FASoS News, events and stories

Finding a new routine in education is the biggest challenge we face, says Patrick Bijsmans. Online education, no lectures or tutorials no contact with other students, no University Library… all these aspects are having a huge effect on daily routine.

Christine Neuhold has been interviewed by Observant on her appointment as dean of FASoS. Christine will take over from current dean Sophie Vanhoonacker on 1 September 2020.

Sally Wyatt and two Digital Society students – Julius Vornhecke and Leonie Trutschler – have been interviewed by UMagazine on the bachelor’s degree in Digital Society that started in September 2019.
They explain how Digital Society came into being as a programme and what the future holds.

After over forty year of teaching, of which 20 years at Maastricht University, Dr. Nico Baakman retired on 14 January 2020. On this occasion and as a goodbye to his students and colleagues, his former student Hannah Segers talked to him about his career as a professor and his experiences along the way.

Katleen Gabriels is a moral philosopher, specialised in computer ethics. She looks into how morality and computer technologies influence each other. Her new book "Rules for Robots. Ethics and Artificial Intelligence" asks some questions that will need to be answered very soon.

While several parties in the latest UK election promised a second referendum, reconfirmed prime minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won an overwhelming mandate to “get Brexit done”.
Christine Neuhold talks about the need for informed debate and how complicated it is to leave the EU – or be in it.

In Budapest, Ferenc Laczo witnessed the fall of the Iron Curtain and, with it, communism in Eastern Europe. But over the last nine years, he has watched with increasing concern how Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has chipped away at the young democracy and set a course towards autocracy.

Kiran Patel is leaving Maastricht University for the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, where he will hold the chair in European History and establish an interdisciplinary research centre on Europe and European history. Here, he reflects on his time in Maastricht.

Raise your hands if you’d be happy to spend your free time categorising illustrations about microscopy in the 19th century. Because this is the internet, there are actually quite a few hands in the air now – if not necessarily yours. FASoS scholars Lea Beiermann (Worlds of Wonder) and Susan Schreibman (Letters 1916-1923) are providing opportunities for people to utilise their creative potential to experience research and contribute to it.

She’s a political scientist and an art enthusiast. She loves chocolate, just like her father and grandfather. She’s ‘secretly’ ambitious, like her son. A ‘Dutchified’ Belgian, a team player, a sound sleeper and a good listener. “I don’t mind talking about myself if I’m asked. But most people like to do the talking.” A report of a two-hour interview with Sophie Vanhoonacker, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

The European Union is often criticised for being a ‘show’, far removed from its citizens. The Brussels machinery is widely seen as boring, bureaucratic and complex. “However in reality, in many things the EU is more transparent than a lot of its Member States”, says political scientist Patrick Bijsmans. He welcomes criticism, though. Whether you used to be for or against Europe, now I think everyone is a Eurosceptic in the true sense of the word—they don’t automatically assume that something is good, and that’s okay.”

‘People often say that the pace of European cooperation is too high,’ says Hylke Dijkstra, director of the master’s programme in European Studies. ‘But the opposite is true. The changes aren’t happening fast enough.’ Dijkstra is disappointed in the EU. European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker’s agenda is a failure, he says. Public confidence is low and new players like China are superseding the old continent as a power factor.

Globalisation is undeniable. People, goods and information are moving around the world at an increasing pace. But what about animals? Do they also cross national and continental borders and how does that work? And how have people historically been involved in these movements? How have they tried to understand and manage animal movements? These are urgent questions for historian and researcher Dr Raf de Bont.

Karin Bijsterveld has been interviewed by Dutch newspaper NRC on the sound of a pandemic.

Leonie Cornips has been interviewed by the Dutch newspaper Trouw on the language cows speak. She explains that in her research she refutes the premises that only humans have their own language by which they set themselves apart from animals.

Raf de Bont was interviewed by NRC on his interest for ‘moving animals’. He reflects on the historical role the Korenwolf (European hamster) played in the history of Limburg.

Joey Tang, PhD candidate at FASoS, has been interviewed by Observant about his life.

Nico Baakman was interviewed by L1 on a case where the mayor of Weert allegedly subsidised a foundation he himself is chairman of. Dr. Baakman says he cannot judge whether something improper took place. He does agree, however, that an administrator should abstain from all appearance of evil.

Many mayors support a ban on consumer fireworks. By supporting a ban, mayors ensure this topic appears on the agenda in The Hague. This, however, does not mean that there will be a national ban on fireworks.

Raf de Bont was interviewed at GAIA Zoo by Dutch radio station NPO1 about his project "Moving animals".

Ernst Homburg was interviewed by the L1 ‘cultuurcafé’ on the cultural heritage of the ENCI (Eerste Nederlandse Cement Industrie; First Dutch cement industry). In December 2019, the ENCI announced its bankruptcy. Ernst Homburg sees the necessity of finding a new use for the ENCI factory. The adjacent quarry could be converted into a geological park, Homburg argues.

FASoS Professor Mathieu Segers was interviewed by several news outlets (Chapeau Magazine, de Limburger and 1Limburg) about the Maastricht Europe Days that took place last weekend. Prof. Segers is deputy managing director of Studio Europa which organises the Maastricht Europe Days.

He was also interviewed by NPO Radio 1 on Hungarian EU politics.

In the framework of Trump’s impeachment procedure, RTL Nieuws asked questions to Maaike Meijer concerning female anger.In the article (in Dutch), Prof. Meijer claims that there is a taboo on female anger. While when a man gets angry his anger is viewed in light of the thing he gets upset about, when a woman gets angry she is accused of being emotional.

Sophie Vanhoonacker and Katleen Gabriels were interviewd by Dutch regional news station 1Limburg about the importance of the new Bachelor's programme Digital Society for today's society and how the graduates of this programme can bridge the gap between technology and society.

 Interview with Sophie Vanhoonacker 
 Interview with Katleen Gabriels
Both interviews are in Dutch

Katleen Gabriels was interviewed on her latest book "Regels voor Robots" (Rules for Robots), in which she pleas to create ethical norms and rules for robots and AI systems, but also for engineers and other developers.

Leonie Cornips was interviewed by Dutch Radio 1 on singing the  "Limburgs convenant". In 1997, the Dutch government officially recognized Limburgish as an official regional language. On Wednesday 6 November 2019, Minister Knops, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, signed the ‘Limburgs Convenant’, which is aimed at better protecting the Limburgian language.

The role of women has been largely ignored in history books. Do historians interpret our past incorrectly? Or did women simply not achieve that many advancements?
Lies Wesseling discussed the theme ‘Zij/Hij’ (she/he) in the History Month together with archaeologist Gemma Jansen and historian Marjon Koene.

Annemieke Klijn was interviewed for the popular history radio show Onvoltooid Verleden Tijd (OVT) on Dutch radio 1 about ‘The ideal woman. Erotic advice from the Jesuit collection of Theodoor van de Velde at the beginning of the 20th century’.

Ernst Homburg was interviewed about his forthcoming book "Hazardous Chemicals, Agents of Risk and Change, 1800-2000". This book, co-edited by Elisabeth Vaupel, traces the history and development in the use of chemicals in all sorts of consumer products.

As a guest in the Dutch talkshow "Het Filosofisch Kwintet", Maarten Doorman was interviewed about the Paradox of Authenticity.