DUB is looking for its 2020 Campus Columnist

All students and employees at Utrecht University are eligible to join the competition for the title of DUB Campus Columnist 2020. Starting in January of next year, the winner will write a blog for us every two weeks.

As campus columnist, you’ll write about anything remarkable going on at the university, or in student life. Columns can tackle subjects such as the smoking ban, University College’s campus, internationalisation, love, or what’s going on within a student association. But the columnist could also focus on topics like teachers’ workloads, downsizing workplaces, the bureaucracy behind trying to apply for a research grant, the relationship between teachers and students, educational innovation, or stress amongst students.

The jury would like to see the campus columnist reflect on the news critically. Or that the columnist writes a piece that pokes fun at student or university life. “Sometimes, we’re so much in our own bubble, that we don’t realise a certain course of affairs is actually quite weird,” one of the jury members said. Finally, the jury would like to encourage the columnists to experiment with the form of columns, for example by using poetry, or letting photographs tell the story. The jury will receive the columns anonymised, so they will not know who the author of the columns is, or whether it’s a student or an employee writing them.

The Campus Columnist 2020 will succeed Mathijs Geurts. This student of Liberal Arts & Science is smack in the middle of student life. He lives in the student housing facilities at the IBB, and life in student housing is a recurring topic in his blogs. He observes and analyses the power relations in a student unit, remarks that pets have a calming effect, and calls for the IBB to be put on the list of immaterial cultural heritage. He also writes about recent events. Why is the tram so expensive? Isn’t there a better way of handling course evaluations? And why does there need to be an alternative for the Io Vivat?

Out of all submissions, three columnists will be nominated. During DUB’s New Year’s Drinks, the Campus Columnist 2020 will be announced. Along with the title and platform, the winner will receive the 1,000-euro Erik Hardeman stipend. For years, Hardeman published a weekly column in the U-Blad, called “Schreef”. From the student fraternities, the university board room, or the Institute of Raeto-Roman languages and cultures, the university life was analysed in an original way, with a little venom, but always with humour. After Erik Hardeman left, DUB looked for a comparable, opinionated writer, who shares their views of the university from the inside. In 2012, this became the Campus Columnist.

Who can apply
All students and employees who work or study at Utrecht University on January 1, 2020, are eligible to apply. Students who will graduate sometime in 2020, are also free to join.

How to apply
In order to participate in the race for UU Campus Columnist, you have to send in two columns. The columns have to be surprising takes on university life, and cannot exceed 500 words. Send the columns to m.j.agterberg@uu.nl before December 1st, 2019.

Who’s in the jury
Once again, DUB has managed to assemble a professional jury who will judge all applications anonymously. The jury is composed of the following people:

• Hanneke van Eijken, assistant professor and researcher in European Law. She’s an expert on citizenship in the European Union, European migration law, and protection of constitutions/ She’s also a poet, who’s published several works. Her debut, Paper Foals, won several literary awards.
   
• Roos Wijnants, is press officer. Among other things, she works on diversity. She studied comparative literary sciences at Utrecht University and the Free University in Berlin. She writs in the Utrecht magazine De Dakhaas, and works for Studium Generale in the Cover to cover  Cover to Cover programme, about books that have shaped our way of thinking.
   
• Michiel Hekkens recent graduate of the Bachelor of Philosophy. In 2018, he was DUB’s Campus Columnist. He also wrote columns for other media, such as Metro and Fok.nl.
   
• Ries Agterberg, editor-in-chief of DUB. He studied Dutch in Utrecht. He also published a number of books of poetry and a novella.

1,000-euro stipend
The Campus Columnist will receive the Erik Hardeman stipend worth 1,000 euros. In return, the Campus Columnist will write a column for DUB at least once every two weeks for one year.

Questions
If there are questions about the position of Campus Columnist, please direct them to Ries Agterberg: m.j.agterberg@uu.nl