Alumni newsletter - April 2024
Your annual celebration of the mind!
Now that the days are getting longer and the sun is showing itself more and more often, we would like to inform you about the approaching Sharing Days, Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ's alumni festival that will take place from 5 to 8 June this year. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to connect with our university community and enjoy these inspiring and educational days. The program is now complete and registrations are open. We look forward to welcoming you!
4 questions for project leader Vera Seriese
What are the Sharing Days?
Our annual celebration of the mind, especially for our alumni: I see it as the perfect opportunity to return to the university for a while, to be inspired and to meet old uni friends.
What can we expect this year?
A special mix of lectures, guided tours, workshops, films and sports. Really something for everyone. Something nice is that this year we have programmed the offer in such a way that you can visit several activities per day and in between you can go for a snack and a drink at one of our festival locations. The program on Wednesday and Thursday starts at 17:00, on Saturday it is during the day.
What makes it worthwhile to come to Utrecht?
I would say: the possibility to create your personal festival experience. Whether you feel like sitting back to watch a movie on Thursday, take a yoga class, join a tour or attend a lecture on Wednesday or visit the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Museum with your (grand)kids on Saturday. It's all possible!
What are you looking forward to the most?
To meet our alumni in between activities. I hope that during the Sharing Days they will experience that they are a very important part of our university community.
A program spread over 3 days
Every day a festival heart and program at a different UU-location. Create your own festival program by registering for the activities you want to join. There are also different eat and drink options every day. Where will we see you?
Wednesday June 5 Evening program (17:00-22:00)
Festival center: Botanical Gardens - Utrecht Science Park
Thursday June 6 Evening program (17:00-22:00)
Festival center: Faculty Club - City center
Saturday June 8 Day program (10.00-17.00)
Festival center: ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Museum Utrecht - City center
Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Fund
The Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Fund was once founded by alumni, and thanks to your support, we can make a difference. During the Sharing Days – the festival for alumni – we draw particular attention to a new generation of students. With your donation, you help young people who do not have a financial safety net to realize their dream. We want everyone to have an equal chance to study and, of course, a great time studying in Utrecht.
Would you like to contribute to this goal in a special way? On Friday 7 June, we are organising the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Dinner, a spectacular benefit evening at the most beautiful place in Utrecht: the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Hall (Academiegebouw). More information & tickets
Some program highlights
The vibrant program of the Sharing Days offers a range of activities for you to choose from. It's going to be a real celebration of the mind! Here are some highlights you don't want to miss:
- On Wednesday, we will dive into the history of the climate crisis with an inspiring talk by Geert Buelens, winner of the Flemish Literature Prize 2023. In addition, there are fascinating tours of the beautiful Botanical Gardens that are in full bloom.
- On Thursday you can go to a special film screening of 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' with an introduction by musicologist Michiel Kamp. Later in the evening, the students of Utrecht Union will interview science journalist Niki Korteweg about dealing with stress and burnouts.
- Saturday is all about active involvement: become a scientist for a day during the special activities at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Museum Utrecht. And end the day with an interesting walk through Utrecht's LGBTIQ+ history led by Marijke Huisman.
Activities for our international alumni
For our international alumni, there will be an online talk during the Sharing Days on Wednesday 5 June at 20.00 CET. Professor James Kennedy will talk about the upcoming U.S. election, "". Our alumni networks in Boston, Singapore and Jakarta will meet in the following days to watch the talk together, followed by a networking reception.
Discover the power of Design Thinking
Do you want to learn how to tackle difficult issues with creative solutions? Then take part in the trial lecture on Thursday 6 June from the course 'Understanding and Applying Design Thinking' and be inspired. Anne van Ewijk, Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, will take you through the generation and formulation of effective ideas for solutions and you will get to work with a series of exercises yourself. We conclude with informal drinks.
Our partners
We don't organise the Sharing Days alone. We are proud to work with so many partners on this festival. The Faculties of Veterinary Medicine, Humanities, Science, Medicine and Law, Economics and Governance, the Green Office, Continuing Education, the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Library, Sports Centre Olympos, Utrecht Union, Faculty Club, Botanical Gardens and UMU. Thank you!
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