Zsóka Sándor

Zsóka Sándor is following the Research Master’s programme in ‘Religious Studies and Theology’, for which she is studying how the traditional Dabke dance brings people from different religious backgrounds together and shapes their interactions. In this context, the contact is specifically between people from the part of south-west Asia called the Levant. The Levant, also known as ‘Morgenland’, is made up of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. Many of the people from this area who now live in the Netherlands come from very different religious backgrounds. Rather than asking whether dance removes religious differences, she explores how these differences are expressed and negotiated within the shared practice of Dabke. Zsóka has already presented her research into the Dabke dance at a number of international conferences, and one of the presentations is due to be published. Her review of an important book about the Syrian Dabke dance will also be published shortly, in a leading review journal. In her online pitch, Zsóka explained exactly how and why the Dabke dance is so important.

Zsóka's average mark for her Master’s degree programme is currently 8.6, the same as her results for the Bachelor’s programme in Religious Studies, which she passed cum laude. Her faculty nominated her for the GUF-100 prize in 2024, when she was still a Bachelor’s student, but unlike this year, she was then surpassed by a more experienced, better candidate. Apart from achieving high marks, Zsóka is also active in several other areas. She is a mentor for first-year Master’s students, a teaching assistant for numerous course units within both the Faculty of Religion, Culture, and Society and the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and a dance teacher/facilitator/performer of Dabke dance within the Bab Ad-daar collective, which focuses on ‘newcomers’ in the Netherlands. She has been a BA mentor and treasurer for many years, including this current year, simultaneously being a MA mentor.