Category: Column
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The Communist and Their Rolex
Imagine for a moment that you are a communist. One evening you arrive at one of your local communist organisation’s meetings, eager to quote Marx back and forth with your comrades until the sun rises. But then you see something that makes your heart sink; from underneath the cuff of a neatly ironed Brooks Brothers…
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Dress to Impress: Communicating Knowledge and Power Through Fashion
If he had not worn that borrowed blazer from Princeton University, Dickie Greenleaf would not be dead. In the movie The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Thomas Ripley fakes having attended Princeton to be accepted into the high society of New York. As part of his ruse, he flies out to Italy to visit Dickie Greenleaf,…
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The (Un)freedom of Dutch Housing
In the Netherlands, there is a housing crisis. This fact has been so unanimously agreed upon that it even became one of the main spearpoints in the 2023 Dutch elections under the moniker of ‘bestaanszekerheid’, or security of living (NOS 2023). The main problems that make up this crisis are the scarcity of available housing…
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Longing for a Fantastical ‘Home’
Self-Reflections on the Problematics for a Queer Tourist and Future Expat in Budapest “And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it Another version of me, I was in it Oh, I wave goodbye to the end of beginning” (Djo 2022 “End of Beginning”) In early 2024, the song “End of Beginning” by the artist…
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The Hopes and Dreams of a Student in a Foreign Country
There is a Portuguese word for a melancholic feeling of remembrance, of longing for someone or something that has been past, the absence of a once pleasing experience that is currently not being lived. The word is Saudade. It cannot be translated very well, and perhaps that is what makes it so dear to all…
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Nijmegen for Palestine: Demands for Radboud University
Nijmegen for Palestine (NFP) has made the point clear: Radboud must suspend ties with Israeli universities. And yet our university does not listen. In order to give NFP the space to express themselves and provide a detailed and nuanced account of their demands, I interviewed some members, and asked them about their organisation: who is…
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Philosopher Abroad: Culturicide in the Shadows of the USSR
Please be aware of a trigger warning for cultural genocide and war. The war in Ukraine is entering its 16th month, and the terrifyingly destructive battles show no sign of relenting. With the Russian army launching a slaughter in their ‘fraternal’ nation, other peoples of the former Soviet Union find themselves at odds with each…
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De prestatiemaatschappij – dat ben jij?
In het kader van 50 jaar Splijtstof reflecteren we in deze editie op hoe het studentenbestaan in de afgelopen decennia is veranderd. Hoe wordt er tegenwoordig tegen studenten aangekeken? Wat karakteriseert het studentenleven van vandaag? Er is een onderwerp dat de hedendaagse studententijd als geen ander bepaalt: studentenwelzijn. Dat staat namelijk onder druk. Tijdens de…
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Some Afterthoughts
“Without this restlessness, there is no progress” Aleksandra Kollontai, 1928 Friday, 3 June 2022, was the date of a remarkable event. On the occasion of her retirement, Veronica Vasterling had set up a meeting during which, in a first-round, younger staff members of our faculty gave a total of six presentations. They addressed, among others,…
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“The Social Safety Care Club”
On the 7th of October 2021, four of my fellow students (Annabel, Hanna, Luka and Anneloes) and I, decided to found what would soon be called the Social Safety Care Club, or in short: SSCC. It all started in what may be familiar to any (ex-)Radboud student reading this, our beloved Culture Café. Cozily seated…