The University Foundation organizes lots of activities for the members of the Club. Below you can see short reviews of some past activities. A more complete list can be seen on the French or Dutch web pages.
Wednesday 27 November 2024 at 5 pm : Debate (in English) “Self-concept and emotions: What has culture got to do with it?” with prof. Batja Mesquita (KULeuven) and prof. Shinobu Kitayama (University of Michigan). Introduction by prof. Philippe Byosière (Professor emeritus Doshisha University Kyoto, Visiting professor Management Centre Innsbruck, member of our Club).
Causerie followed by discussion time and a reception.
The topic
Cultural Understandings of Self: Exploring Beyond East and West (Shinobu Kitayama)
Our understanding of the self is more diverse than we once thought. While much research has compared Western and East Asian traditions, there is much to explore beyond this "East-West" framework. This presentation ventures into how various regions—like the Arab world, Latin America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa—offer unique perspectives on the self. Many cultures outside the West emphasize interdependence, but this idea varies widely across different environments and histories. By exploring these cultural zones, we gain new insights into how they contrast with, and even shape, the Western concept of an independent self.
Cultural Understandings of Emotions:MINE and OURS models (Batja Mesquita)
Our Western understanding of emotions as MINE (Mentalistic, INside the person, Essences) is not universal. In the talk, I revisit both old and new data from different cultures and outline an alternative model of emotions that helps to highlight features of emotions that are not accounted for by a MINE model of emotions. OURS-emotions sometimes offer a complementary view and, at other times, an alternative model of emotions: emotions as OUTside the person, Relational, and Situated.
The lecturers
Shinobu Kitayama is Robert B. Zajonc Collegiate Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Best known for his work on culture and the self, he is a recipient of numerous awards including the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award and the Association for Psychological Science’s William James Fellow Award.
Batja Mesquita is Professor and Director of the Center of Social and Cultural Psychology at KU Leuven). Most of her research focuses on the dynamic relationship between culture and emotions. She is a member of the Royal Belgian Academy of Arts and Sciences and an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was a 2019 recipient of an ERC Advanced Grant on Emotions as Gateways for Minority Inclusion.
Philippe Byosiere is an applied cognitive organizational psychologist, who focuses in his teaching, research and consulting on the role of the individual in organizational contexts from an interdisciplinary and global comparative perspective. He held the Centre of Excellence (COE) chaired professorship in the Graduate School of Business and the Graduate School of Technology and Innovation Management at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.
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In the series “Members have their say…” Professor Frederic Vermeulen (KU Leuven) came to talk on Monday November 18, 2024, about his first historical novel "De heks van Gottem. Het waargebeurde verhaal van Tanneke Sconyncx” (The witch of Gottem) (Lannoo Publishers, 2024). It tells the story of his ancestor Anna De Coninck/Tanneke Sconyncx, who was accused of witchcraft at the end of the 16th - beginning 17th century. His talk was preceded by a presentation by Professor Dick Harrison (Lund University), who recently published the non-fiction book Heksenjacht. Een geschiedenis over angst, repressie en vrouwenhaat (Witch hunt. A history about fear, repression and misogyny) (Omniboek, 2024). The event took place in English.
The discussion iwas followed by a reception, during which the book could be bought and dedicated.
The speakers
Frederic Vermeulen (1974) is full professor of economics at KU Leuven and winner of the Francqui Prize in 2019. In the search for his family history, he discovered his relationship with Tanneke Sconyncx, his great (x9) grandmother.
Dick Harrison (1966) is professor of history at Lund University, Sweden. He writes articles, blogs, novels and non-fiction books and makes TV documentaries about European and Swedish history.
The books
The witch of Gottem. The true story of Tanneke Sconyncx
Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, thousands of women and men were wrongly accused of witchcraft. Tanneke Sconyncx was one of them. This is her story.
The Spanish Netherlands, late sixteenth century. These are tough times for the people of Gottem. The troops of Philip of Spain and the advancing Calvinist armies devoured the small towns and villages, religious disputes split the small village communities in two and the plague reared its ugly head. The emptying countryside and the collapsed flax industry are in malaise.
The headstrong, young Tanneke is on the threshold of a new life when she marries the wealthy farmer's son Thomas. But it is also becoming increasingly difficult for them to manage the family farm. And when a dismissed servant spreads the gossip that Tanneke is a witch, they really get into trouble.
In a world run by men, without any defense or protection from any higher authority, Tanneke tries to prove her innocence in a trial that seems to have already been conducted in advance.
