Since its founding, PPE Encounters has brought a broad range of speakers to the John Stuart Mill College. From steward ownership advocates Maike Kauffmann and Annika Schneider to Yuguslav-tribunal expert Nevenka Tromp-Vrkic, the encounters add an extra dimension to PPE topics and inspire students with possible career paths. In addition to providing knowledge on a variety of topics, PPE Encounters can be seen as a democratic tool which gives students the opportunity to participate in the current societal and political debates. “It’s a way for students to express themselves in a non-academic way.” says Anne, a second year PPE student who joined the initiative to broaden her study experience.
PPE in real life
The PPE Bachelor is known for addressing complex societal issues, or “real life problems”. Nevertheless, the classroom and academic papers can feel quite removed from this reality. PPE student Teun was surprised to see that what they learn during their Bachelor’s, is actually applied directly in certain work fields. “In PPE you learn about these social issues, and I thought it was really interesting to meet people from the field who try to solve these issues or write about them.” At the beginning of the academic year, they invited Jan Willem van Putten, board member of Effective Altruism Netherlands. “He was an advisor for the Dutch government on how to make decisions in an ethical way. He would make a calculation for the Dutch Ministry, based on utilitarianism. Of course, academics make these calculations and cost-benefit analyses, but the fact that ministries really do this and hire people to advise them on the best way to do this, still surprised me. They very much base themselves on the Peter Singer type of altruism.”
Besides building knowledge in the work field, the social aspect is a major motivation for students to be part of the team. “It’s a way to get to know other people in PPE.” says Rudolfs. “After the events, students come to us and say that they really liked what we organised and they are proud of us as a team. That made me really want to be a part of it.”
They’re just people
In May, the students hosted an encounter with writer and anthropologist Joris Luyendijk. During the event, Luyendijk looked back on the many different fields and places he has worked in his career, such as his former work as a Middle East correspondent. The encounter mainly revolved around his latest book "de Zeven Vinkjes" (the Seven Ticks), which addresses the privileges of those defining the Dutch political and economical landscape. “The privileges we have are very relevant to PPE topics,” says Eliana. “He was very happy to be there. You feel like as a student, you shouldn’t even be able to talk to this big renowned journalist, and yet he was super nice and came early to get to know us. That was awesome, it was a great way to end the year.” Anne was also happily surprised by the accessibility of the speakers they invited. “After some events we had drinks with the speaker, or a private conversation. It shows that these people aren’t as unapproachable as we think.”
A new chapter
All students are entering their third year of PPE, which means they are going on an exchange for one semester. They are handing over their responsibilities to a new cohort of students, who are encouraged to reshape and renew PPE Encounters according to their views. “I hope they stay true to themselves and create things that they would normally create, even if they weren’t part of PPE Encounters.” says Rudolfs, who is going on an exchange to the Central European University in Vienna himself. PPE Encounters keeps evolving. In 2020, they started a podcast to bring the PPE Encounters experience to people’s homes during the covid pandemic. In 2021, they added a newsletter, which features opinion pieces, events in Amsterdam, poems and games to showcase everything the PPE community has to offer. What always remains is the encounters with people inside and outside of PPE. Want to get involved? Reach out to ppeencounters@gmail.com.