it’s important to continuously stay in touch with the language you are learning. Look at the Dutch – they learn much of their English through the media and American movies. God bless the subtitles. Meanwhile, some expatriates who come to live in Holland for a year or two just can’t get the hang of Dutch properly, because everyone keeps speaking English to them. Fortunately, this is not the case everywhere, as there is nothing like learning a language among the locals in its native environment. When I applied to be a trainee with the student organization AIESEC last year, I kept my fingers crossed I would get through the selection interview. But I also had a back-up plan: to learn Spanish in Latin America for a month or two. Luckily, I was accepted and could choose my traineeship abroad. Though I never expected it before, the opportunity to go to Brazil (and learn Portuguese!) then presented itself; still in Latin America after all. When I arrived in Brazil for my traineeship, armed only with some basic knowledge of Spanish and a few Portuguese phrases recently taught to me by a

friend (many of which would be inappropriate to say to a host family), I had to know the language to make my way around for the next five months. Learning English is extremely popular in Brazil nowadays, and some speak it really well, but many others don’t. For instance, my host parents, among many other people I had met, belong to the latter group. It was a little disorienting at first, but finding yourself in a new environment where you don’t understand the language can also be quite exciting if you have the means and motivation to learn it. Not to mention that the ability to communicate with the people in their native language enriches your experience in the country so much. Here are some pointers on how I did it, and perhaps someday they can be of use to you. Find someone to help you. Having a teacher, especially in the beginning of your stay, can be an enormous help. One of the teachers at the school where I worked offered to give me short lessons to help me learn some Portuguese. So of course I took the opportunity – it didn’t matter that she spoke only Portuguese, and my wake-up call was an hour earlier on Monday mornings. Be a nerd. Sticking your nose into a language book can really help you, at least to get some grammar basics. Even if it’s just the Lonely Planet pocket phrase book on Brazilian Portuguese: make sure you acquire something of the sort. Watch and listen. Listen to the language, whether it is spoken by your host family, the people at the bar, or

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the actors on Brazilian telenovelas (soap operas) on TV. Even if you don’t understand anything yet; do it anyway, and soon you will. And now practice! Practice makes perfect, so don’t be afraid to show off what you’ve learnt. My grammar was completely askew and my vocabulary limited, but I still tried to speak Portuguese as much as I could. Sometimes I simply had to speak. Like the time I needed to get laundry done and asked the housekeeper (!) of my host family to show me how it gets done at the house. At first, I understood little of what that lovely, slightly intimidating lady told me, but it gets gradually easier every time you try. And it’s a real reward when people actually appreciate your efforts to speak their language, which they whole-heartedly do in Brazil. Spend quality time with the locals. When invited to have lunch or watch a football game at someone’s house, don’t be shy. Even if there won’t be (many) people there who speak English. Good for you. What’s even better – I spent an entire weekend with the members of the local AIESEC committee at a rented sitio, a kind of holiday house. Five weeks into my stay in Brazil, my Portuguese was still limited but steadily progressing. There were times during the weekend when I felt lost and confused, and was the only one who didn’t speak the language properly, but my perseverance paid off. And everyone was really impressed by how fast I was learning, always a bonus. Reciprocate. A friend of mine started up an English school (with a rather innovative teaching method, actually), and I participated in some of his English classes. Meanwhile, he was happy to give me a few Portuguese lessons, also

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using the same method. The locals were excited to meet a new gringa (foreigner) in class and I got a new opportunity to improve my Portuguese. (On some occasions, I actually also spoke with the students in Portuguese. Oops!). So if you can, share your own language skills to help others; it’s likely to be a rewarding experience in any case. Music. Make sure you listen to music in the language you’re learning; it’s said to be one of the best ways to familiarize yourself with the rhythm of the language. Ask your friends to teach you some (popular) music lyrics and sing together, there are no words to explain just how fun it is. Don’t forget to learn the local slang. ‘Nuff said. Help the new ones. A friend of mine from Holland came to visit me after a few months, so I also translated and helped her with the language while she was there. It was great practice. Maintain your social network. Keeping in touch with your new friends through an online network during and after the trip is another effective way of improving your language knowledge. For example, my social networking activities on Facebook these days are partially in Portuguese. And… keep it up! All that effort shouldn’t just go to waste when you return home, should it? So I keep learning: from books, music, movies, and my friends in Brazil. Given how internationally oriented UC students and alumni are, I am sure the language skills among the readers are many and extremely varied. You may have had this experience yourself