Witch hunt. A history of fear, repression and misogyny
In 'Witch Hunt', the Swedish historian Dick Harrison describes the major witch trials and witchcraft persecutions in Europe since ancient times. He pays extra attention to the persecutions in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The image of 'the witch' had terrible consequences for countless innocent women. They were exiled, smeared, accused, abused, convicted and murdered. Sometimes because they were seen as strange or dangerous, often just because they were 'different' from established society. Understanding these events requires an understanding of the spirit of the times. Dick Harrison sheds light on the cultural and political circumstances that led to the belief and persecution of witches and witchcraft and explains how in all these cases many women proved to be the ideal scapegoat.
Harrison edited the original Swedish edition especially for Dutch-speaking readers with numerous examples from the Netherlands and Belgium.
On April 24, 2024, at 6 pm, the University Foundation, in collaboration with the Royal Military Academy and the Egmont Institute, will organize a debate (Dutch and Fraench) on the challenges for geostrategy and world order in the international election year 2024. The war that has been going on since 2022 in Ukraine presents us with very major geostrategic challenges. Elections will also be held in more than 50 countries in 2024, especially in Europe, the United States and Russia, and there will be a new leadership for NATO and for Europe. What are the main challenges our world must deal with? How do we deal with these challenges from a military point of view and from a political point of view? This very important issue is introduced from a military point of view by Lt-Col Tom Simoens , RMA, and Col (GS) Peter Philipsen, RMA, and from a politico-strategic point of view by Ambassador Ghislain D’hoop, FPS Foreign Affairs, with Prof. Dr Alexander Mattelaer, Egmont Institute, as moderator.
The debate will be followed by a reception.
Participation €25.
The panel members
Lieutenant Colonel Tom Simoens is professor of history at the Royal Military Academy. He discusses the geopolitical challenges in a historical context and in a broader perspective since 1945 and discusses whether we are really dealing with a historical turning point.
Colonel Peter Philipsen, professor at the Royal Military Academy, situates the current challenges in a broader military context.
Ambassador Ghislain D'hoop is a senior diplomat who has held various leadership positions in his 40-year career (Foreign Affairs, Royal Counselor, Ambassador in Berlin, Chairman of the UN Commission on Drugs, Vice-Chairman of the IAEA Board) and is currently acting Director General for Multilateral Affairs and Globalisation at the Belgian Foreign Ministry.
Prof. Dr Alexander Mattelaer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Egmont Institute (Royal Institute for International Relations), professor at VUB and also affiliated with the Royal Higher Institute for Defense. He worked as a visiting researcher at Harvard University and the National Defense University in Washington DC.
The members of th Club of the University Foundation were invited to the New Year's reception on Thursday 25 January 2024.
On this occasiob professor em. Marc Boone (UGent) annd professor Catherine Lanneau (ULiège) gave a talk on th painting hanging in the Foundation near the entrance of the restaurant.
In 2022 the University Foundation started a series of panel debates in its new “Speakers' Corner” series, which gives the floor to British speakers and speakers from the EU on UK-EU affairs. In cooperation with TEPSA, the Egmont Institute and the EU-UK Forum, the recent debate was on Wednesday December 13 at 6 pm (followed by a reception) The topic: INSIDE OUT: HOW “GLOBAL” IS THE UK’S FOREIGN AND DEFENSE POLICY AND HOW “GEO-POLITICAL” IS THE EU’S? is discussed by Lord Ricketts, Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst en Baron Frans van Daele, and the discussion was moderated by Professor Dr Alexander Mattelaer.
The debate was followed by a reception.
More information on the topic
INSIDE OUT: HOW “GLOBAL” IS THE UK’S FOREIGN AND DEFENSE POLICY AND HOW “GEO-POLITICAL” IS THE EU’S?
In today’s crisis-ridden world, characterised by shifting balances of power, toxic information battles and polarised public opinions, the panel of experienced top diplomats will discuss the influence the UK and EU can wield and how to increase it for the benefit of peace and security and the defence of our European values and interests. How much (if at all) has the effectiveness and coherence of the EU’s and UK’s foreign and defence policies been affected or improved by BREXIT? Is the impact of the UK and the EU taken together larger or smaller than that of the former EU28? How strong is the will on both sides of the Channel to coordinate and harmonise their policies and decision-making frameworks? How important will foreign policy issues be in the upcoming UK and EU elections, most notably the need to provide long-term support for Ukraine? Finally, how closely are the UK and its European allies teaming up to defend the eastern flank of Europe through NATO?
More information on the speakers and the moderator
SPEAKERS
Lord Ricketts GCMG, GCVO
Lord Peter spent 40 years as a member of the Diplomatic Service. His final post was Ambassador in Paris (2012-16). Before that he was the UK’s first National Security Adviser (2010-12), and in that role was the coordinator of the 2010 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review. He was Permanent Under Secretary at the FCO and Head of the Diplomatic Service (2006-10). He spent much of his career working on politico-military issues and crisis management, including spells as the FCO Political Director (2001-3) and Permanent Representative to NATO (2003-6). He holds Honorary Degrees from the Universities of London, Kent and Bath.
Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst, EEAS Managing Director for Europe
Since June 2020 Ms Eichhorst is Managing Director for Europe of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Previously Ms Eichhorst served in the EU Delegations in Jordan and in Syria and from 2011 till 2015 she was EU ambassador to Lebanon. As Deputy Managing Director in charge of Western Europe, Western Balkans and Turkey she was also closely involved, as Chief Negotiator, in supporting the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue.
Ambassador Eichhorst holds an MA in languages and cultures of the Middle-East (Catholic University Nijmegen) and an MA in International Relations (ULB)
Baron Frans van Daele, Minister of State
Baron van Daele, is the European Union Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU. He has held several key diplomatic positions in the past. He worked as chief of staff for the King of the Belgians, chief of staff for former EU Council president Herman Van Rompuy and Belgium's permanent representative to NATO. Previously, he served as Belgium's ambassador to the United States and the European Union.
MODERATOR
Professor Dr Alexander Mattelaer
Dr Alexander Mattelaer is a Senior Research Fellow at Egmont – the Royal Institute for International Relations – and an associate professor at the VUB Brussels School of Governance, where he serves as the Vice Dean for Research. He is also affiliated to the Belgian Royal Higher Institute for Defence as chairman of the institute’s Scientific Committee. As a Fulbright Schuman fellow he completed research stays at Harvard University and at the National Defense University in Washington DC. He obtained his PhD in Political Science from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Master degrees from the University of Bath and the University of Leuven.
ChatGPT and Co in higher education: to be cheered or feared ?
The Ethical Forum 2023 took place on Thursday, December 7, 2023 from 2 to 6 pm, at the University Foundation.
For more information the reader is referred to the EF 2023 website.
Wednesday May 31, 2023 ar 5 pm.: Debate on "The future of the International monetary system" at the occasion of the publication of the book "Robert Triffin: A Life” by Ivo MAES (Prof. UC Louvain). Debate with Eric de Keuleneer (Chair), Ivo Maes (Robert Triffin Chair, Université catholique de Louvain), Jacques de Larosière (former Managing Director of the IMF), Peter Praet (former member of the ECB Executive Board (tbc), Elena Flores (Deputy-Director General, DG ECFIN, European Commission), Francesco Papadia (former Director-General, ECB) .
“Robert Triffin: A Life” by Ivo Maes is a must read. It is remarkably well documented and gives a new and original perspective on one of the great monetary thinkers of our time. Ivo Maes shows how Triffin’s critique of the Bretton Woods System proved luminous and why the Triffin dilemma is still pertinent today. The readers will also be impressed by Ivo Maes developments on Triffin’s resolute support for European integration, anticipating a kind of European Central Bank.”—Jean-Claude Trichet, Former President of the European Central Bank and Honorary Governor of Banque de France
Robert Triffin, a Belgian-American scholar and policy advisor, was a defining voice in economics and international politics in the twentieth century. He is best known for his analysis of the vulnerabilities of the international monetary system—the “Triffin dilemma”—, but he also played a key role in the debates on European monetary integration, especially as the monetary advisor of Jean Monnet. With his proposals for a European Reserve Fund and a European currency unit, he became one of the intellectual fathers of Europe's single currency, the euro.
This intellectual biography evaluates what made Triffin a crucial figure in modern economic history. With an emphasis on the ideas that shaped the postwar international system, Robert Triffin: A Life explores both the man and the mission. In addition to analyzing his work in economics and policymaking, Ivo Maes and Ilaria Pasotti trace Triffin's story from a very modest background, as the son of a butcher in Flobecq, who grew up through the interwar period, to a singularly influential economist in the late twentieth century.
“Robert Triffin: A Life” received the 2022 Best Book Award of AISPE, the Italian society for the History of Economic Thought.
Eric De Keuleneer Professor at the ULB Solvay Brussels School and Executive Director, University Foundation. He has published on various subjects including capital markets, energy markets, corporate governance and social responsibility of enterprises. In addition to his academic expertise, Prof. De Keuleneer has an extensive professional track-record. Until 2018, he was Chief Executive Officer of OCCH, Brussels (Office Central de Crédit Hypothécaire; state owned bank), since 2001 renamed Credibe. He was the Director of Corporate and Investment Banking at the ‘Generale Bank’ Brussels and Head of Syndication and Trading at Kredietbank Luxembourg. He is a member of various Boards in the private sector and the non-profit sector.
Ivo Maes is a Professor, Robert Triffin Chair, at the Université catholique de Louvain, as well as at ICHEC Brussels Management School. He was Senior Advisor at the Economics and Research Department of the National Bank of Belgium. He previously served as a member of the Committee for Institutional Reform of the West African Monetary Union and as the President of the Council of the European Society for the History of Economic Thought. He has been a visiting professor at Duke University (USA), the Université de Paris-Sorbonne, and the Università Roma Tre.
