Famous Dutch novelist, columnist and journalist Arnon Grunberg is TU/e’s Artist-in-Residence during its 65th lustrum year. In this second public event, part of his educational program ‘The Ethical Casino’, he discusses meritocracy as an ideal, along with his guests Josse de Voogd, Wijnand IJsselsteijn (TU/e) and Nilüfer Gündoğan (member of Dutch Parliament for Volt).
In this social model, the socio-economic position a person attains is determined by their efforts and skills rather than the good or bad luck that befalls them. As Grunberg puts it: “What are we prepared to pay, in money or effort or rules and regulations, to create a more equal society? Where should the limits of government intervention lie? How much lost liberty are we prepared for it to cost? You could think of society as a casino.” Grunberg reflects on these and other questions with invited guests Wijnand IJsselsteijn, Nilüfer Gündoğan and Josse de Voogd.
Nilüfer Gündoğan has been a member of VOLT's parliamentary group since March 2021. She was the owner of a consulting firm until the elections. As a member of parliament, she is particularly concerned with finance, public health, welfare and sports, and education, culture and science.
Josse de Voogd is an independent researcher and publicist at the intersection of geography, politics and society. He studies and writes about topics including electoral geography, inequality and diversity, for various national media outlets, ministries and municipalities.
Prof. dr. Wijnand IJsselsteijn is a professor of Cognition and Affect in Human-Technology Interaction and scientific director of the Center for Humans and Technology at TU/e. He explores the impact of media technology on human psychology, and the use of psychology to improve technology design. He has a keen interest in the relation between data science, AI and psychology. His focus is on conceptualizing and measuring human experiences in relation to digital environments (immersive media, serious games, affective computing, personal informatics) in the service of human learning, health, and wellbeing.
Artist-in-Residence educational program
This year’s Artist-in-Residence program is organized as part of the TU/e lustrum ‘Heroes like you’ and in collaboration with Verstegen & Stigter Cultural Projects. It consists of six masterclasses and a weekend excursion with a selection of 25 students, all of which will take place in the fall.
There will also be three public events of which this discussion program is the second one. The first program was a lecture by Arnon Grunberg. The final presentation of the results of the masterclasses will be held on November 17.
Photos
You can view photos taken during the program here.