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September 2018

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Illustration © Lise Derksen

UCU says goodbye to honours distinction

Boomerang

by Sophie Martens

A new academic year has arrived, and so has a new version of academic regulations. Now, I don’t expect that you’ve all read it, so I’ll take the noble job of telling you what the new version says. Spoiler alert: they made some drastic changes.

s of this academic year, it will become harder to get a distinction on your degree. In previous years, a GPA between 3.00 and 3.49 would give you the distinction ‘Honours’. However, this is no longer the case. The other distinctions, cum laude (GPA 3.50-3.79), magna cum laude (GPA 3.80-3.89) and summa cum

laude (GPA 3.90-4.00) will remain in existence. Next to the required GPA, you must finish your thesis on time and it must be graded with at least an A-. And as if that wasn’t enough, you also must have a clean academic record (e.g. never have plagiarized). So pay attention in your Research in Context class, because faulty citations might make you lose your cum laude distinction.

As of this academic year, it will become harder to get a distinction on your degree

I interviewed our dean, prof. dr. Kennedy, to find out why these rules were changed. According to him, there was a debate about whether or not it should be harder to get a distinction. “The justification for that was, that it should be at least as hard to get cum laude (…) at UCU as at the UU”. As he points out, the percentage of people at the UU who graduate cum laude is way lower than at UCU due to differences in the educational system. However, the dean does not strive to make UCU more like UU. UCU is following the standards of American colleges, and sets it goals accordingly. Given that most American colleges also do not have the honours distinction, this formed another reason that contributed to its abolishment at UCU. Moreover, the term ‘honours’ was causing confusion because it had different meanings. First of all, UCU is an honours college en se, and it is also possible to get a honours certificate after graduation. Having the distinction of an ‘honours’ GPA was becoming excessive and confusing, according to u

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Bursting the bubble before it’s blown by Reinoud Pino

There is a weeklong event in town at the beginning of every year with the sole focus of introducing new students to Utrecht, and barely any students from UCU participate. If we want students to interact with Utrecht as a city, a logical first step is to stimulate and facilitate students in joining ‘De UIT week’.

very semester, we see a couple of confessions that profess that this campus burdens the author with a sensation of suffocation. Cries of the desire to ‘burst the bubble’ are on everyone’s lips and come UCSA election time, we hear candidates whisper of the treasures that lie beyond the gates of our paradise and how they’ll take us to have a look sometime. There is no doubt that many students feel this disconnection. One anonymous alumna/

alumnus felt it to such an extent that they donated €10.000 to UCU. They added that they enjoyed their time at UCU, but missed out on life in Utrecht and interaction with the neighbourhood. College hall used this money to found Town and Gown, which aims to strengthen the ties between UCU and the city of Utrecht. They

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Cries of the desire to ‘burst the bubble’ are on everyone’s lips

have attempted to do so with a range of projects such as the tutoring program, Collaborations with Podium Oost and the Marhaban Project. However, I think they are missing out on an important opportunity. De UIT week describes itself as the general city introduction to all students who will start studying in Utrecht the coming year. It allows students to get to know all the student-run organisations that Utrecht has to offer, from the

WTF is Introweek? Why your course was cancelled Interview with Maxim Februari

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Amnesty International Student Group Utrecht to the student sports clubs. It will also show you the parks, shops, restaurants and cultural offers to be found in this lovely city. In short, it will give you a feel for Utrecht. So why doesn’t anybody go? The problem is twofold. First, how would an international student know about UIT week? Most Dutch people know about the introductory weeks that most Dutch universities host, but there is no reason for internationals to think they are missing out on something. Proper information about the UIT week should be distributed to the prospective students of the UCSA. The second part of the problem has to do with housing. De UIT week takes place the week before our own UCSA introweek, which means that even if you would want to join, you’d have no place to stay. The UIT week offers some possibilities concerning staying at a student house in town, but those are almost exclusively Dutch and u

This article continues on the next page

Review of The Book Club 8 Caution! Contains GMO

Bar Brawl XL – The Dean V. Willem

The Boomerang | September 2018

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often include a whole other batch of expectations in the week, which not everyone may be up for. So, why don’t we just allow everyone to come a week earlier? According to Maarten Diederix, it is quite impossible to clean and repair the units in less time, negating that possibility. He did tell me, however, that they would not be against opening some units for a week to accommodate people who would want to join the UIT week. This could be opening up Newton for a week, and having UIT week participants live there, before changing to their permanent living quarters after

the UIT week. This could be done, provided that the prospective participants inform the UCSA of their intentions and plans. A different question that comes up however, is if a strong connection to town is desirable. In other words, is UCU a bubble for a good reason? However, with the intent to strengthen that connection so clearly outspoken, I turn my hopeful eye to the UCSA, Town and Gown and the new-kid-on-the-block CAR and wonder what they’ll do.

Upon entering the bubble by Renske Natté

hen I arrived at UCU, I thought my life was at some kind of turning point: my teenage days were over, and my adult life would begin… In the days that followed, I found myself sliding over a water-track, chasing friends with water pistols, watching Shrek and playing games. The fact that these were drinking games, should in this case not matter. It was an incredibly fun week, during which I came to realize that studying does not mean leaving your childhood behind at all. I may now have many more responsibilities (note to self: do not forget your accesscard when leaving your room ever again), but I find that ‘being a student’ means, in fact, ‘being a child for the very last time’. This comes with the advantage of having much more freedom, many more possibilities and, of course, booze. UCU was often described to me as ‘a bubble’. I never really knew what that meant, until I entered it myself. This entrance was, I’ll admit, slightly overwhelming. There is so much to do, so much to know, and everyone you meet has a scary amount of talents. This bubble has its own

Illustration © Tony Nö

gym, meditation room, vegetable garden, and even a newspaper that reports all the bubble gossip. It has its own climate too: one with tropical temperatures, the bar being the hottest zone of all. And then there are the committees and associations: I sometimes wonder whether there are more of them than there are actual students walking around here. My first impressions of UCU are: So far, so good. Two weeks later, this bubble is big, and I am still in the process of finding my way. But every day I spend here and every person I meet, makes me more sure that I came to the right place. I came in here thinking that I would change by the minute. Now, feeling more or less the same, I know this is not true - I will gradually grow instead. Gain experiences, knowledge, friends - I might even discover myself, or at least a part of myself. I will grow, until after three years the bubble pops open, and I will fly out again. But that moment is still far away. For now I am here, taking in all that this bubble has to offer. In the meantime, I’ll be building a world that I can happily call, at least for a while, my home.

