Terugblik

Engelstalig evenement
SPUI25 in spe
23 05 25
Marginal and Emerging Voices
Remembering the Second Indochina War

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second Indochina War, popularly known as the Vietnam War. The war has left indelible impacts on the lives of many across the world, including those living in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the United States, and European countries. This event features a roundtable of scholars and practitioners reflecting on the diverse histories, lived experiences, and postwar national and international recovery efforts following the war. 

Datum
Vrijdag 23 mei 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
21 05 25
De Staat van de Europese Literatuur 2025: Andrej Koerkov

Op 21 mei spreekt de Oekraïense schrijver Andrej Koerkov de zevende Staat van de Europese Literatuur uit, onder de titel ‘A Garden of Unwritten Books’. De lezing vindt plaats in de Aula van 20.15 tot 21.45 uur.

Datum
Woensdag 21 mei 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
Aula
Entree
Toegang vanaf
20 05 25
Democracy and AI

The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in democratic societies is an ongoing concern for many researchers, albeit for different reasons. During this event, we will explore the often illegitimate but not illegal applications of AI in democratic practices, focusing on the role of the news media, political decision-making, and policy. 

Datum
Dinsdag 20 mei 2025 16:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
16 05 25
Girl Online: Symposihmm #1

Girl Online is a full-day programme hosted by The Hmm, a platform for internet cultures, taking place across SPUI25 and University of Amsterdam locations on Friday 16 May. Expect talks, performances, workshops, and more. This first ever Symposihmm will dive into girl trends, self-infantilisation, girl as a strategy in digital spaces, and the future of girlhood. It is part of This is who you’re being mean to, The Hmm’s broader 2025 year theme, exploring gender expression online. 

Datum
Vrijdag 16 mei 2025 14:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
Entree
Toegang vanaf22.5
15 05 25
Can there be a planetary citizenship?
Citizenship: New Trajectories in Law

To what extent can progressive movements become planetary movements? In what ways can discourses of citizenship and rights help imagine transnational solidarities beyond national authorities? 

Datum
Donderdag 15 mei 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
14 05 25
The Center Cannot Hold: A Case for Left Populism?

It has become redundant to say that the Left is in crisis. The electoral decline of traditional left-wing parties across Western democracies, fueled by the defection of their historical voter base to the populist Right, paints a bleak picture for progressive politics. The old anchors are slipping, and the Left, long the bearer of emancipatory promises, finds itself disoriented If the far Right thrives by mobilizing populist rhetoric, could a left variant offer a viable alternative? And if so, what are the costs? 

Datum
Woensdag 14 mei 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
12 05 25
Agents and Agency at the EU and Mexico-US Borders

Our news media offer daily accounts of migration crises in the Mediterranean and North America. Yet much of the reality of human agency, mobility, and power in border regions remains unseen and unknown. What are the historical roots of the brutal inequalities manifested at international borders? How do migrants and residents of border regions survive, subsist, and exist? And who benefits from migration crises, as well as the narratives that surround them?

Datum
Maandag 12 mei 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
09 05 25
How to reclaim a continent
Europe up for Grabs?

The 9th of May is Europe Day. What should we celebrate in these turbulent times? In a time of geopolitical tension, democratic backsliding, and cultural upheaval, why is it important to come together now, and what does European unity mean in practice?

Datum
Vrijdag 9 mei 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
09 05 25
A Conversation with Bado Ndoye
Thinking African Philosophy

How to conceive of the characteristics, possibilities, and boundaries of contemporary African philosophy? Senegalese philosopher Bado Ndoye engages with this question and reflects on the challenge of philosophizing from Africa while undertaking the urgent task of decolonizing Western philosophical legacies. Moderation: Jamila Mascat 

Datum
Vrijdag 9 mei 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
08 05 25
PEN Belarus’s fight for freedom of literary expression and human rights
Forbidden Voices

Under the present Lukashenko regime, freedom of literary expression in Belarus has ceased to exist. Writers are persecuted and locked away, some have fled. In exile, PEN Belarus continues to fight for Belarusian voices to be heard and read. Tonight, our panel will shed light on this ongoing struggle.  

Datum
Donderdag 8 mei 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
08 05 25
Big Tech & the State, Media, and Democracy
The Rising Power of Big Tech (rescheduled)

In a moment of rapid change for global politics, Big Tech platforms and their owners are shaping up to be international power brokers. Trump’s White house cozies up to Silicon Valley oligarchs as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, and clashes with the EU over its platform laws. How does the power of Big Tech affect our democracies, and can it be contained? In this panel discussion, researchers Theresa Josephine Seipp and Paddy Leerssen will discuss their latest research on platform power and regulation.

