The jury included Jelle de Boer, Hans Piena and Laura Rupp. The great diversity convinced the jury that, despite all regulations and protocols, the students once again came up with a wide range of highly original subjects and approaches. All eight theses are outstanding achievements, which required many hours of work, dedication, and intelligence. Each of them has qualities that surpass all others. Three theses were the most outstanding. The candidates below are the winners of 2022:
Winner DURF-Award
The first DURF-Award winner is Rosa Kalkowsky with her thesis Trauma Creates Trauma: Transgenerational Trauma in Victor and the Creature in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for the bachelor Literature and Society (English track). Rosa won a money prize of 250 euro.
According to the jury, the format of this thesis is brilliant and the content adventurous and innovative. By using psychoanalytic theory, Rosa goes beyond the boundaries of her own specialism and discovers new layers of meaning in a two-century old classic. The DURF-Award came unexpectedly to Kalkowsky. She is grateful for the appreciation from the faculty for different types of research. Kalkowsky finds it inspiring to see that her interpretation of Frankenstein, which so captivated her, also resonates among others. Kalkowsky is currently studying for a master's degree in editing at the University of Amsterdam. She hopes this will enable her to continue with interdisciplinary research and its practical application to editing fiction and non-fiction.
Winner best bachelor’s thesis
The prize for the best bachelor thesis was awarded to Camilla Mattaliano Belforti with her thesis Resisting the Victim-Agent Narrative: The Static Subject of Migrant Sex Workers in De Wallen, Amsterdam for the bachelor PPE (Philosophy and Economics track). Her work includes a critical discussion of three feminist theories on sex workers, which she confronts with the views, thoughts, and daily lives of sex workers themselves. She explores ways to bridge the dichotomy between local sex workers and immigrant sex workers: those who are protected and can speak out for themselves and those who have to hide in silence. The jury praised the fact that Mattaliano Belforti presents her observations in such a way that policymakers are willing to incorporate her views in their future work.
Mattaliano Belforti is honoured by this kind of recognition, which has made her further recognize the importance and necessity of critical feminist science. She has started her master's degree in Gender, Policy and Inequalities at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Winner best master’s thesis
The prize for the best master's thesis was awarded to Shanti Bolt with her thesis The ethical impermissibility of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in the Dutch context, which she wrote for the master's Philosophy (Bioethics and Health track). Her thesis takes a close look at three argumentative strategies to support different forms of vaccination obligation from the literature and identifies ethical problematic shortcomings in these strategies. According to Bolt, it was a real challenge to write a balanced analysis on a polarized, sensitive subject, which at the time of writing dominated everyone's daily lives. The current relevance of the subject, extensive bibliography and the high quality of her reasoning impressed the jury. They praised the analyses as diverse, in-depth, and unexpected. Bolt would like to thank her thesis supervisor, Justin Bernstein, "whose rich feedback enabled me to elevate my thesis to a higher level."
The bachelor and master winner won a sculpture (award) made by glass artist Jan van Koningsveld and a money prize of 500 euro.