before, and would probably have something to add to my list. Alternatively, my little personalized ‘guide’ may help encourage you, should you find yourself in a similar situation one day. This is one of many ways to learn a new language; I’d say, just be ready to find or invent your own as it suits you. In Brazil, people talk a lot, so to keep up with them it was important for me to learn the language. And though practice hasn’t made me perfect yet, I hope one day it will. I think that learning a new language in another country, over a short period of time and without following a full language course is easier if you’re motivated to learn that language. Before my internship in Brazil I took part in a short development project in China, but already knew I wasn’t up for learning how to read and draw all those beautiful Chinese characters. In Brazil, however, I felt up to the challenge of learning the musical sounds of Portuguese, and I actually ended up becoming more attached to the language than I had ever intended. Hopefully, I can still use various means to improve my Portuguese, such as enrolling in a class (perhaps in Brazil itself!) or finding an advanced audio-course for my iPod. But I’m happy that I learned Portuguese in Brazil, from the people around me. Perhaps it’s not the most innovative way, but I dare say it is still the most fulfilling, with a touch of creativity and personality you can add to your learning progress as you go.

Mascha Alexandrova (’08) did a masters in American Studies at the University of Utrecht and currently works as a copywriter/ project assistant at the Communications department of Fairfood International.

Wild adventures in America! ::: Yoav Magid

have now lived in the United States of America for a good year and a half. Still, as I’m writing this, I’m on a bus to Toronto – the driver of which is completely lost, no less – leaving the US during the most American weekend of the year: that of Super Bowl Sunday. Apparently, I’m not that American yet.

made friends, traveled a whole lot, and even learnt a few things along the way. The big difference between this and my original study abroad program (Sydney, 2005), however, is the amount of stuff I have needed to arrange myself, as opposed to the UU’s well-organized exchange programs.

I graduated from UCU in 2006 (which makes me feel quite old), worked in Holland as a debating instructor for a few years, but then felt the urge to go back to school and be intellectually stimulated again. So now I am a Master’s Student in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, specializing in Persuasion and Social Influence. Yes, I am learning how to manipulate people, but I am planning to use it only for good. I also get to teach ‘Critical Thinking and Speaking’ to fifty undergrads per semester, which is not only one of the most fun things I do here, but has also enabled me to get a full tuition remission and stipend for my two years here!

I know I’m not the first UCU graduate to come to the US for graduate school, nor will I be the last. The US is a great place to be, academically as well as socially and adventurously, so for those people who want to join the ranks of UCU-ers who have gone on to The States, let me put a few pieces of advice out there:

Studying in the US has felt like a really fun extended study abroad program so far. I have met lots of new people,

(1) If you are coming here for graduate school, find a good program rather than a good school. For instance, if you are in the field of Communication, the University of Maryland or Michigan State University have much better programs than, say, Harvard or Yale. And even if you are not coming here to work with a specific professor, you should certainly familiarize yourself with the faculty’s work of the places you are applying to!