Datum
Donderdag 8 mei 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
02 05 25
Sieg Maandag: Trauma and Art in the Aftermath of Bergen-Belsen

Sieg Maandag (1937-2013) was seven years old when he was photographed by George Rodger as he walked among the piles of bodies in the liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. His father was killed there, his mother survived camp Beendorf and was reunited with him six months after the war. Sieg’s family were diamond dealers. After the war he learned to work with diamonds, traveled the world, fell in love, sang at the Paradiso night club, and painted hundreds of paintings and ceramics. This presentation, on the 80th anniversary of the photo documenting his liberation, focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to his art as representation and transformation. 

Datum
Vrijdag 2 mei 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
24 04 25
Een filosofie van nieuwe protestbewegingen
Revolutie voor het leven

‘We kunnen levens redden in plaats van vernietigen, arbeid regenereren in plaats van uitputten en eigendom verzorgen in plaats van beheersen.’ Aldus Eva von Redecker in haar nieuwe boek Revolutie voor het leven. Tijdens dit programma spreken we de Duitse filosoof over haar visie op een nieuwe manier van samenleven. Moderatie: Tivadar Vervoort.

Datum
Donderdag 24 apr 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
23 04 25
Surviving an Intemperate Climate 

Global warming is the existential threat facing our planet, but an increasingly challenging constitutional climate inflames it further. Drawing on her book Human Rights: The Case for the Defence (Penguin, 2024), Shami Chakrabarti will describe the challenges to human rights posed by the climate emergency alongside the ways in which these values may help us navigate our way to just transition.

Datum
Woensdag 23 apr 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
04 04 25
The Social and Political Lives of Images
Seeing Matters

Ever wondered how images shape our reality? Join us in unraveling the transformative power of visuals – from protest imagery to social media memes – in mobilizing movements, influencing debates, and reshaping perceptions. Discover why, in our visual age, seeing truly matters. 

Datum
Vrijdag 4 apr 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
03 04 25
From World War II to Sudan, South Sudan, and Gaza
Hunger as a Weapon of War and Genocide

80 years after the ‘Hunger Winter killed an estimated 20,000 people in the western part of the Netherlands, the use of starvation is rising as a tool of war and genocide in global conflicts. Today, around 223 million people living in conflict-affected areas face starvation with devastating long-term consequences. Hunger extends beyond physical sustenance, encompassing moral, emotional, sensorial, and political dimensions. Taking World War II, contemporary Gaza, Sudan, and South Sudan as examples, our expert panel will explore the weaponisation of hunger in its historical, social, economic and political contexts. 

Datum
Donderdag 3 apr 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
27 03 25
Over Mythos en Odyssee en meer
Een avond met Stephen Fry

*uitverkocht* Deze avond ontvangen wij schrijver, acteur en presentator Stephen Fry bij ons in de Aula van de Universiteit van Amsterdam. De veelgeprezen Brit – auteur van onder andere Mythos en Odyssee – wordt geïnterviewd door Jeroen Vullings. Oudheidkundige Jacqueline Klooster spreekt een laudatio uit. Een avond over Griekse mythen en de kunst van het (her)vertellen mét Britse humor.

Datum
Donderdag 27 mrt 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
Aula
Entree
Toegang vanaf32.50
25 03 25
Cybernetic Capitalism

Today’s form of capitalism is organized on principles of information and communication, the domain of what used to be called “cybernetics”. At work as well as in our free time, we merge with our computers, networks, and, increasingly, artificial intelligence. What does it mean to live under this regime of cybernetic capitalism?

Datum
Dinsdag 25 mrt 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
25 03 25
Big Tech & the State, Media, and Democracy
POSTPONED: The Rising Power of Big Tech

Due to illness we have to cancel the event for March 25, 2025.

A new date will be announced asap.

In a moment of rapid change for global politics, Big Tech platforms and their owners are shaping up to be international power brokers. Trump’s White house cozies up to Silicon Valley oligarchs as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, and clashes with the EU over its platform laws. How does the power of Big Tech affect our democracies, and can it be contained? In this panel discussion, researchers Theresa Josephine Seipp and Paddy Leerssen will discuss their latest research on platform power and regulation.

Datum
Dinsdag 25 mrt 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
24 03 25
Exploring current Challenges and Opportunities
Representation in Entertainment Media and Technology

This afternoon, we will delve into the complex challenges and promising opportunities surrounding representation in media technology. The event will focus on the progress made toward inclusivity and critically examine how current technological innovations interact with and impact the representation of marginalized social identities.

Datum
Maandag 24 mrt 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
21 03 25
Opera Forward Festival
What Does National Identity Sound Like?

