Programme VU Education Day 2026

1.1 The Broader Mind Course: what we have learned, what you can learn
The VU educational vision A Broader Mind started in 2019 with the first edition of the Broader Mind Course. It is an extracurricular course that can be taken by all bachelor students. The course aims to contribute to personal development and societal awareness and is interdisciplinary. It is now in its 9th edition.

In this workshop we will get acquainted with what the course is, what it wants to achieve and what we have learned during the various editions. Together, we will do some exercises that are done in the course, reflect on it, and brainstorm together about how the course can be developed further and how it can have the optimal role within the VU curriculum, including your own programme.

By: Govert Buijs (professor of political philosophy at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, academically responsible for the Broader Mind Course)
Location: HG-01A44
Language: English

1.2 Film and/as knowledge: the camera as teaching and research tool
In this session, we introduce how we use filmmaking as a mode of research and teaching in the minor Visual Evidence. Together with the participants, we watch a short documentary film made by students and discuss how to design, supervise and grade such a film project in the context of academic education.

By: Sofia Stolk, coordinator of the university minor Visual Evidence
Location: Aurora
Language: English

1.3 What AI sees when it looks at us … and what we don’t see when we look at AI
What does AI actually “see” when it looks at us? And what remains invisible - to the machine and to ourselves? This interactive session explores how AI systems learn not from reality, but from the categories and structures we encode into the data we create, curate, and inherit that carry cultural, historical, and political weight. Building on examples from digital humanities and data practices, the session invites participants to examine how digitisation, metadata design, and archival choices shape what becomes visible - or invisible - to AI.

Through a guided conversation, we will unpack the powerful role of categorization and reflect on the shared responsibility between humanities and computer science scholars in shaping fairer and more transparent data infrastructures and why both perspectives are essential for building more accountable data futures. The session encourages active discussion and collective critical thinking rather than technical instruction.

By: Lorella Viola
Location: HG-02A24
Language: English

1.4 Better, Stay and Finally Prepared
VU-programmes for bi-cultural and first-generation students that turn around perspectives

Support programmes for students from diverse backgrounds often focus on helping them adapt to the dominant academic culture. From the perspective of A Broader Mind, we can reverse this view: students do not only learn from us (knowledge and skills important for academic success), but we also learn from them. Students with diverse backgrounds, such as bicultural and first-generation students, bring valuable experiences and perspectives. At VU Amsterdam, this diversity is embraced through programmes such as Better Prepared, Stay Prepared, and the career‑development programme Professional Companion, which encourage students to use their unique insights and promote mutual knowledge exchange.

In this workshop, we explore how this two‑way model can be applied in content‑focused education. The central question is how lecturers can integrate these perspectives into their curriculum when selecting themes, examples, teaching methods, activities, and assessment.

By: dr. Yvette Taminau, dr. Jorine Geertsema, and dr. Kati Cousijn
Location: Forum 4
Language: English

1.5 Does your teaching stimulate A Broader Mind? Scholarship of Teaching and Learning helps you find out!
Are you working on education that helps students develop A Broader Mind? Do you have ideas or initiatives to stimulate this even further? With Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), you can empirically research and substantiate these ideas. This allows you to demonstrate how your teaching contributes to the development of A Broader Mind, while gaining insight into how you can optimise your teaching practice.

In this session, you will explore how SoTL and ABM can reinforce one another. We will show that conducting research in your own teaching practice is relevant, enjoyable, engaging, and achievable. During the session, a VU lecturer will demonstrate how she translated a concrete ABM idea into a SoTL project. You will learn how your own ideas can serve as the starting point for meaningful inquiry into teaching—and how we, as the CTL, are happy to support you in this process.

By: Maiza Campos Ponce and Jan Willem Grijpma
Location: HG-02A237
Language: English

2.1 How to implement Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) in your course
Are you interested in adding an international and intercultural dimension to your course by collaborating with a colleague abroad? Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) enables students at VU Amsterdam to develop intercultural skills by working together online in international (and sometimes interdisciplinary) teams.

In this interactive session, you will learn what COIL is, how it can benefit both you and your students, and how to implement a COIL project step by step within your course. The session concludes with practical tips, useful resources, and information on the support available to help you set up your own COIL.

By: Dorien Boerrigter-Jansen, Regional Advisor and Erasmus+ Coordinator, and Insa Duvos, Internationalisation Advisor & Exchange Officer
Location: HG-01A44
Language: English

2.2 Expand and still your mind – how meditation can change your life (and mind)
A mini workshop to start discovering the power of meditation techniques, and how they can benefit you in your daily life, work, and studies. Experience it for yourself and perhaps find something meaningful for you. In 30 minutes, you’ll try out a few techniques, learn about what meditation is and some common misconceptions, and if you’d like to explore it further.

By: Eef Bons-Joshi
Location: Aurora
Language: English

2.3 Neurodiversity as a blueprint for inclusive education
In this workshop, we will look at how a neuroinclusive approach in education design and teaching can produce benefits for all students. After a short introduction, we will discuss how to implement neuroinclusive education in your own practice.

By: Gabriel Peralta Alvarez
Location: HG-02A24
Language: English

2.4 Group member peer assessment to incentivize collaboration
Group assignments are often used for efficiency reasons, but if teamwork is a core learning objective, the environment must support it. Game theory suggests that traditional group formation and grading can inadvertently discourage cooperation. To address this, I present a course design featuring a summative peer assessment system that generates a holistic correction factor for the group grade. This promotes a responsible mindset and creates individual accountability. To prepare students, we implement a formative feedback round halfway through the course, using the same evaluation criteria. Furthermore, to simulate real-world challenges, we maximize group diversity by intentionally balancing team role preferences, ambition levels, and academic backgrounds. This structured approach transforms group work from a logistical convenience into a robust learning experience that incentivizes genuine collaboration and high-quality feedback exchange.