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(2) Going to school here can be extremely expensive, so you might want to find a program that offers you a teaching or research assistantship and/or a stipend – I was lucky to find one that offers both. Alternatively, you might save money by living with your parents while working full time for the three years prior to coming here – I did that as well. (3) Find a good location! Depending on whether you’re only getting a Master’s degree or you’re also considering a Ph.D., you could be spending 2 – 7 years of your life here! The difference between Dallas, TX, San Francisco, CA and New York, NY is much bigger than, say, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, or even Maastricht. Another part of finding a good location, by the way, is finding the right balance between living close to campus and living in a great neighborhood. I live in College Park, MD (5 minutes from campus), but am still trying to find something in Washington, DC (40 minutes from campus, but totally worth it). (4) Remember that the US is a really big place. Being here sometimes feels like a big extended vacation, because I can easily go to a different part of the country at least once or twice a month. As a matter of fact, I am writing this piece from the $1 bus to Toronto! This is also a good reason to stay in touch with your UCU friends: I’ve stayed with former classmates in Baltimore, Boston, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and more. (5) Make sure to get your paperwork done as early as you possibly can. Your university won’t pay you without a social security number, and you will have to go to court and pay exorbitant fines if you drive on a Dutch license without getting a US license for too long. Yes, I speak from experience. Also, before you even apply, make sure you do your TOEFL / GRE / GMAT / etc. well before time. These things can take ages to process, and a university might not accept you merely based on the absence of your TOEFL score. (6) One last bit of advice from personal experience: make absolutely sure that you have good health coverage! This is not The Netherlands. I was in an accident last year, and if I hadn’t been on the Maryland State employees’ health

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insurance, it could have ended up costing me well over ten thousand dollars. I’ll be graduating in two months (as of the time of this writing), so I need to get back to writing my thesis, but if you have any questions about coming to the US to study, or if you ever need a place in (or close to) Washington, DC, feel free to contact me! God Bless America :)

Yoav Magid (’06) went on to work for the Nederlands Debat Instituut (Dutch Debate Institute). During his time as a debating instructor he worked towards being accepted into an American Grad School Program and in 2009 he started his MA in marketing and persuasion at the University of Maryland. He is now almost finished this program and as his LinkedIn profile states is “a persuasion scholar” currently looking for work in the New York/DC area.

::: Rob van der Vaart, Dean UCU

he concept of a “University College” is rapidly gaining ground in the Dutch higher education landscape. Many of you will remember that the founder of UCU, professor Hans Adriaansens, developed a UCU clone in his city of birth, Middelburg: Roosevelt Academy. ROAC, as it is abbreviated, has an affiliation with Utrecht University. The third college was UCM: University College Maastricht, a University College of good quality that uses the Maastricht educational philosophy of problembased learning. For a while, UCU, ROAC and UCM were the only ‘real’ international, Liberal Arts & Sciences “University Colleges”, although the residential setup is different (UCU the only one with a campus terrain, ROAC with concentrated student housing close to the academic buildings, UCM with students living dispersed in and around Maastricht). Amsterdam University College, a joint initiative of the two Amsterdam universities (UvA and VU), opened its doors in 2009; Leiden University College in The Hague (with a focus on “global challenges”) took off in 2010. We know that more “University Colleges” are being planned: an engineering UC in Eindhoven, an Erasmus University (Rotterdam) UC possibly to be located in the small city of Dordrecht, and a designoriented UC at the University of Twente (Enschede). The diversity of these initiatives makes you wonder what binds all these “University Colleges” together. Will they all offer programs under the label “Liberal Arts and Sciences”? Probably not: the engineering and design colleges will most likely have a curriculum that is not

truly LAS, but rather a broad technical bachelor. Even those that do have the LAS label (Maastricht, ROAC, UCU, AUC, LUC The Hague), have different curricular focus. As you will remember, UCU interprets LAS – curriculum wise – as inherently broadly based in academic disciplines, with students individually finding and following their personal focus and ambition. No two students at UCU have exactly the same course list on their final transcript. AUC has focal areas (‘themes’) from which students have to choose. Leiden also has pre-defined curricular foci (‘global challenges’). Is a University College inherently ‘residential’, thereby facilitating a rich extracurricular life? Not necessarily, as we could already see from the differences between Maastricht, Roosevelt Academy and UCU! And we have real ‘residential’ higher education in the Netherlands, which is not under the flag of university colleges – such as Nijenrode School of Business and Management. Is it the selective (in terms of admissions) or international character then

