Arts Lecture - Opening of the Faculty of Arts Academic Year

For over 35 years, the Faculty of Arts has opened its academic year with the Arts Lecture. During this lecture - with an interactive Q&A session afterwards - a famous Dutch person shares their opinion about the importance of the arts and humanities for society. Previous speakers include Iris de Graaf, Abdelkader Benali, Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal, Stine Jensen, Ramsey Nasr, Anna Enquist, Femke Halsema, Ronald Giphart, Hans Goedkoop and Winnie Sorgdrager.

The Arts Lecture is intended for staff and students of the faculty and also serves as a faculty welcome for new first-year students. Other interested parties are also very welcome to attend. The lecture is given alternately in Dutch and in English every year; this year it was given in Dutch.

The Arts Lecture 2023 took place on Tuesday, 5 September, delivered by none other than Ellen Deckwitz. The title of her lecture was ChatGPT: the poet is dead, long live the poet!

Ellen Deckwitz (1982) is a poet and a writer. She studied Dutch language at our faculty and has been unstoppable since she made her debut in the Arts: in recent years prize-winning collections have appeared (including De steen vreest mij, C. Buddingh-prize 2012), books about writing (the widely acclaimed Zo wordt je een geweldige dichter) and the bestseller Olijven moet je leren lezen (Learning to read olives). In 2021, Ellen Deckwitz won The Johnny, the oeuvre prize for performing poetry.

She also regularly presents poetry slams, won countless herself, made the finals of De slimste mens, travels the world to discover new poetry, makes theater and also writes weekly columns in both NRC Handelsblad and De Morgen.

Previous speakers include:

• 2022 - 'Unfreedom' - How to stay connected in repressive times and amplify voices in society
• 2021 - Abdelkader Benali: 'Jij' in de nieuwe letteren - Waarom het verhaal over jezelf altijd over een ander gaat’
• 2019 - Eelco Bosch: 'Truth in a time of truthiness. How journalism can overcome challenges like fake news, autocracy and polarization'
• 2018 - Stine Jensen: 'Salinger bellen - Over de kracht van de literaire verbeelding'
• 2017 - Katherine Watson: 'Leadership in spaces of intersection: are we ready?'
• 2016 - Ramsey Nasr: 'Here comes the poetry'
• 2015 - Farah Karimi: ‘Post 2015 – en route to a new future’
• 2014 - Wim Pijbes: ‘Het museum van Nederland’ [The museum of the Netherlands]
• 2013 - Sophie in’t Veld: ‘Europese talenrijkdom’ [The wealth of languages in Europe]
• 2012 - Anna Enquist: ‘Het levensverhaal in psychotherapie en biografie’ [Life stories in psychotherapy and biography]
• 2011 - Femke Halsema: ‘Politici in film en tv-series’ [Politicians in films and TV series]
• 2010 - Ronald Giphart: ‘Humor als ondergeschoven stijlfiguur in de Nederlandse literatuur’ [Humour as a subordinate style figure in Dutch literature]
• 2009 - Hans Goedkoop: ‘Hoe het gaat met ons historisch besef’ [On the state of our historical awareness]
• 2008 - Henk van Os: ‘Musea als kathedralen’ [Museums as cathedrals]
• 2007 - Annejet van der Zijl: ‘Oud is in’ [Old is in]
• 2006 - Jan Blokker: ‘Het vergeten Geesteskenmerk’ [The forgotten feature]
• 2005 - Klaas van Berkel: ‘Benauwde Letteren’ [Anxious arts]
• 2004 - Abram de Swaan: ‘De talenstudie in Europa XL’ [Language degrees in Europe XL]
• 2003 - Elsbeth Etty: ‘Een tweede leven voor juffrouw Laps’ [A second life for Miss Laps]
• 2002 - Marcel Möring: ‘Erfenis en gedachtegoed: Over de rol van de letteren in veranderende tijden’ [Heritage and philosophical legacy: On the role of the arts in changing times]
• 2001 - Kees ‘t Hart: ‘Voor wie schrijven?’ [For whom do we write?]
• 2000 - Winnie Sorghdrager: ‘Cultuur en Overheid’ [Culture and government]