*Unfortunately we will not have a livestream for this program*

How can we comprehend the connection between politics and music? In what ways does ‘the canon’ shape national identity, and how do policies and grassroots movements influence this dynamic? By exploring the sounds of national identity, the Think Tank of the Opera Forward Festival 2025 presents its insights into the musical aspects of nationalism, focusing on the impact of canonization, politics, and identity.

Datum
Vrijdag 21 mrt 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
20 03 25
Colonial Collections under Scrutiny: Researching the Origin of Objects

How can academics and museum professionals research the provenance of a colonial museum collection? And can we trace possible ‘involuntary loss of possession’ or looted objects? During the colonial era, a variety of objects were taken to the Netherlands, often against the will of their original owners. For some years now, these collections and the possible return of colonial objects have been under scrutiny.

Datum
Donderdag 20 mrt 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
18 03 25
(In)Visible Journalists. Confronting Epistemic Injustices in Conflict Reporting 

Traditional ‘neutral’ and ‘objective’ journalism has long been regarded as the gold standard of reliable reporting within conflict settings. But who gets to be perceived as neutral and objective? Who holds the power to tell the stories? And which stories get told? During this programme, SPUI25 in Spe explores the politics of journalistic visibility. Whose voices are centred, and whose are sidelined?  

Datum
Dinsdag 18 mrt 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
07 03 25
The Effort to End Global Poverty: Then and Now

International development – the effort to reduce poverty and inequality around the world – employed millions, affected billions, and spent trillions. It held the hopes of the former colonies to create an economic independence to match their newfound political one – and the plans of wealthy countries to build an enduring economic order. Anticipating David Engerman’s new book, Apostles of Development, our panel discusses past and present development efforts.

Datum
Vrijdag 7 mrt 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
05 03 25
SPUI25 in Spe x Queer Geschiedenis Maand
The Birth of the Gender Clinic: One Hundred Years of Gender-affirming Medicine

One hundred years ago, a peculiar institute opened its doors in Berlin; the “Institut für Sexualwissenschaft” (Institute for Sexual Science). First of its kind, this place sought to research and help a range of people who could be characterized as “gender outlaws”. These people, who using the language of today we would call gay, queer, intersex, or trans, found refuge, community, and access to healthcare. Surgical services were, for the first time, offered to people to affirm their gender identity.  

Datum
Woensdag 5 mrt 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
03 03 25
CANCELLED: Empirical Ethics: On the Art of Paying Attention

What would an ethics of possibility look like? How can “paying attention” be understood ethically? In contrast with classical applied ethics, these types of empirical ethics seek to ground ethical reflection in the observation of concrete practices. Tonight, guest speakers will explore how to account for the messiness, ambiguities, and contradictions through which ethical life unfolds in the everyday experiences of real people. 

*Due to illness this event has been cancelled*

Datum
Maandag 3 mrt 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
27 02 25
The German Elections of 2025: Campaigns and Consequences

The German Federal Elections were held on Sunday, 23 February. Against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and economic insecurities, citizens and leaders across Europe pay close attention to German domestic politics. Tonight, Gianna Eick, Theresa Kuhn, and Andreas Schuck will discuss the dynamics of campaigns and the political consequences of the elections in Germany and beyond. Moderation: Katjana Gattermann.  

 

Datum
Donderdag 27 feb 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
25 02 25
Universitas: Why Higher Education Must Be International

Is it true there are too many international students in the Netherlands? Should the internationalization of higher education be rolled back? Why, or why not? This afternoon, we will discuss this timely topic with experienced academics and relevant politicians.  

Datum
Dinsdag 25 feb 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
14 02 25
POSTPONED: Surviving an Intemperate Climate 

Global warming is the existential threat facing our planet, but an increasingly challenging constitutional climate inflames it further. Drawing on her book Human Rights: The Case for the Defence (Penguin, 2024), Shami Chakrabarti will describe the challenges to human rights posed by the climate emergency alongside the ways in which these values may help us navigate our way to just transition.

Datum
Vrijdag 14 feb 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
13 02 25
Nederland en daarbuiten
Reproductieve rechtvaardigheid

Reproductieve rechtvaardigheid is een Zwart feministische term die wereldwijd steeds meer aandacht krijgt binnen zowel activisme als onderzoek. In Nederland is de term nog relatief onbekend. Wereldwijd worden we op dit moment geconfronteerd met reproductief onrecht: met de criminalisering van abortus, hogere moeder- en kind sterftecijfers voor mensen van kleur, en toenemend bewijs voor de structurele aard van obstetrisch geweld en racisme. De investeringen die we doen in vruchtbaarheid en voortplanting zijn ongelijk, met name in (post)koloniale contexten. De term reproductieve rechtvaardigheid probeert al deze verschillende facetten van onrecht in relatie tot vruchtbaarheid samen te nemen. Tijdens deze avond zal een divers panel van academici en verloskundigen het concept van reproductieve rechtvaardigheid introduceren en bespreken, wat er op het spel staat en wat we hiervan kunnen leren. 