Prof. Dr. Rob van der Vaart has a doctorate in human geography from the University of Utrecht and has been the dean of UCU since 2008. that makes a program a ‘University College’? No, not really. The Utrecht School of Economics has a very international student body. And medical schools have been selective for decades. Alumni will say: I recognize a real “University College” when I see one. What you will probably have in mind is the combination of all factors mentioned above, in the specific mix of UCU. The proliferation of programs in the Netherlands under the name “University College” (and hesitantly also in other European countries) makes it increasingly urgent to communicate the UCU “College” profile more clearly to prospective students and wider society. Next time, I hope to inform you about progress in this domain. Meanwhile, keep up the good work of making a contribution to our world and enjoy!

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photos / Yoav Magid (‘06) “Besides being one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited, Costa Rica is also one of the smartest. They got rid of their army in 1948, and have been investing the money they’ve saved from that in sustainability and conservation since the ‘70s. They’ve been a leading ecotourism destination ever since, and they make more money off of keeping their land intact than surrounding countries do breaking theirs down. Their “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints” attitude can be seen everywhere. The only time one is allowed to cut down a tree to build a house is when that tree was already going to fall; that tree then has to be replaced with two new ones; and no house is allowed to be taller than the shortest tree in the area. Most of all, though, Costa Rica is one of the most photogenic places ever. If you’ve got a nice camera and a slight sense of adventure, GO!”

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Refusing to lock horns with the fierce mountain goat hummingbird that is life An introspective analysis of my indecision.

::: Thijs van Himbergen

ince I graduated from our collective alma mater in December 2003, it has apparently been my decision to be indecisive about mostly everything. Instead of trying to achieve a goal that’s in my head, I see what gets thrown into my lap and try to make the best of it: ‘not choosing’ became my choice, and all that. It’s not that I’m not eager to excel, I just don’t know how, or in what. Each new edition of the QQV landing on my doormat is therefore a confrontational experience, since it means spending a few hours reading about the achievements of my fellow UCU alumni. In my mind you are all spanning the Himalayas in order to befriend yetis and research their abominable ways, or you are wearing tailored suits and jet packs, flying from helipad to helipad and teaching corporate CEO’s how to ‘CSR it up’ and make a profit while doing so. One of these days, one of you is going to reverse global warming while another unifies the Korea’s using only willpower. Is my mind’s slight exaggeration of the truth a form of jealousy? You bet. I don’t have a jet pack, let alone willpower. Let me give myself a small pat on the back though: I did manage to procure a tailored suit during a stint at a fashion label. It was 2006, and I had just come back from

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another stint teaching English to rambunctious ‘Espanish’ kids in Barcelona, when I was rudely confronted with the reality of my escapism. I had left Holland assured that I would come back having ‘found myself’, in hindsight it is clear I just left for the sake of leaving. “Now what?”, I wondered when I was back in Amsterdam after two years in Iberic limbo. Soon enough, a temp agency answered this question for me in the form of a job driving around a fashion big shot, from one alternate universe to the next. I soon got promoted to ‘divisional assistant’, and learned about his preferred soup temperature, how to fold shirts perfectly, and how designers love to stare at pictures of tigers and waterfalls stuck to mood boards, exclaiming how inspiring nature’s simplicity can be. I gruntingly let it all wash over me for eight months, and finally resigned from the place with a bunch of shirts and the above-mentioned suit, which did only very little to suppress my feeling of profound underachievement. I stayed forcibly optimistic though, telling myself that I could now cross off another item on the list of things I didn’t want to do with my life, as endless as that list might seem. I also told myself that I had learned some stuff. Not the stuff of my own conscious choosing - the stuff of dreams, - but stuff nonetheless.

hotel. (Or, like, whatever.) The point is that I remember the shiver that went down my spine, because ironically, and perhaps typically for a hedonist, I didn’t have the slightest inkling as to the meaning of the word, and it showed. A mocking chuckle rose up from that patio, as I fumbled with words with which to bury my embarrassment. Did even those two big dogs lift their heads to give me a disapproving glance? I looked up ‘hedonism’ when I got back to campus. It was accidental learning, laced with the unease that has proven to be so essential for me: I could’ve encountered the word in a book and looked it up but I probably would’ve forgotten it again. This way, I concluded, I would never forget.

