On Thursday, 19 November 2026, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam will celebrate its 146th Dies Natalis. This year’s theme is: The Art of Discomfort.
As a university of free thinkers, we believe that new insights arise when different perspectives come together. But how do we deal with those differences, uncertainties, and conflicting realities? Are we willing to listen when someone sees the world in a fundamentally different way? After all, freedom for everyone means that we don’t always have to agree with one another. That requires us to be willing not to shy away from discomfort, but to learn to deal with it.
Dealing with that discomfort is the central theme of this Dies Natalis. By bringing together art, science, and personal stories, the programme shows how different realities coexist, where they may clash, and what that means for the way we live together, work together, and develop knowledge.
What happens when differences clash?
Theater artist Saman Amini will provide a surprising artistic experience that opens the conversation. He will then engage in a conversation with Meike Bartels, Professor of Genetics and Wellbeing, and Francisco Reis Garcia Gomes, a master’s student and member of the University Student Council.
In this conversation, different perspectives converge, assumptions are challenged, and our own perspectives are shifted. Differences are allowed to create friction: it is precisely in that discomfort that space is created to look at yourself, others, and the world in a different way. There is also room for personal reflection. What happens to you when differences create friction?
Honorary doctorate
We will conclude the Dies with the conferral of an honorary doctorate on Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation. She willl elaborate on her personal experience and the discomfort that can arise when you act in accordance with your values, such as privacy and human freedom.