Programme Chair Joost Augusteijn officially opened the Academic Year by reflecting on some major happenings in the past year. One of the ongoing discussions in society as well as in the university and our programme is about inclusivity and diversity. Joost Augusteijn stressed that although there can be diametrically opposed viewpoints we must always strive to continue to talk to each other about them as having discussions and exchange of opinion is essential in an academic environment. A starting point for this is to respect and understand each other’s points of view.

Looking forward, Joost mentioned the development and continuous rethinking of the International Studies programme. In the coming year we will discuss  questions about the way we assess our students, about the possibility of thematic specialization in the programme, but also about the traditions that have slowly but surely been established, such as the way we celebrate the Graduation Ceremony. In order to answers such questions jointly, the Programme Board will establish working groups on these themes. Students will also be asked to participate.

The number of students attending the event was less than the number who had registered, but the attendance was still quite high. Perhaps many students did not realize the significance of the Dutch propedeuse tradition. In the Netherlands, receiving your first year diploma is a major event and is seen an indication of your capabilities. Attaining the “P”, as the Dutch often call it, usually means that the student is capable of attaining the final diploma as well.

After the opening address by Joost Augusteijn it was time for the main lecture. Stefano Bellucci, lecturer in our programme and specialist in African labour history, introduced professor Kaufmann, as well as the panel consisting of lecturer Timothy Stacey, and students Marin Lucic and Samira Yusuf.

Opening lecture  
In his lecture, Eric Kaufmann supported his claims about the rise of populism and the correlation with (the salience of) immigration with numerous figures and tables. One of his claims is that being in favour of either an increase, or a decrease of immigration not only correlates with socio-economic class, but much stronger with certain personality types. He quotes McCrae, (1996):

“Open individuals have an affinity for liberal, progressive, left-wing political views, whereas closed individuals prefer conservative, traditional, right wing views”.

An important question is: why do we see the rise of populism in Western countries now? Kaufmann shows that there is a correlation between the rise of immigration in most countries in the European Union and the rise of populist parties.

Next, Kaufmann discussed the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments in the US. In recent years, anti-immigration sentiments have flared up in public discourse. Differently from former presidents, Trump has put immigration on the political agenda as one of the major issues.

Professor Kaufmann ended his lecture with a prediction of racial composition of England and Wales in the year 2300. Most of the population will be of mixed ethnic background then, while the original white majority will have declined to an insignificant small minority. According to Kaufmann policies regarding immigration should therefore be informed by these facts.

The members of the International Studies panel, Timothy, Marin and Samira posed a number of interesting questions, after which there was time for the audience to comment and ask questions. A debate followed, pertaining not only to academic issues but also to societal issues of racism, the zwarte piet discussion and other issues. Unfortunately time was limited as professor Kaufmann had to return to London and the first year ceremony was about the start.

After a short speech by one of their area lecturers, students got their well-deserved first year certificate, followed by a photo shoot and some drinks and a bite. The wonderful evening sun lit up the faces of many satisfied students, looking back on a successful first year as well as forward to some beautiful years to come in International Studies.

Article in Mare magazine 
Read more on professor Kaufmann in the Mare (Unfortunately only in Dutch)
https://www.mareonline.nl/achtergrond/de-toekomst-is-beige/

Event photos
Photos of the event can be found here. Use the password: Opening2019. If you would like to have your photo removed from the folder, send an email containing filename to: r.c.mulders@hum.leidenuniv.nl.