Please note: this event is in Dutch

Datum
Donderdag 13 feb 2025 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
12 02 25
Hamas. Achtergronden en motieven

Tijdens dit programma gaat Joas Wagemakers in op de historische achtergronden van Hamas als Palestijnse en als islamistische organisatie en op de vraag waarom Hamas aanslagen pleegt tegen Israël, waaronder die van 7 oktober 2023.

Datum
Woensdag 12 feb 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
06 02 25
Mapping the Erasure

Human geographer Hashem Abushama sheds his light on the significance of understanding the multiple Palestinian spatial realities that exist – taking al ‘Arub refugee camp in the West Bank as his starting point. What unfolds is a geography prone to rupture and transformation. Abushama will introduce the notion and practice of “countermaps” – a map creation process which challenges the maps produced by states. He explores the ways in which counter-mapping can bring into focus the contingent and differentiated nature of settler colonial dispossession and fragmentation, as well as the embodied, spatial practices and processes of Palestinian return and freedom.

Datum
Donderdag 6 feb 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
04 02 25
Unlocking Green Deal Data

Harnessing the potential of data and new technologies has become fundamental in addressing the global environmental sustainability challenges societies face. In this context, the European Union has proposed an ambitious policy agenda emphasizing the establishment of common European data spaces, including a Green Deal Data Space. However, novel governance approaches are still needed to overcome the barriers that continue hindering this digital and green twin transition.

Datum
Dinsdag 4 feb 2025 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
13 12 24
Defending and Rejecting Democratic Pluralism – The New American Conflict

Against the backdrop of the 2024 U.S. elections, political scientist Lilliana Mason guides us through the divide between American Democrats and Republicans on questions of social equality. She’ll dive into the GOP’s internal struggle between those resisting progress and those fighting for a pluralistic America, and its profound implications for the future of democratic life

Datum
Vrijdag 13 dec 2024 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
12 12 24
The Tech Coup

Over the past decades, under the cover of innovation’, technology companies have successfully resisted regulation and have even begun to seize power from governments themselves. Facial recognition firms track citizens for police surveillance. Cryptocurrency has wiped out the personal savings of millions and threatens the stability of the global financial system. Spyware companies sell digital intelligence tools to anyone who can afford them. This new reality—where unregulated technology has become a forceful instrument for autocrats around the world—is terrible news for democracies and citizens.

Datum
Donderdag 12 dec 2024 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
10 12 24
The Politics of Pop: Tat Ming Pair

To celebrate the publication of the book It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong, the authors Yiu Fai Chow, Jeroen de Kloet, and Leonie Schmidt, will be joined by media scholars Joke Hermes and Jaap Kooijman to discuss the Politics of Pop.

***Please note: there won’t be a livestream or recording of this event***

Datum
Dinsdag 10 dec 2024 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
29 11 24
A Program by Spui25 in Spe
Expect These Symptoms: Delusional FemTech

Your menstruation app is telling you not to panic about being pregnant while your body is telling you otherwise. At the same time, your neighbour might be falsely worrying about a predictive algorithm telling them they have decreased rates of fertility. SPUI25 explores the state of FemTech software and asks whether we should be using these apps, or not.

Datum
Vrijdag 29 nov 2024 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
28 11 24
War, Famine, and Paths to Peace
Spotlight on Sudan

Sudan is suffering the worst crisis of its turbulent history. With 13 million people displaced and much of the country facing famine, the toll on ordinary Sudanese is staggering. An expert panel unpacks the war’s background, the dynamics that fuel it, and discusses potential paths to peace.

Datum
Donderdag 28 nov 2024 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
27 11 24
CANCELLED: Metropolitan Nature. A Conversation with Emanuele Coccia

**This event has been cancelled due to the storm**

Eccentric philosopher and author Emanuele Coccia will share his thoughts on his latest project ‘Metropolitan Nature.’ As the recipient of the Mondrian Prize 2024, he currently resides in the former studio of Piet Mondrian in Laren. Lisa Doeland and Francesco Carrasso will join Coccia in the philosophical exploration of nature in the city, the relation between species, and the notion of home.

Datum
Woensdag 27 nov 2024 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
27 11 24
Critical Conversations
Indigenizing Philosophy through the Land

In Indigenous environmental thought, the land possesses anticolonial political power, serving as the cornerstone of Indigenous resistance to environmental destruction and cultural erasure. In conversation with Brian Burkhart, Carolina Sánchez-de Jaegher and Rolando Vázquez, we discuss Indigenous environmentalism as an anticolonial force, and the encounter between Indigenous knowledge systems and decolonial thought.

Datum
Woensdag 27 nov 2024 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25