Dear Campus, There’s something funny about a new year at UCU. For some of you it’s a milestone, for others an exciting and perhaps scary semester abroad, and for the remainder, myself included, it’s the final phase of their time here. But no matter what your status on this campus is, make sure to enjoy it while it lasts. Whilst endlessly browsing for Master’s degrees, my mind can’t help but wander off and reminisce about reckless bar nights, rewarding committee work, and even the chaotic exam weeks. Crazy and stressful as it is, UCU truly is home. But enough of that sentimental stuff, a new year has just begun! A chance to try new things. My advice for the first years? 1) Don’t be afraid to take a risk! You might fail, but that’s okay. Simply read Sweet Svensations’ column on page five where he offers a fresh view on the matter. 2) Have a debate with someone who has an entirely different opinion than you do! It will probably be uncomfortable at first, but you’ll gain a fresh perspective that you perhaps hadn’t thought of before. On pages ten and eleven, you’ll find the perfect example: a fascinating bar brawl about religion in which two authors offer their intriguing insights. 3) At the end of the week, let loose and celebrate! Just like UCU, which celebrated its 20th birthday only two weeks ago. Flip open the issue at the centerfold dedicated to Lustrum to find out how that went. Before signing off, a huge thank you is reserved for three groups of people. Firstly, the writers and illustrators. They create the Boomerang. They bring the ideas, the juicy articles, the comical content, and the beautiful artwork that make the entire product come to life. Without them, you would be holding a fairly blank piece of paper right now. Equally important, however, is a dedicated board. I would therefore like to thank our new members who have joined Thomas, Lotte, and myself: Saskia as PR Manager, Sven as the other half of the Executive Editor team, Maya as Managing Editor, and Lise as Art Director. We’ve only had a few meetings, but they have already proven their enthusiasm and commitment wholeheartedly. More than excited for a new year, Meike Eijsberg, Editor-in-Chief

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I find that ‘being a student’ means, in fact, ‘being a child for the very last time’

A University College Student Association Magazine

This is a continuation of page 1

Kennedy. Now you may ask, what’s wrong with having many graduates with a distinction? “The objection”, Kennedy says, “is that it inflates the value and diminishes the achievement of the highest achievers.” The timing of this change in regulation seems off. UCU is increasing its demands in an era in which 34,6 percent of all Dutch students is at high risk of burning out (LSVb, 2017). As a matter of fact, the Dutch minister of Education is busy amending a law to actually reduce pressure on students. From 2020 onwards, Dutch universities will no longer be allowed to demand the achievement of 60 ECTS in a student’s first year. Instead, 40 out of the maximum of 60 will suffice to continue your studies. There is, however, a debate whether rising stress levels are attributable to academics. Bert van der Zwaan, former rector magnificus of UU, argued in NRC Handelsblad that it is the student him or herself that is causing the stress. According to him, Dutch students in general have a rather low

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work ethic and are distracted by other (non-academic) activities like jobs and fraternities/sororities. He draws attention to a – in his opinion – more important issue: the declining government investments in universities. Kennedy makes clear that the reason underlying the removal of the honours distinction had nothing to do with

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UCU is increasing its demands in an era in which 34,6 percent of all Dutch students is at high risk of burning out

putting in place a ‘significantly more stringent standard of achievement’. Some members of the UCU community even proposed further redefinition of other distinctions, but that was a route Kennedy was not willing to take, given the stress levels on campus. He adds that stress levels are rising in general, and are not shockingly higher

WTF is Introweek?

An exchange student’s perspective by Ellie Caulfield As a third-year exchange student, I’ve had two years’ experience in neglecting to wash my clothes for weeks, scanning the cereal aisle for the cheapest brand of cornflakes, and staying up until 3a.m. to do reading that should have been done the week before. However, a new city and a new university bring new experiences, so when I found out that UCU has an ‘Introweek’ I eagerly (and naively) thought, ‘Oh, another Freshers’ week’. Oh, how wrong I was... To give you my background, I’m from the UK. For all first year university students, the first week is Freshers’ week. I won’t go into all the gory details, but, as you’re probably aware, the UK is known for its drinking culture. Imagine an influx of around 7,000 new students, most of whom are 18 and have never been away from home for longer than the week’s holiday with their friends in Magaluf. These kids descend upon a new city without their parents and, consequently, without rules. It really is absolute carnage and I’m lucky if I remember half of what went on during Freshers’ week. Each night pretty much consists of drinking the weekly recommended alcohol intake. The days are spent nursing a deadly hangover, and trying to cope with being away from home with only a tin of baked beans and a pot of Nutella in your cupboard. You tend to only socialise with your flatmates, and the only activities organised by the university are a couple of introductory talks and an extended lecture on how to use the library. Now, I’m not saying that British students

are lazy, but if UK universities were to organise an Introweek, I estimate that less than half the students would show up. We expect to move out of home and have complete and utter freedom. So, when I received the timetable and saw that all seven days were jam-packed with activities I really did say to myself ‘wtf’. There I was, thinking that in the first week I was going to take a trip to IKEA, explore the city, and perhaps have a day trip to the Hague or Rotterdam. I was lucky to have had ten minutes to do my washing up. The entire week, I stepped across my barely-unpacked suitcase that had been lying on my floor since the moment I arrived, and I still hadn’t had time to go to the supermarket to buy some cereal. At the time, the week seemed like a blur and I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what day it was, let alone where I had to be in the next hour. But now, thanks to hindsight, and experiencing two first weeks at different universities, I can safely say that UCU does it better. Despite my parents being my age, and having to get up in the morning when I’d much rather be hibernating, Introweek was a great start to what I hope will be a great year. It took me weeks to settle into my home university, but having a ‘family’ here on campus made it a lot easier. Perhaps we exchange students are in need of Introweek the most; the last time I rode a bike I fell into London’s Hyde Park Lake, and the last time I bought groceries in a foreign supermarket I bought flour instead of sugar, so having Dutch aid was very much needed, and deeply appreciated. During the week, I would have sold my soul for a quick one-hour nap, but, now, writing this whilst swimming in deadlines and already being behind on my reading, I would much rather be back in Introweek, though this time without the water fight. RIP my fringe.

at UCU, where these levels are “over a third”. However, as Kennedy proudly mentions, UCU also has a greater peer support system. Kennedy argues that stress among students is caused by a number of factors: high self-expectations, expectations from family members, and expectations from teachers and peers. As Kennedy puts it is “the idea of, ‘I’ve got to be perfect, I’ve got to succeed, I’ve got to show other people that I am successful’”. Other factors he mentions are smartphones, social media and not seeing the value of your education (‘purposeless hoop-jumping’). That, combined with the “collection of high achievers” at UCU, is what he thinks can cause stress. Finally, I asked our dean if he could see UCU lower its first year standards from 60 to 40 ECTS. He is hesitant of the efficacy of this rule, as he doesn’t believe academics is the only factor that is causing the stress. He states that the 60 ECTS rule is in the interest of the students and makes sure they have the biggest chance to finish their degree on time.

