Academic Culture Between Inspiration and Self-Congratulation
GSSS opening speech by Professor Jan WIllem Duyvendak
Jan Willem Duyvendak reflected on what good teaching should be about during his speech at the opening of the academic year at the Graduate School of Social Sciences on 30 August 2012.
"When you were looking for a Master's programme, you might have read many slogans used by universities to attract students in an increasingly competitive Master-‘market.’ But what, in fact, is good teaching? What is a good student, and what is a good professor?
What do you, yourself, expect from an MA study at the University of Amsterdam? What made you decide to join our MA programme? What can you expect from a study with us? Those of you who finished a BA program here might have quite a good idea what studying at the UvA means, but many of you are new to the UvA and even to a Dutch university.
In the next 30 minutes or so, I want to share some ideas regarding what we might expect from each other, or perhaps a little bit more ambitious: I want to reflect upon what good teaching should be about. When you were looking for an MA, you might have read many slogans used by universities to attract students in an increasingly competitive MA-‘market.’ But what, in fact, is good teaching? What is a good student, and what is a good professor?
To be clear from the beginning: I don’t claim at all to know the answers to these questions. But others seem to know it, since they label themselves in terms of excellence, claiming to be talented, inspiring and so on. I therefore propose to start with those self-declarations, those self-ambitions by universities, and to think through whether those claims, ambitions and pretentions make sense. One precaution: I may sometimes sound a little bit critical or skeptical about the Big Words we – in academia- use to describe ourselves. That is correct, I am somewhat critical and quite skeptical about recent tendencies. But I think for good reasons: let’s not take the PR language to advertise universities for granted but reflect on what good teaching should be about."
Interested in the full text of this opening speech?