I realize that it embodied my philosophy of low ambition, high enjoyment. You know, hedonism and stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, by the way: I am not out for pity. In fact, I am happy to report that this is actually really working for me. I realize now that this is how I’ve chosen to learn my lessons: passively and often part of a slightly embarrassing story; chapters in the tale of my indecision. From whichever angle I look at it, these are the lessons that stick. On a sunny day in my third year at UCU, five fellow students and I paid a visit to UC Maastricht. UCM was in its early days, even more so than UCU was, and their dean was a large, big-bearded, and good-natured man whose presence gave the place the safe and free feel of a summer camp. As we sat around him on upturned beer crates on the patio of the main building, two beastly dogs at his sandaled feet, we conversed quaquaversally about life and its quaquaversal tendencies. During this exchange the dean asked me if I felt students were becoming increasingly hedonistic. The question came out of nowhere for me, and went hand-in-hand with an expectant silence, patient for my answer, like two ghostly Kubrickian sixyear-old twin sisters in a midnight corridor of an abandoned

These run-ins with my own oblivion and the coincidental learnings derived therefrom have become somewhat of a modus operandi for me now. They are the tattered, curbside furniture with which I fill the living room of my post-UC life, if you will (aware that you probably won’t, and rightfully so). To me, it’s become about embracing the flaws, laughing about them, even loving them. With my great friend, graphic designer, and fellow alumnus Laurens Hebly, I recently founded a t-shirt label: pretty nice shirts. The shirts we make are, as the name suggests, not really nice. In fact, they’re just white shirts with black prints, arduously hand-screened at a small municipally sponsored art studio in Amsterdam. Only much later than the label had been (sort of accidentally) conceived did I realize that it embodied my philosophy of low ambition, high enjoyment. You know, hedonism and stuff. So. Perhaps this is me hoping to hear from more alumni who have also grown comfortable with not aiming too high: it would be soothing to know that you are out there. Get in touch, and maybe we can invent the jet pack together.

Thijs van Himbergen (‘03) lived in Barcelona for a couple of years before settling down in ‘de Baarsjes’, an upcoming neighbourhood in Amsterdam West. Thijs now works as a freelance creator of many things, and loves his cat ‘Baksteen’ to death.

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CongratulationS!

