A little piece of history forms in each moment, but today there was a genuine milestone at LUC. We were proud to host our first ever Student Poster Conference at the culmination of our core course, Designing Academic Inquiry. Our students have worked extremely hard on a wide range of original research projects, all of which involved primary research and sophisticated analysis on topics focussed in the city of The Hague itself.
Posters in the conference included:
+Public transportation
+Healthcare
+Recycling and waste management
+Sporting and leisure facilities
+Museums and cultural provisions
+Parks and open public spaces
Not having been directly involved in the progress of this important course, which was convened with great energy and discipline by Dr Cissie Fu, this was the first time that I had seen the results of this semester’s creative labour and dedication. I was struck by the vitality of the poster presentations as well as by the quality of the research that rooted them. Our students have taken serious the idea and meaning of academic inquiry and designed projects that demonstrate real social and political conscience, of the kind that many mature scholars often lack. Without exception, each of the projects probed into concrete and serious concerns for The Hague today, with implications for any urban space.
Questions such as how systems of public transportation also provide a surveillance matrix that challenges us to reconsider the appropriate balance between our public safety and individual privacy are provocative, powerful and important. Asking questions about the relationship between cultural productions, architecture, performance and national identity speak to the heart of LUC’s developing profile in ‘Political Arts.’ Interrogating public spaces, sporting facilities, and parks as sites of social, political and cultural interaction and productivity reflects a cultivated sensitivity about the ways in which people interact with, transform, and are transformed by their environment. Furthermore, tackling environmental issues in the form of recycling and food-waste management by supermarkets, public institutions and private individuals in The Hague demonstrates a sounds understanding of the kinds of everyday implications of grand sustainability problematics that inspire LUC’s majors in Sustainability and International Development. This powerful concern for environmental wellbeing was also echoed by an important level of social consciousness and awareness of public health issues, particularly in the form of a consideration of the impact of obesity in The Hague.
Recognizing the quality and scale of the accomplishment of the students of LUC at the end of their first year in The Hague, Ingrid van Engelshoven, Alderwoman for Education in the city of The Hague, gave us the honour of visiting the conference and speaking to the participants about their achievements. The told the students that they inspire her and the city of The Hague to take seriously their role as global citizens as well as residents of the city, explaining that she feels The Hague is lucky to have LUC in its heart as well as in its head. The city of international peace and justice is a vibrant and exciting intellectual and ethical environment in which LUC has a very special place. Ms Van Engelshoven spoke warmly about how the staff and students of LUC should no longer consider ourselves as visitors in this city, but instead should feel that this is our home, just as she considers that we are now ‘one of us.’ And finally, she asked me not to force everyone to work so hard, so that they can get outside and enjoy more of the city …
Congratulations to the students on this fantastic accomplishment – I’m impressed and proud of you all!
Posted by Chris (the dean)
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