WordCo wordco@ucsa.nl

Passionate about reading and writing? Then this is the committee for you! We are WordCo, a small and welcoming creative writing committee on campus. We meet every Monday at 8pm to share our work and write together. One exciting event coming up this semester is the “Writing under the Influence” workshop. We’re also looking into starting a book club! If this sounds appealing, then come along and see what we’re all about! Find us on Facebook @ ucsawordco.

SCOPE scope@ucsa.nl

Zine submission deadline: 30/09

Have you ever written an essay? Have you ever written a good essay? Or a bad essay? Have you ever taken a photograph of something? Of nothing? Have you ever painted something awful and destroyed it? Have you ever written poetry? Have you ever performed poetry? Have you ever stolen someone else’s poetry and posted it on your Instagram to get likes? Have you ever written fiction? Have you ever written fan fiction about a figure of authority? Have you seen my dog he disappeared last night I miss him, please

Committee Adspace

Promote your committee, events, open board positions or submission calls in The Boomerang in exchange for an article written by one or more of your board members. E-mail to boomerang@ucsa.nl, or come to one of the monthly writer’s meetings.

The Boomerang | September 2018

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Why your course may have been cancelled by Jamie March

n the first day of class, the level 2 Human and Animal Physiology course was cancelled by the teacher. The reason given was that the course was structured in such a way, with group assignments and peer reviews, that it was impossible to proceed properly with such a small number of students. A student who previously took the course says that explanation is “at least plausible.” The story that initiated this investigation was the suggestion that, due to the drop in students, the teacher was not being paid enough to teach the course, leading to its cancellation. Utrecht University pays UCU for every EC that students acquire. A course with only ten students thus yields less revenue than a course with 28 students in it (65% less). Following from this, UCU pays a lump sum to the faculty when hiring UU teachers. This is also based on the number of students in a course, combined with an hourly rate. In practice, both teachers appointed at UCU and teachers appointed at UU are paid based on their appointment. Within their appointment, they get to spend hours on teaching. This is 200 hours per course, which goes for all teachers, UU and UCU. At UCU, teachers also have other tasks,

such as tutoring, or committee task forces. At UU, the same story applies, where a lot of time is spent on research. When a course consistently drops in number of students enrolled, the course will be assigned fewer hours, leading the teacher to do more work elsewhere. This is done at the start of the year, when the faculty and teacher decide how to spend their hours. However, since this negotiation takes place at the beginning of the year, if for one semester the number of students unexpectedly drops, the faculty would be paid less by UCU at the end of that year. The faculty may still have to pay the UU teacher the agreed-upon amount, set at the beginning of the year. UCU believes that their responsibility in this has been relinquished, as the faculty becomes accountable for the fact that UCU has indirectly paid the teacher less, just as UCU has been paid less by the UU. The number of hours designated to a course decreases as the number of students in it decreases, which also leads to UCU receiving less revenue for those courses. 18-28 students equates 200 hours, 15-17 students is 170 hours, 11-14 students is 140 hours, 8-10 students is 110 hours. In the case of fewer than eight students, you are compensated for ten hours per student. But does the decrease of students really translate to a decrease of workload proportionate to

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Teachers are not getting paid less. The question is whether or not they are fairly compensated for their time.

the amount they are paid? The teachers I spoke to were all very clear on that matter. While grading fewer exams and giving feedback to fewer students does decrease the amount of time they spend on courses, most of that time is still spent updating the course and integrating the feedback from previous years. The time they save on feedback and grading does not compensate for the hours they lose. Teachers can often work more (or less) than 200 hours per course. I spoke to our Director of Education Sabine Uijl on this matter. She emphasizes that “there is no direct relation between payment of teachers and the number of students.” For a full course teachers are told to spend around 200 hours, and she believes that the bulk of this time is spent on preparation. However, substantial time is also spent on teaching and giving feedback, the latter being the only part that decreases with a decreasing number of students. The sliding scale is presented as a financial necessity to be able to afford courses with consistently less turnout. Courses like the physics track finisher are necessary for the academic diversity at UCU, but would be financially unsustainable with the tiny class sizes. The quality of education also drops when there are too few students in the course, due to less discourse and interaction between students. It is not a matter of salary being withheld. Teachers are not getting paid less; the question is whether or not they are fairly compensated for their time. Having less students does not mean a teacher loses a portion of their paycheck, but it could mean they are putting in proportionately more time for less compensation. Most importantly however, if the current system involves purposely compensating teachers less than the work they put in to keep that same system running, maybe the system is just fundamentally broken. Or maybe not, in which case this is an unfortunate byproduct of our demands for low tuition and excellent teachers with small class sizes.

Introweek families: pros and cons by Maro Savvides

t’s the first day on the UCU campus for over 200 first-semester students, with another 60 arriving on exchange. Energy is crackling throughout the crowd of youths, all excited to step into this next chapter of life’s experiences. We are excited and eager to meet new people, learn from passionate professors and try out new things. To start the process, we’re all ‘sorted’ into families and a hectic week of introducing college life to the new members of the university college begins.