The class of 2011 Clément Adam / Sofiya Afonasina / Rié Alkemade / Gala-Alexa Amagat / Stefano Arts / Lana Askari / Samuel Astell / Jeroen van Baar / Roeland van Beek / Adnan Bekdur / Friede Berendsen / Niko Bergsma / Monique Berlee / Will Bibby / Ornella Bijlmakers / Elisa Bloemberg / Laurens Bogaardt / Jan-Joost van den Bogert / Liesbeth Boom / Pepijn Borgman / Thijs Bosselaar / Anne Braakman / Lotte Brandsma / Nihad Brankovic / Niels Brants / Huub Brouwer / Maik Brouwer / Paula Caamano Sambade / Daniël Camps / Sherman Chavoushi / Alina Cirstescu / Boudewijn Cnossen / Maaike Coenen / Edo Cohen / Iulia Colescu / Boris Cornelissen / Sharon Cornelissen / Sara Coumans / Pritha Dahal / Robin van Dalen / Rani Damsteegt / Dominique Destrée / Steffen Dewina / Thari Diefenbach / Tim van Dijk / Bram Dijkstra / Deniz Dirim / Michael den Drijver / Timon Dubbeling / Edward Dunkley / Alexandra Eberhard / Xander van den Eelaart / Essam El-Magd / Aleksandar Feodorov / Alexander Fernandes / Catalina Fernandez del Castillo Kasten / Matteo Ferrazzi / Mark van de Fliert / Elena Fukatsu / Nijat Garayev / Justine Garrigue / Sarah Gartenmann / Tessa van Gendt / Valerie Gersen / Rebecca Görres / Matt van der Gronde / Rits Guiran / Antoinette Hardijzer / Mandana Harrison / Spencer Heijnen / Janneke van Hemmen / Menno Henselmans / Saskia van Henten / Erwin Hieltjes / Fanny Hoes / Judith ter Horst / Vera Hounjet / Bryan van Hulst / Annekee de Jager / Marc Jansen / Sijia Jiang / Lior Kalder / Sacha Karsenty / Mike Keesman / Florine Keja / Alisa Kholmovskaya / Esther Kieft / Tymon Kiepe / Piotr Kiepuszewski / Elske Koelman / Archana Kok / Diede de Kok / Frank Komrij / Rianne Kouwenaar / Niels Kouwenhoven / Laura Kraak / Marjolein Kramer / Maarten Kruger / Harmke Kruithof / Sinje Kühme / Erin Kuipers / Anne-Sophie Laloux / Hester Lange / Katarzyna Laskawiec / Merel Lefferts / Rutger Legeland / Andres van der Linden / Janna van der Linden / Loes Loning / Matthijs Loop / Natalie Lopez / Kim de Luca / Emilia van Lynden / Saori Machimura / Marjeta Markovic / Timo McGregor / Nouschka van der Meijden / Eugenie van der Meulen / Georgi Milyotev / Hannah Moore / Ardavan Mougouee / Amber van Muijden / Julia Müller / Noémi Nagy / Rebecca Noorderhaven / Iris van Oortmerssen / Irene Oosting / Evelien Overtoom / Susan Paardekam / Daniele Parmigiani / Rafaela Peteanu / Sophie Petri / Samuel Picard / Adelina Popescu / Isaraphorn Pratumchai / Zara Rahman / Priyanka Ramdas / Dennis Ramondt / Meriem Regragui Mazili / Joanne Reinhard / Lena Reth / Michelle Riegman / Roelof Roessingh / Rosanne Roobeek / Edward de Rooy / Else Rowel / Andrea de Ruiter / Karen Saez / Maria Salaru / Miguel Salcedo Villegas / Viola Salemans / Thomas Schneiders / Tim Schoot Uiterkamp / Angelea Selleck / Tereza Shikova / Dana Smit / Stephanie Sondaal / Iulia Strat / Samuel Sullivan / Mistale Taylor / Britte van Tiem / Yamila Torres Cleuren / Jaap Tromp / Vivek Upadhya / Tosca Veeger / Casper van der Ven / Leonie Verbaan / Martijn Verhoeven / Jet Vlaanderen / Anton Vlaykov / Willem Vos / Floris de Vries / Lot Wagemakers / Marnix Warren / Ke Yan Wen / Saskia Westenberg / Bente Zwankhuizen / Willemiek Zweiphenning ...and the class of 2010 ½ Jantien Abma / Simona Antonova / Berend Booms / Beloved Chiweshe / Denise van Dijk / Nneka Edozie / Nicolai Evelyn / Andrew Gilmoor / Ivar van Hasselt / Stefan Hut / Camilla van Klinken / Jacqueline de Kuijper / Lydia Kyomuhendo-Suur / Anouk van der Laan / Gerben Nap / Maja Olszewska / Kees Oude Lenferink / Anggaris Priatna / Leonie Sellies / Babette Steenken / Anna Zapolska photo opposite page / Leaps, Aafke Schaapherder ‘05

