Recap Opening Academic Year 2023 - 2024

On Tuesday 5 September 2023, the opening of the 2023-2024 academic year took place at Campus Fryslân Leeuwarden. The ceremony was held in a packed Auditorium at the Beurs and was a great success, boasting a full and diverse programme.

Imaji Kasih Ayunda Rizal, a second year DSS Student, was the host.

The ceremony was opened by the dean prof. Caspar van den Berg who expressed the wish: ' Let’s make this academic year our best year ever to date'.

The programme continued with the inspiring speech by the new student assessor and one of our GRL students, Chiara Matarazzo. She talked about her experiences as an international student and how she felt at home at Campus Fryslân due to the strong interculturality and open-mindedness. She went on to detail how astonishing it is to see how each one of the students is capable of bringing a different perspective to the big table we all sit at as the future leading generation.

Her speech was followed by the Gemma Frisius Lecture: On the relevance of a new Lingua Franca in inter- and transdisciplinary science by prof. Christiaan Boerma.

In the days of Gemma Frisius (1508-1555), scholars participated in various disciplines of science. In an already international scientific community Latin was the common language. Today, communication in inter- and transdisciplinary science comes with many challenges. Are English and social media the modern substitution for the historic Lingua Franca? Or is there more to it?

Next on the programme was GRL-student Gesa Rosskamp who performed the musical intermezzo on the transverse flute. She played play Bach and Dvorak Latrr.

On behalf of the Faculty Council, Amaranta Luna Arteaga - Manager Marketing & Recruitment and International Relations – gave her speech to close out the ceremony. She explained that the Faculty Council is an elected advisory body representing the voices of staff and students in the governance of the faculty. And that Campus Fryslân is like Mesopotamian mosaic and a jungle at the same time. Are you curious why this is? Click the link below to find out.

The photos of the ceremony are taken by Fotobureau Hoge Noorden.