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In an anonymous survey, 85% of participants felt introweek was a positive experience

For some of you, good memories surely pop up, either of pre-drinking games, recalling your (lack of) enthusiasm on sports day, or even the serene family picnic in the park. In an anonymous survey, 85% of participants (consisting of

first-semester students, exchange students and introweek parents) felt introweek was a positive experience; predominantly as a direct result of their introweek family interactions. The structure is creative, allowing experienced peers to lead new students through various activities, aiding in bonding and confidence building. Additionally, one respondent brought up the point that because they are generally introverted, being in a family with confident parents helped ease them into these new waters. Although they did add that “because my family was full of energetic, extroverted people, the whole experience was a little intimidating.” In essence, whilst the families helped, they were also a source of stress at times. Another respondent felt the structure “severely limited the amount of interaction with people of other families”, thus hindering them from meeting others. As unfortunate as it may be, there is no denying that the introweek experience is determined by the parents and the events, and some individuals simply dislike parties or had absent parents. Alternatives exist for the parties, such as GamesCo’s events, but the fear of missing out, or being a burden to your already stressed parent may

deter you from going to bed early after a game of werewolves. An absent parent does not help in this case either; it simply creates an awkward and chaotic atmosphere for the new students and puts pressure on the present parents. Naturally, parents can only do so much, and plenty of them were much loved (one respondent sends love to family 17), hence alternatives may need to be further considered to ease the lives of everyone. Could we bring more sodas to pre-drinks along with the crates of beer? Maybe have a couple hours of free time at some point in introweek for a power nap or to submit a room report? Finally, I think we can all agree, dining hall could have opened a tad earlier for brunch. In the end, we are entering an age of maturity and we have to start accepting that life isn’t going to cater to our every need. Even with the slight off-moments of introweek (such as tossing your meal thanks to a hangover), there’s no denying we all learnt something, and doesn’t that make everything worth it? Hopefully we’re all slowly able to crack out of the shells we use to protect ourselves, and even after introweek, our families are there for when we need that reminder.

A University College Student Association Magazine

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sweet svensations by Sven Bosma Your monthly dessert: a sweet little nugget of Sven’s brain.

THE ART OF FAILING FORWARD as failure (I know this sounds weird but give me another couple of Okay guys, say it with me, out loud, in class, in the common room; lines, plus it makes me sound like a guru). What failure is, in at home, on the train, wherever you are: “I AM A FAILURE”. This is a nice note to start on, ‘cause from here things can effect, is preparation for something even better, and probably more enjoyable. As a kid, I failed at playing field hockey as only get better, right? Where this leaves us is the beginning of a valuable life lesson I’ve taken to heart over the an outfield player. I shamefully decided to make the switch to goalkeeper and then went on to play at the national past couple years. It’s made up of two parts, number one level, something I never could have done as a regular being the obvious, most relatable part: You are going to fail at stuff. Part two is a lot harder to stomach. Since player. I spent a couple of months studying Computer Science and Maths, and bowed out gracefully (read: you’ve already had to deal with initial failure, this section can come as a slap in the face: IT’S OK TO failed) after a while. I did however develop/realise an interest in psychology, behaviour and persuaFAIL. The problems that people encounter regarding sion, which have led me to contently studying these fields at UCU now. Much like those middle-aged failing come from two corners, often at the same women with the “Can-I-speak-to-the-manager” time. First off, the possibility of failure is scary haircuts, failure has an image issue, a PR problem, enough for most people that they don’t even dare if you will. Often, these women run bake sales and grab more than a fraction of the opportunities that come by. This could simply be choosing between sell tupperware. All good stuff, we just don’t realise it. Failure needs to be reframed as a kind of force the safe, generic presentation topic, or going for for good. People know they can learn from their the riskier, niche, but entertaining second topic. mistakes, but they fail to realise that making those This could be trying a new sport while knowing you have the hand-eye coordination of a duck (Note for very same mistakes may be one of the best things to happen to them. Such as the “Can-I-speak-to-thenon-biologists, ducks don’t have hands, so coordimanager” women, failure can also do good stuff. nating said hands with eyes is hard). This could even So, teach yourself to appreciate failure, not as a be taking that leap of faith with the cute unitmate do En you like and admitting you’re head-over-heels in love. symptom of insufficiency, but as the possibility to learn, u Am © Everybody has the issue of letting chances of any sort go or look at a situation from a different perspective. Failure n tio a r is where success likes to hide in plain sight. Say it with me by, simply because the idea of failing is too much. Try your st Illu now, again: “I AM A FAILURE, AND THAT’S OK”. Now go luck, and if you fail, there are plenty more chances to come. out there and fail forward in life. Second, and more easily fixable, is the problem seeing failure

The good, the bad, and the misunderstood A take on three indie tracks released this summer by Stanley Ward The good

Break-Thru - Dirty Projectors A standout track from the New York group’s latest studio album Lamp Lit Prose, Break-Thru is an incredibly catchy alt-pop song. Even though the afrobeat rhythms and guitar lines do seem reminiscent of fellow NYC band Vampire Weekend, this track, as does the album, feels fresh, unique, and innovative. The minimalist production style makes the most out of the guitar textures and drum beats, which make this track stand out in the first few bars, as well as towards the end of the song where the band throws a curveball, inserting an almost classical string section break. The instrumentation really is greater than the sum of its parts - it maintains a solid groove with the guitars and harmonicas playing call and response in the left and right channels, without overshadowing the vocal performances and quirky lyrics. This track perfectly walks the line of fun and clever, and pairs nicely with a glass of Sangria on a summer’s afternoon.

The bad

The misunderstood

Combining counting skills and the melody of a children’s nursery rhyme, this song sees Matty Healy trying to pull a sad boi Drake on us, with autotune vocals and repetitive lines creating possibly the worst 1975 track to date. While The 1975 have never been a rock band as much as they have been marketing, hair dye, and current alt-style, this song feels embarrassing. The reggaeton beat and dancehall piano are so far from the band’s initial sound and vibe, that it becomes obvious that the adoption of these sounds is nothing more than a shameless formulaic attempt at a radio hit in 2018. A single for their upcoming album, it actually makes their previous single ‘Give Yourself a Try’ as edgy and hard hitting as the band intended it to be - despite that song having all the edge of a supermarket Ramones T-Shirt. Despite some of the interesting production on this track, with pleasant atmospheric synths and catchy vocal chops, Matty Healy’s songwriting and performance definitively prove you can’t polish a turd. I get what the band is trying to do, but this thing doesn’t even pretend to be a song; it is a series of meaningless hooks which get less interesting every time we hear them. I’ve never loved this band, but I did appreciate the pop savvy, sonic landscape of their first record. This song however, recycles the worst elements of their previous work. Listening to this song is like drinking warm vodka while hearing French Montana play through crappy phone speakers on a park bench in the rain. And not in a cool edgy way.