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Who, what, where? Klara Schure (’02) defended her PhD dissertation “Supernova Remnants as Particle Accelerators and Probes of the Circumstellar Medium” at the University of Utrecht on the 21st of June 2010. Dana Mustata (‘01) defended her PhD dissertation “The Power of Television: Including the Historicizing of the Live Romanian Revolution” at the University of Utrecht on the 2nd of April 2011. Henk-Jan van den Ham (‘03) defended his PhD dissertation “A better understanding of helper T cell differentiation using mathematical modelling and bioinformatics” at the University of Utrecht on the 21st of June 2010. Caspar van de Berg (’02) defended his PhD dissertation “Transforming for Europe: The reshaping of national bureaucracies in a system of multi-level governance” at the University of Leiden on the 20th of January 2011. On May 11th 2011, Jos Hoes (‘01) successfully defended his PhD dissertation, “An Incompatible Triangle: optimising glucocorticoid therapy in Rheumatic diseases”. A selection of original watercolours, ink drawings, collages and illustrated journal pages by Anna Denise van der Reijden (’05) were exhibited throughout December of 2010 and January of 2011 at the Turtlewings atelier in Brussels, Belgium. For the commercial they conceived of and filmed for the ANWB, George Coleman (‘10), Nicolai Evelyn (‘11) and Thijs Daniels (‘10) won the 2nd prize (and a 1000 Euros) in a Brandfighters.com contest. On December 10, 2010 Marlous van Wayenburg (‘07) won the first annual Volkskrant-IISG history thesis award for her Master thesis “Living Standards in British Africa in a Comparative Perspective: Is Poverty Destiny?” The article “Filicide followed by parasuicide: A comparison of suicidal and non-suicidal child homicide” by Marieke Liem (’04), Renée de Vet

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(’07), and Frans Koenraadt was published in volume 34, Issue 8 (August 2010) of the international journal Child Abuse & Neglect. “The paper “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following Preeclampsia and PPROM: A Prospective Study with 15 Months Follow-Up” by Claire Stramrood (’03) and others, was published in volume 32, No. 2 (June 2011) of the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Claire also was the recipient of the Medical Student/Medical Resident/Medical Fellow Travel Scholarship Award from the American Psychosomatic Society.” Joep Damen (’02) and his fiancé Antonella became the proud parents of baby boy Mattia Antonio Tobias Damen on the 18th of April, 2010. Henk-Jan van den Ham (‘03) welcomed baby Ruben into the world on the 21st of August 2010. His parents and elder brother Jurre are very proud of him. Baby Enzo Maas was born to Joeri Maas (‘01) & Antonietta Trapani on the 17th of October 2010. They live in The Hague. The 31st of December, 2010 saw the birth of baby Oxo Bunnik to Thomas Bunnik (’07) and Kellie lLiket (’07). Thomas is a consultant at McKinsey, Kellie a PhD candidate in strategic philanthropy at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. On the 18th of June, 2011 Milla Paalanen (‘06) will be getting married to her fiancé Antti Summanen. For links to the articles, dissertations, videos and other content mentioned go to the QQV section on UCAA.nl

Read articles from Bruce Mutsvairo (‘04), Dia Bene (’08) & ‘5 questions’ at:

photo / Peter Clausman ‘01

Colophon Editorial Board Sarah Carmichael (’06) Kiran Coleman (’05) Iris Otto (’09) Layout, design & illustration Laurens Hebly (’01) Thijs van Himbergen (’03) Contributors Arjan Ackerman (‘04) Mascha Alexandrova (’08) Naomi Becht (’10) Dia Bene (‘08) Peter Clausman (‘01)

Thijs van Himbergen (’03) Yoav Magid (’06) Babak Mohammadzadeh (’10) Bruce Mutsvairo (‘08) Omri Preiss (’12) Anna Denise van der Reijden (’05) Aafke Schaapherder (‘05) Dora Tordjman (’01) Prof. Dr. Rob van der Vaart Lieke Wijnia (’06) Many thanks to Somaye Dehban (’07) Wouter Durville (’01) Noortje van ’t Klooster (’09)

Danielle Langeveld (‘03) Marilien Mogendorff (‘01) Dirk Reedijk Gisele de Souza Claire Stramrood (’04) Printed by Drukkerij ZuidamUithof And, last but not least, a very special thanks to all UCAA contributors and College Hall for helping make this magazine and the many UCAA events possible!

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