By: Loek van der Kallen, coordinator of the bachelor programme Biomedical Sciences
Location: Forum 4
Language: English

2.5 The Pedagogy of Courageous Presence
If you are looking for new ways to engage as an educator and create classroom experiences where students want to show up, speak, and contribute, consider this an invitation to get curious. During this interactive session, we will explore how the way you show up as a teacher shapes what becomes possible for students in the room.

Together, we will explore a fresh way of thinking about teaching that balances humanity and structure, certainty and not-knowing, and responsibility with care. We will reflect on how stance, questions, and design choices can invite students to participate more openly, without requiring perfection from them or from you.

You will leave with a practical framework and concrete ideas that you can start applying immediately, in ways that fit your own teaching style and context. My aim is to support deeper student engagement while also nurturing your own sense of presence, purpose, and possibility as an educator.

By: dr. Lalin Anık, Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the MBA in International Business Program
Location: HG-02A237
Language: English

3.1 Experimenting with Nature-Based Pedagogy: Why & How?
Our world faces serious climate and biodiversity crises. To change this unsustainable path, we need to transform how we interact with our environment. Education plays a crucial role in this transformation. Till now, higher education lacks widespread implementation of teaching formats for learning sustainability skills. Nature-based pedagogy (NBP) – learning in and with the environment – is a very promising format when it comes to fostering sustainable relationships with nature and stimulating students to develop eco-friendly solutions. At VU, we have created a flourishing NBP community called 'Plato’s Garden'. Sharing the insights of several previous experiments, this session invites participants to come, experience, and discuss what NBP can bring to their own educational practice.

By: Karen Verduijn
Location: HG-01A44
Language: English

3.2 Staying with the Friction: Learning from the Process in Stakeholder-Engaged Education
Stakeholder involvement in higher education is often celebrated for its outcomes: impactful projects, real-world deliverables, and employability gains. Yet collaboration is messy: expectations clash, timelines mis-align, and uncertainty prevails.

In this roundtable, we share insights from the Professional Anthropology (PA) track at VU Amsterdam, where MSc students co-design research projects with external organisations. Our experience shows that the most valuable learning emerges by navigating uncertainty, negotiating differences, and reflecting critically on the process. Dealing with the “frictions” in the collaboration, rather than its concrete outcomes, is precisely what fosters deep learning: critical thinking, adaptability, effective communication, and reflexivity.

We invite participants from all disciplines to join an open discussion on questions such as:

• How do we help students embrace friction rather than fear it?
• How can educators make the journey visible and valued in curricula?

Bring your own experiences of dealing with friction and let’s learn from each other!

By: Giulia Sinatti, Ellen Bal, Flávio Eiro (VU Amsterdam, Social and Cultural Anthropology), Suzanne Boersma (Academie van de Stad, VU alumna and former researcher)
Location: Aurora
Language: English

3.3 Teaching Global Citizenship: Make Your Education “A Broader Mind” Proof through Community Service Learning
In this workshop, we explore how you can teach your students to become global citizens through the principles of the VU’s A Broader Mind vision. We focus on Community Service Learning (CSL) as a practical approach, where the core elements of reflection and reciprocity guide learning experiences that connect students with real societal challenges. Through a brief plenary introduction followed by an interactive World Café-style session, participants will collectively explore how to adapt their courses to make them “A Broader Mind” proof. By the end, you’ll leave with concrete ideas and ingredients to design education that is meaningful, socially engaged, and aligned with VU’s vision.

By: Marjolein Zweekhorst (project leader CSL and professor Innovation and Education in the health and life sciences), Geertje Tijsma (postdoctoral researcher on co-creating knowledge that bridges science and society), Frederique Demeijer (assistant professor of Transformative Learning for Inter- and Transdisciplinary Education), Sarju Sing Rai (assistant professor in "Competencies Development for Societal Transformation through Public Engagement in Transdisciplinary Research and Education") & Galoeh Adrian Noviar (project coordinator CSL)
Location: HG-02A24
Language: English

3.4 Connective Cards session with NEWConnective
Together with VU students, NEWConnective developed a series of 78 questions that are deep conversation starters. With these questions we open ourselves to others and tune in to the story of those sitting across from us. The Connective Cards have proven to be a helpful method in creating interaction, conversation, and deep listening within the classroom. By addressing life’s deeper and more existential questions we enter conversation on a different level than we do in an average conversation. Which can be a helpful tool within group dynamics.

Learn more about this method by joining this fun and explorative workshop with NEWConnective in the 3D room.

NEWConnective is VU’s inter-religious program-group that organizes events on life questions, meaning, and personal beliefs. Offering grief groups, and working on dialogues, journaling, meditations, book clubs, podcasts and much more for students.

By: 3D & NEW Connective team
Location: 3D (W&N building, to the right of the Spar)
Language: English

3.5 The Missing Ingredient: A Human!
In education, we constantly prepare good curricula. We mix textbooks, teachers, and peers - yet one essential ingredient is often left out. In medicine, patients use the credo ‘nothing about us, without us’ to remind us that learning becomes richer when we add the people at the heart of care: patients themselves. This lesson is also valuable for fields outside of medicine. 

In this fast‑paced interactive session, we explore what happens when you stir a real human story into your teaching. You’ll meet an experienced contributor who shares how their lived experience transforms learning for students and educators alike. Together, we’ll brainstorm practical ways to bring human voices into your own educational recipe. 

Come discover how adding one person can deepen understanding, spark empathy and create learning that truly sticks.

By: Elza van Deel (Medicine, Physiology) & Anne de la Croix (Amsterdam UMC)
Location: HG-02A237
Language: English