The second single from the Seattle rocker’s ninth studio album seems to epitomise the current state of one of the mainstays of indie rock. While pleasing to the ear, this song, and the album as a whole, seem to be missing something. While it could be the absence of longtime band member/ producer Chris Walla, for me, the absence seems to be in frontman Ben Gibbard’s songwriting. This is by no means a bad track, but like some tracks from the band’s previous record Kintsugi, it tends to wash over you, leaving little behind. Gone is the usual articulation and detail which makes Death Cab’s greatest work so captivating and unique, and instead, a vagueness and fairly passive vocal performance seems to dominate this track, demonstrating that perhaps the band lost its way with the recent shift in lineup. Most of all, it is the knowledge that the band have the potential to create songs with much greater depth that makes ‘I Dreamt We Spoke Again’ so disappointing to longtime fans. Like a weak cup of tea, this track is vaguely enjoyable, but hardly satisfying.

TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME - The 1975

I Dreamt We Spoke Again - Death Cab for Cutie

LUSTRUM

The Boomerang | September 2018

Twenty years of UCU by Meike Eijsberg

A mere two weeks ago our small bubble reached the ripe old age of 20. To celebrate, a Lustrum was organized by a six-person committee. All the various events highlighted different aspects of our college: the campus during open monument day, the history through the medium of a documentary and exhibition, its interdisciplinary program by means of a symposium, its close community by allowing all of campus to read and discuss the same book, and its diverse student population during the Scholarship dinner. Everything was wrapped up with a festival on Saturday the 15th. In order to commemorate these festivities the proper way, I attended all events and set out to interview a few key figures who made these celebrations possible.

he one-week-long anniversary the social and intellectual community at UCU.” commenced on Saturday the 8th of On the evening of Friday the 14th, a closed September: the same date as National dinner was organized with the goal of raising Open Monument Day. On the crisp money for the UCU Scholarship fund. A variety of autumn morning, many students products and activities was available for bidding, might have blinked twice when they spotted including, but not limited to: a 10-bottle wine the military vehicles and soldiers on the quad set, a private sailing lesson, and even a week in whilst biking past for their weekly groceries. It a luxury ski cabin. At the end of the evening, a was strange indeed: our campus has not hosted grand total of €2820,- was raised by all military staff and equipment for a long time attendees. The importance of but it does have an extensive history of doing such an event is not to be so. Remains of that history can still be found in mistaken because a scholarevery corner. In fact, almost 2000 people visited ship can determine whether our campus that day, as estimated by the Krom- or not a motivated student hout Kazerne staff. can attend this college. Mariia I asked Bettina Nelemans, one of the committee Wäre, a third year student, was invited members, about the organization process. “It to attend and give a speech about what her was a big challenge,” scholarship meant she said. “It’s all on top for her. “Every one of what we normally do, of us just wants Mary Bouquet’s so we had to squeeze to succeed. Scholexhibition, a project things into our regular arships provide us working week.” that opportunity – it that would usually This definitely proved is a gift that keeps take a year to set up, to be true. Mary on giving,” she was put together in Bouquet’s exhibition, stated proudly. a project that would All in all, the hard only two months. usually take a year to work was worth it. A set up, was put together celebration like in only two months. “It involved exploring, and this only takes place every five actually co-constructing, people’s memories years and it is important for - which take a remarkable variety of forms,” an institution like ours. “A Mary explains. “It brings together the efforts Lustrum enables you to of many different people who get caught up in celebrate who you are as an the process, and who ‘remember forwards’ in organization,” Bettina said, the present.” When the exhibition premiered “It shows the outside world who on Sunday, along with the UCU documentary, it you are and what you can do.” certainly received the praise it deserved. Her favourite event? “I liked all of The celebrations were not just limited to the them… Maybe the most special one weekend. Tuesday afternoon was dedicated to was open monument day, not only a symposium where intriguing individuals were since it attracted so many people from invited to speak and represent their discipline outside, but also because of the collabon a panel dedicated to interdisciplinarity. But oration with our neighbours, the army, that was not all. After concluding its weekly book whom we normally don’t really get to see club meetings, the One Book, One Campus team very often… We had meetings with them, organized a final get-together, along with the sometimes over there. It meant we had to author Maxim Februari. Agnes Andeweg, head go to the main entrance, bring our passorganizer, explains the idea of the event: “It’s port and show them who we were.” to enjoy reading together, to stimulate converWhen asked what the committee might sations on current social issues, and to enhance change or do differently, Bettina laughed

and replied: “Perhaps next time we keep it a bit shorter. There are things we would really love to do again however, such as One Book, One Campus. Hopefully next year; we already have a name, but we would like to keep it a secret.”

“

Illustration © Amu Endo

A University College Student Association Magazine

LUSTRUM

“Critique on the establishment is my favourite kind of critique” An interview with Maxim Februari

by Sabine Loth and Jamie March

Sabine: Your book largely revolves around the 1997 Glycerine crisis in Haiti. There are a lot of parallels between the companies Bloem (the fictitious company in the book) and Vos (the real company), to the point of almost direct referencing. What was it about this crisis that made you want to write about it, even ten years after it had occurred? Maxim: It was ten years after the event, but it was about five years after the trial. When they went to trial, I wrote about it in my column. My point was that that there was a big hassle about this man of Moroccan descent in Amsterdam, - I don’t remember exactly what the problem was but he caused a lot of problems in the streets of the Diamantbuurt. I compared these two cases and questioned; how could you expect a young man from a poor background to have values and to act decently, if you don’t do it yourself as part of the establishment? And even when it turns out that there has been criminal activity in the establishment, and it is brought to trial, they are then released without it resulting in any conviction. You shouldn’t be surprised if there are no values in the streets. I wrote a column and I was really ugly about this, but nobody reacted. People usually do react to columns but there was complete silence. Nobody wanted to talk about this comparison between the street and the elite. So, I decided to write a book. S: So, in a way it’s a critique on the establishment? M: It is a critique on the establishment. That’s my favourite kind of critique. S: To talk more specifically about the book: the male characters of The book club are representations of the establishment. What were the influences on you when it came to shaping these characters? M: Oh, I know them. I am part of it: I work in these circles. You meet people, you see how they act, how they don’t act, how they look away. S: They’re all based on real people? M: More or less. And they recognize themselves. People recognize themselves, and one another.