Jacques de Larosière was Director of the French Treasury, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Governor of the Banque de France and President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In 1988-89, he was a member of the Delors Committee, a crucial stepping stone in Europe’s economic and monetary union project. In 2008-2009, he became the President of the so-called “de Larosière Committee”, which was at the heart of a profound reform of the institutional architecture of financial supervision in the European Union. His latest book is « En finir avec le règne de l’illusion financière » (Odile Jacob).
Elena Flores is Deputy-Director General at the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission, where she is responsible for International and Investment. Since she joined DG ECFIN, Ms. Flores has held several senior management positions, including Director for International economic and financial relations, global governance (2015-2021); Director for Policy Strategy and Coordination (2011 – 2015); Director for Economies and Member States II (2007 – 2009). Between 1999 and 2002, Ms. Flores served as Advisor in Commissioner Solbes’ office, responsible for economic policies, employment, taxation and financial issues.
Francesco Papadia is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel and Chair of Prime Collateralised Securities and of the Selection Panel of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund. He was Director General for Market Operations at the ECB from 1998 to 2012. Before he worked at the Research Department of the Banca d’Italia. From 1980 to 1983 he was an Economic Adviser at the European Commission. His latest books are “The Value of Money” (co-editor, Villa Vigoni Verlag) and “Central Banking in Turbulent Times” (Oxford University Press).
In 2022 the University Foundation starts a series of panel debates In its new “Speakers' Corner” series, which will give the floor to British speakers on EU and UK-EU affairs. It is organized in collaboration with the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA). The first activity in this series takes place on Wednesday 23 March 2022 at 6 pm, and will deal with “WHAT THE PAST TELLS US ABOUT THE FUTURE: UK - EU RELATIONS”. The panel consists of Sir Stephen Wall, Dr Martin Westlake and Mr. Didier Seeuws. Moderator: Mr Jim Cloos.
The debate is followed by a reception.
Please register before 21 March 2022. Participation fee: 25 € p.p. To register click here.
Presentation of the speakers and the moderator.
STEPHEN WALL was,for 35 years, a British diplomat. He worked closely for five British Foreign Secretaries and for three Prime Ministers. He took part in the negotiations of five European Treaties and was for five years the UK’s Permanent Representative to the EU. He was Prime Minister Tony Blair’s senior official adviser on EU matters. His latest book “Reluctant European, Britain and the European Union form 1945 to Brexit” was published by Oxford University Press in 2020
MARTIN WESTLAKE is Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges). He has spent over four decades studying European integration. He has worked in the Council of Ministers and the European Commission, with the European Parliament and from 2003-2013 in the European Economic and Social Committee, where he served as Secretary General, 2008-2013. His most recent publications include 'Slipping Loose: The UK's Long Drift Away from the European Union' and, as editor, 'Outside the EU: Options for Britain' (both Agenda Publishing, 2020)
DIDIER SEEUWS was until February 2021 the Head of the Task Force on the UK of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European union. He was nominated by the Secretary General immediately after the UK Brexit referendum in June 2016. In this capacity, he provided advice to the Secretary General and to the President of the European Council in all matters related to EU-UK relations and was in charge of coordinating the EU Member States' positions and developing the negotiating mandates of the Council and the guidelines of the European Council for negotiations with the United Kingdom. Mr Seeuws is presently Director-General in the Council’s General Secretariat.JIM CLOOS is presently Secretary General of TEPSA (Trans European Policy Studies Association). He retired in February 2021 as Director-General in the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, after a long European career in the Luxembourg Permanent Representation, Commission cabinets and the Council Secretariat. He co-authored "National Leaders and the Making of Europe", an 'insiders’ history' of the European Council, John Harper, 2015, as well as "Le traité de Maastricht: genèse, analyse, commentaires." (Bruylant 1993). He has published numerous articles on EU-related questions.
JIM CLOOS is presently General of TEPSA (Trans European Policy Studies Association). He retired in February 2021 as Director-General in the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, after a long European career in the Luxembourg Permanent Representation, Commission cabinets and the Council Secretariat. He co-authored "National Leaders and the Making of Europe", an 'insiders’ history' of the European Council, John Harper, 2015, as well as "Le traité de Maastricht: genèse, analyse, commentaires." (Bruylant 1993). He has published numerous articles on EU-related questions.
As in previous years the University Foundation participated in the activities of the "Heritage Days" of the Brussels-Capital Region. For this year's Heritage Days, the Brussels-Capital Region reached out to all citizens and institutions wishing to share the wealth and cultural diversity of the city’s spectacular heritage. The central theme was "Meeting Points". The premises of the University Foundation could be visited, as well as 140 other locations. For more information visit the website heritagedays.urban.brussels..