Night at the Library: UU explores climate, activism, and the future of Academia

Ecosexuality, AI as a climate ally, and the role of activism in academia. These were some of the themes explored by the ‘Night at the Library’ Festival, which happened on Thursday, October 9, at the University Library City Centre. The event was part of the ‘One Book One Campus’ initiative, which invites the UU community to read a book together to “allow for spontaneous conversations, meeting new people and gaining new insights”, in the words of Katrien Pouwels, Project Manager at the University Library.

This was the first time that the ‘One Book One Campus’ programme included an entire festival.  This year, the team of seven, including Pouwels, organised a mixture of events throughout October with the ‘Night at the Library’ being the highlight. The team welcomed the UU community to the library where multiple smaller scale talks and workshops happened in multiple rooms, so the crowd could move around. The event attracted both staff and students, with a rate of 35 percent students and 65 percent staff, according to Pouwels.

Singing, Talking, Eating, and Learning

Photo: DUB, Meltem Gencer

Beginning with the Jazz band, ‘Tzigane Swing’, catching everyone’s attention at Lodewijk Café, the activities kicked off after a short speech from Matthijs van Otegem, the director of the library. Participants could taste the ‘Appetisers of the Future’ offered by the Young Future Food Movement, sketch their own ‘Green Dreams’, observe a nature-oriented exhibition while enjoying various herbal teas, and finish it off by purchasing their copy of “Birnam Wood”. 

Photo: DUB, Meltem Gencer

According to Annebet van Rooijen, Student Assessor of the Faculty of Humanities and a helping hand for the evening, the “informal atmosphere led to a talkative, gezellig [cosy] vibe, which is not typical for the library, since this is normally an individual working space”. Visitors also told DUB that they appreciated how approachable the event was. Though there were sign-ups, anyone could just walk in.

Photo: DUB, Meltem Gencer

The activity which had the highest attendance was the talk on “ecosexuality” by the Assistant Professor Laura op de Beke, concerning embracing the earth as a ‘lover’ as opposed to a ‘mother’. The lecture by Professor of Theoretical Philosophy, Jan Broersen, on flipping the script and seeing AI as a climate ally, was also very popular, and followed by an enthusiastic Q&A.

Another activity which garnered attention was student Merlijn van Leerzem’s talk, who was invited by the One Book One Campus team to share his opinion about grassroots activism within academia following his op-ed on DUB. Connecting the topic with current political events, he questioned the role and responsibilities of scientists in academic activism. His talk attracted an audience composed largely of scientists, with a lower percentage being students.

Photo: Lisanne Lentink

Simultaneous activities

According to Pouwels, students came up with the idea to organise a festival this time. The One Book One Campus team had a pizza session with several student representatives, including boards of study associations, where they discussed how to reach more students. This resulted in the idea of a festival with simultaneous activities that would cater to everyone. However, Pouwels points out that this was ultimately a limitation as well, since several visitors could not attend all the activities they wanted to due to the overlap.

However, Literary Studies student Tatiana Laks, who attended the event, expressed to DUB during the event that such a layout was very fruitful, as “workshops that last all throughout the evening allow you to weave in and out, which is a really good format”. This student also pointed out that she “enjoyed the practical and hands-on activities, like the ‘Seeds are the Bomb!’ workshop. Usually, we students are always thinking or writing, but rarely doing”. The ‘Night at the Library’ Festival was originally supposed to close the event, but the organisers brought it forward by a few weeks due to the Dutch election and exam season. Other activities related to Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood will follow throughout the month.

Photo: DUB, Meltem Gencer