“

all of this about our village, because it is clearly a picture of our village.’ and I would reply that it wasn’t. Jamie: It’s quite meta in that sense, because you are like Ruth in the novel, writing a book about all the problems, bringing them to light. M: Yes, and people recognized that as well. So that made it a very interesting book to discuss. S: In the book I personally found there to be somewhat of a duality between men and women. Is this something you did deliberately? M: I exaggerated of course, but yes, I did it deliberately. At the time there was a lot to do about chicklit: a derogatory term to describe literature written by women. I knew that especially in the Netherlands, male authors thought about female authors in that way. I took this as a starting point. I took the conventions of chicklit and those of “high literature” of men and mixed those all together to show how men tend to think about women. Of course, I would do it differently now. Things changed. I changed. The world changed. I think the word “chicklit” can’t be used anymore - it’s not politically correct. A lot of women would come to my book tour, and they would bring their husbands, slightly protesting because they didn’t want to come, and in the end, they would find it very interesting. But this discussion is also in libraries or bookshops, between women who find themselves not taken seriously in literature. At the time that was a great debate. S: And of course, it still is a debate eleven years later. M: Yes, but it’s different. S: Yes, it’s different. Society has changed accordingly as well.

You meet people, you see how they act, how they don’t act, how they look away.

S: Must be a harsh mirror. M: It was interesting. I did a book tour for two years, and people would come up to me during book signings and would ask ‘How do you know

Which leads me to the next question about modern day society and your column in NRC. Where do you find your inspiration for weekly writing? M: That depends. Sometimes from the news, and sometimes I choose to go against the news. I won’t write about the news, because everyone else is already doing so. And sometimes the news gets so intense that I write to calm society down, about literature or art or whatever. People write to me a lot, asking me to do lectures or join in projects, so I get a lot of information through society talking to me. I try to think of where I want to use my influence. S: You also write about modern-day technology, for example in your most recent novel Klont, but also in a recent column titled “The online power of the masses is frightening”. You mention Minister Blok, who himself has recently issued a public apology. Do you think the Glycerine crisis would have been handled differently today, had it gotten the media attention those issues get nowadays? M: Probably. You can’t get away with things like that anymore if they come to light. If they don’t, nothing has changed of course. I don’t know if we should be happy about that development. What would have been necessary at the time was a decent trial or a political discussion, but not this kind of witch-hunt we see nowadays on social media. S: So, in a sense, we need a median between the two. Vos handled that situation financially by just paying €250,000, without taking any of the moral responsibility upon themselves. Nowadays they wouldn’t really get away with that, but have we almost taken that to too much of an extreme? M: Maybe. They wouldn’t have taken the moral responsibility nowadays, they would have just gone bankrupt. That’s not what you want. You don’t want to necessarily punish them, you just want to discuss with them what went wrong and how you can prevent it in the future.

LUSTRUM

The Boomerang | September 2018

book review

The Book Club: a novel about a novel that is probably more entertaining by Lotte Schuengel

ou may remember someone barging into your classroom with a large box, exclaiming, “free books, because Lustrum!” and dumping it somewhere in a corner. Inside were stacks of paperbacks: The Book Club, by Maxim Februari. Maybe you took a copy home with you. Maybe you put it on your shelf next to the regrettably untouched airport literature, and it’s collecting dust as we speak. Or maybe, just maybe, you opened it and started to read. Chances are, that if you did the last thing, you were soon baffled to find out how much can go wrong in 308 pages. I’m not just talking about the story itself. This is primarily about of the poor rendition from Dutch to English - a rendition so catastrophically obstructive that my first conclusion was, “I’ll never know what this book is like, because the entire thing got lost in translation.” There is a clear and simple first rule of translating: you translate to your native tongue. But for some inexplicable reason, a person with an astonishingly limited understanding of the language translated Maxim Februari’s novel to English. And worse yet, no one edited it. The result is a rich collection of wonderful ‘Dutchisms’ such as ‘parent’s evening’, ‘plan of campaign’, ‘provincial road’ and many more that make for a great drinking game. Not everyone was this annoyed though. As a regular visitor to the discussion meetings (some were more widely attended than others), it became clear that the translation mainly posed issues to Dutch-speaking readers. My advice for them would initially be to turn to the original version, in hopes that it could be more worth their time. But it isn’t. And I’m sorry. Here’s what the book is about: in a nameless village, somewhere in the Netherlands, live a bunch of wealthy and influential people who run an elitist book club together. When ex-inhabitant Ruth Ackermann writes an international bestseller titled The Summer of Canvas Shoes, the book club refuses to read it, because of a secret they’re trying to hide, and because they consider it pulp, and only deign to touch the finest literature. In the meantime, there’s an occasional interlude of inner monologue about the current state of world politics, justice, war, economics and social equality, because those are the only things these characters can think about. I think the intention of the novel was to focus on the latter, since Maxim Februari is a columnist. This goes to show that The Book Club reads exactly like a novel written by a columnist. The story, characters, and props are mere vehicles to larger societal concerns and criticisms, philosophical rants and moral dilemmas, which would all be fine if it worked. But it doesn’t. The plot is convo-

Illustration © Qingfeng Chai

luted, no information is left implied, the characters are bland, their intentions unrealistic and their relationships superficial. The book clearly struggles with designing characters that are in any way relatable or likeable, with a slight exception of Lucius, whose appearance is limited to a couple of pages. Consider the following lines of dialogue an example of the novel’s problems: “What on earth is so important about 9/11?” said Teresa. “What?” said John, “You’re joking.” “No, just go ahead and explain it to me.” I found this example particularly striking because 1) no one talks like that, especially two people in a relationship, and 2) this is obviously a diving board for Februari to jump into a column about current topics, which he then, as predicted, does. You might wonder at this point if I have anything positive to say about this novel. It’s digestible. Some ideas the author presents are worth thinking about, even discussing. And it’s very self-reflective on Dutch culture. If that sounds tempting, I would recommend you give it a shot. But I side with the following statement by an anonymous fellow reader: “I’m afraid The Summer of Canvas Shoes would probably be a more entertaining book than this.”

A University College Student Association Magazine

WORLD

Dutch stereotypes: clogging an open mind by Maud Rinkes

n the leaving card I got when I moved back to the Netherlands from England, there were comments like ‘have fun blazing it in Amsterdam’ and ‘smoke weed every day’. This is an excellent example of the first thing that pops into many people’s heads when they hear ‘the Netherlands’. You’ll actually find that many of the ‘coffeeshops’ are frequented by tourists to whom they are a novelty. Just under 6% of the Dutch population smokes weed on a regular basis. This is actually a lower rate than most European countries. Another misbelief is that Dutch people commonly wear clogs. In the past they were worn to keep the feet dry whilst walking on damp soil. Today, you would be hard pressed to find

a Dutch person sporting a pair of clogs, as they are simply not necessary anymore. If you do see someone wearing clogs in the train or in a café, it is likely to be a tourist who has just purchased a souvenir. Some things thought about the Dutch are absolutely true though. For example, Dutch people are very tall. There are obviously exceptions to the rule since small Dutchies do exist, but if you look at the entire nation, this cannot be denied. The Netherlands is the tallest nation in the world. The average height of a Dutch man is 1.83 metres and 1.71 metres for a woman. This means that anyone you come across who towers above you is likely to be Dutch. Another commonly held belief that rings true is that the Dutch love their bicycles. There are more bikes than people in the Netherlands. Perhaps this is caused by the lack of hills. Regardless of the cause, if you ask any Dutch person how far away something is, the answer will always be ‘oh that’s about a ten minute cycle’ or ‘that’s not far, only five minutes by bike’. You will also see many a Dutch person casually cycling home with three bags of groceries and a person on the back of their bike, all seemingly in an effortless fashion.

CAUTION! Contains GMO!

As far as character traits are concerned, the Dutch have a reputation of being very direct (sometimes to the point of bluntness), stingy (there is a reason splitting the bill is called ‘going Dutch’), friendly, tolerant and highly competent English speakers. This varies too much from person to person to be able to make a generalization, but I will say that almost every Dutch person I know possesses at least three of the aforementioned characteristics. Now go out, checklist in hand, meet lots of Dutch people and discover if the beliefs you held about them before moving here are actually true. Illustration © Idalina Lehtonen

Stereotypes exist of almost every country and its inhabitants. Some, as everyone knows, aren’t true: clearly not every French person walks around wearing a beret, carrying a baguette. Likewise, not every English person loves the royal family and eats fish and chips every day. However, some stereotypes are harder to verify.

Illu

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evil

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by Yury Erofeev

In this article, I will often use a threeletter word, the safety of which is not yet proven. No one has done experiments on rodents in order to find out what will happen to them if you speak to them the words: ‘GMO, GMO, GMO…’. There is also no evidence that the word GMO does not cause cancer, autoimmune diseases, unwanted pregnancy, diarrhea, etc. However, genetically modified organisms themselves are better studied than this word.

oday, it’s difficult for me to find a field of human knowledge that carries more myths than genetic engineering. Most surprising is that most of these myths are invented by a very limited number of people (enough to count on one hand), who received, to put it mildly, media attention not proportional to their level of knowledge. Specialists who deal with genetic engineering or molecular genetics seem to prefer not to spend time debunking myths, which I consider wrong, or at least short-sighted. Let’s start with a long and scary definition of GMO. A Genetically Modified Organism is any organism whose genetic material has been altered with the help of genetic engineering. Remember how the comic superhero Peter

Parker becomes Spider-Man after being bitten by a radioactive spider? Although a genetically engineered spider-man has not yet been created, it turns out that it is possible to create a goatspider. In 2002, the Canadian firm Nexia bred goats with a ‘web’ gene embedded into theirt genome. Consequently, the milk of these goats can be used as the raw material in obtaining Biosteel, which has been proven to be stronger and lighter than Kevlar. Of course, GMOs are used for medical purposes too. For example, today almost all insulin is produced with the help of genetically modified microorganisms. Before this was possible, physicians needed to use animals for insulin production. The problem with this was that animal insulin differs from human insulin, resulting in a whole set of limitations and negative consequences in its application. Another example that is highly relevant to genetic engineering is related to the cultivation of food. Many saw in the film Interstellar a terrible infection spreading across and destroying fields. The characters in the film had to utilise bonfires to stop this infection. In the real world, however, genetic engineering helps to stop the actual

spread of infectious diseases that would otherwise cause mass death of crops. At the beginning of the second half of the last century in Hawaii, an infection almost led to the destruction of the entire papaya yield. People tried to breed by selection but nothing happened. After some fairly rudimentary genetic engineering, the papaya was saved. We risk missing out on positive aspects that technology can give us. With the help of genetic engineering it is possible to create body parts if they are absent in humans, and to treat hereditary diseases that were previously considered untreatable. Hopefully, after this brief exposé, discussions and information on scientific possibilities will become more popular and accessible, at least in our small community.

The Boomerang | September 2018

BAR BRAWL

Sexual abuse and cover-ups are not the Church’s full legacy by James Kennedy This column was originally published on 1 September 2018 in Trouw, with the title ‘Seksueel misbruik en toedekking ervan is niet het hele verhaal van de kerk’. James Kennedy provided The Boomerang with a translation.

“W

hat the Bible created were different clubs,” my fellow columnist Bert Keizer wrote yesterday in this paper. Because abuse of power seems to be inherent in NGO’s and churches, as leaders are not held accountable for poor performance, it is better to abandon such clubs. People don't get better from church, he asserts. I read his column after another Trouw article over the rising persecution of churches in China. President Xi regards churches increasingly as a threat and they may only continue to exist as organizations if they completely conform to the demands of Chinese socialism. The president believes that society does not improve with these churches, so it's better to have them suppressed. It is best to see religion in its full breadth and to see where, and how and when organized is in a state to help people and improve life, instead of dogmatically proclaiming that churches do not make ethical contributions. To be open to the ways in which religious 'clubs' can empower ordinary people, of course, cannot mean that you close your eyes to the dangers of ‘good causes’ organizations, especially those proclaiming a special claim to salvation. I was in the US when the shocking revelations of abuse in the Roman Catholic church in Pennsylvania were made public. American media - rightly - gave a good deal of attention to this report. Young lives were seriously damaged by the abuse, priests thought themselves exempt from punishment, and church leaders suppressed the information. Sexual abuse was not the result of a few rotten apples, but was caused by a clerical hierarchy who through their special status gained exceptional privilege and protection. This is a structural problem in many churches and in organized religion, not just a problem of the Catholic church. And then we're not even talking about other recurring aspects of religion: repres-

sion, divisiveness, ignorance, fanaticism, etc. Nothing, however, seems to exemplify the evil side of religion more than sexual abuse and efforts to cover it up. I can well imagine that (American) Catholics begin to doubt. All ethical and spiritual authority is gone. At the same time we know that is not the whole story. The ethical history of religion is more than that. Especially when religion has less power - because indeed power corrupts everything - do we see another face. Then one sees how religious societies function in pluriform societies, where participation in religious activities is voluntary. Active

“

What I find interesting as a historian is how religious organizations can serve to challenge power by offering resistance to existing power structures and politics.

churchgoers are more generous in sharing time and resources with others, also outside the walls of the church, or that they are less likely to commit crime. And it seems that these people are also happier than those who do not attend. What I find interesting as a historian is how religious organizations can serve to challenge power by offering resistance to existing power structures and politics. They do not always do so, but research shows that it does happen regularly. So too in China where churches are some of the few free spaces there to be found in society. In those barely tolerated, underground churches Chinese can experience more room and freedom. The importance of their continued existence can thus not be underestimated. Churches cannot be all lumped together. It is better to focus one's anger at the guilty and at corroding institutions. And at the same time to offer support to those ‘clubs’ who need it. Illustration © Samantha Dharamraj

A University College Student Association Magazine

BAR BRAWL

Beware of historians bearing false religions by Willem Mingelen

he Dutch among us might have read the opinion written by our beloved dean a few weeks ago in Trouw. Our dean is a devout protestant and has even stated that “God guides history towards end times”. He argues that instead of looking at the church as an evil institution, even after the many child molestation cases in America, we should look at is as a whole, taking in both the positive and negative aspects of it: “It is better to see religion in its full breath, to see where, how and when organised religion is capable of helping people, instead of dogmatically stating that the church does not work ethically”. This statement is fair, but interestingly enough, he does not do this in his column. We should take a proper look at what the church has done for the people of this world in the two thousand-odd years of its existence. Over the centuries that the church has held an almighty grip over this world, it has prosecuted, tortured and murdered millions for believing in another religion. It started the Crusades, it forcefully converted multiple conti- nents, it oppressed women, it persecuted the Jewish people, and it indoctrinated this Earth with ideas that still ravage our society to this day. Now that it has been pushed out of power in most countries, the church peddles its wares through influence groups and lobbyists. The push against gay marriage, the legitimisation

of slavery, and opposition to abortion were at one point the official doctrines of the very religion our dean is defending. These are only the official policies of the Church; the rape of children is luckily not among them, although it sometimes may seem like it is. Luckily, the church, as our dean mentions, is now curtailed by society. Unfortunately, this does not mean it is any less dangerous. And yes, Christians do send money to Africa, but they also persuaded African Christians that not wearing condoms is necessary to be a good Christian, leading to the spread of AIDS. And yes, there are good Christians, who have done good things, but do I really believe that these people need their moral code from some ancient book of fiction? No, I do not. I honestly fail to understand how an educated man of our dean’s stature, could, with a blank face, defend an institution that has caused so much death and misery for so many people around the globe. He does not even defend the idea of belief in itself - no, he specifically defends the church and its relation to the world. The Church is in retreat, parishes are shrinking, Sunday masses are less attended, and the current Pope is desperate to take on a more moderate stance towards many issues that make people afraid of this “hallowed” institution. I believe this shows the true face of the Church; once no longer hegemonic over this Earth they try to distort, disrupt and change the story of their own decline, aided by people such as our dean who believe that it is a good thing for religions to exist, albeit checked by society. Churches are not good because they are checked by society, society is better because they keep churches in check (mostly). This is, of course, the case because he very well knows that left unchecked, the policies and ideas of the Church are a danger to the freedom of all peoples around the world. If a building has a weak foundation, we break it down and build a new one. What the church is trying to do, is distract you from its crumbling foundation by saying: look, we plastered over those cracks, it’s all fine. You should ask yourself whether you are okay with having an apologist at the helm of an institution that tries to raise critical thinkers, when he has not even looked critically at his own beliefs.

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Left unchecked, the policies and ideas of the Church are a danger to the freedom of all peoples around the world.

Kennedy’s response I am a little perplexed at the article appearing in The Boomerang, which did not do justice, I thought, to what I was really arguing in my column, or for that matter, what my actual personal beliefs are. The point in the Trouw article was to emphasize that religion is a complex thing, not to be understood in a single good-bad way, and to understand which conditions it is more likely to be a positive force. My article tries to be both critical and nuanced. If someone nevertheless disagrees because his or her assessment of religion is different, that's fine. What concerns me far more than this disagreement with my column is the apparent sentiment of the author that people of faith – by virtue of their faith – should not have a place in academic life. Or, alternately, that their very presence in academic positions should be questioned. Then we’ve lost the key insight of modernity – that people should be welcomed regardless of their (non)-religious convictions, and that they should not have (anti-) religious tests imposed upon them. Encountering people with convictions other than your own should not bring you to issue sweeping judgmenst, but is an opportunity to show genuine curiosity as to what that other person really believes, and why. That too is a key Englightenment ideal to which we should hold fast. I hope such conversations will ever more be a part of what the UCU community is about. Maybe we can find a venue together to talk about the desirability of religious pluralism or diversity at the college, and its possible pitfalls. Willem Mingelen has informed The Boomerang to follow up on the Dean’s response in the next issue of this paper.

The Boomerang | September 2018

QUAD QUERIES

g that in h t t s e d ir e w e h t “What is th?” u o m r u o y in t u p you’ve ever

“I deepthroated a banana once and I got pretty far.” – Maarten

“A maggot”

“My fist” –Vedika

– Ambre

“A prayin

g Mantis”

– Willem

“A ping po

– Carmen ball”

” ntist’s finger. “My orthodoai Thai –M

“Thomas’s hand”

(he actually put my hand in his mouth)

– Sam

“A live sn – Kars

“A jellyfis

ail”

h.”

– Martha

rass” load of g

“A shit – Jelle

“A ferret” – Ivan

Powered by ! Town & Gown 28 September @ Domplein: Utrecht Student Jobs Fair 2018, Job fair with a wide range of employers from Utrecht who are looking for part-time staff. 3 October @ Uithof: Master’s Open Day, Open day for Dutch and international Master’s programmes of the Utrecht University. Registration is required. 7 October @ Tivoli Vredenburg: José Gonzalez, This time the Swedish-Argentinian singer-songwriter gives a concert with a whole orchestra formed by the String Theory musical collective.

22 October @ Academiegebouw, Domplein 29: Erdogan’s Turkey, Journalist Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal will interview legal scholar Prof Başak Çalı on the national and international effects of Erdogan’s rule after his recent electoral success. 26 October @ Tivoli Vredenburg: Ibeyi, The French-Cuban twin sisters’ musical due mixes electronica, soul and traditional African sounds.

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