{"id":133340,"date":"2021-11-24T16:53:20","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T15:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=133340"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:00","slug":"what-we-can-learn-from-erasmus-regarding-safe-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/11\/24\/what-we-can-learn-from-erasmus-regarding-safe-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"What we can learn from Erasmus regarding safe spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erasmus liked to poke fun at all the taboos of his era. In\u00a0In Praise of Folly<\/em> (published in 1511), he had folly present a \u2018panegyric\u2019 in which he mercilessly made fun of absolutely anyone with power and prestige. More than five centuries later, I still feel a little flustered whenever I read certain passages from the book.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>, \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPauline Wiersema<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Erasmus knew that people would feel insulted, and he said the following about that in the book: \u201cSo, if anyone should come forwards to complain that they\u2019ve been libelled, they\u2019ll be betraying their guilty conscience, or at least their unease.\u201d The philosopher after whom our university was named told people never to hurt others, but also said that no group should ever be excluded from criticism. This attitude would seem to be at odds with the university\u2019s ambitions to be a safe space. Or does it?<\/p>\n

My own parents only completed primary school. I was the first person in my family to attend a university. At the time, I didn\u2019t have the guts to go for one of the Netherlands\u2019 traditional universities: Amsterdam, Leiden or Utrecht. These were classical universities, i.e. \u2018elitist\u2019 education institutions where regular people like myself didn\u2019t belong. As far as I was concerned, Erasmus University did not give off that vibe. This was a university for everyone, I felt. At first I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the world, but at uni, I found myself confronted with different opinions. Whether it was my political affiliation (socialism) or my religion (Catholicism), nearly every belief I had ever held was turned upside down. This had a great impact on my personal development. I sincerely hope all of today\u2019s students find a similar road to emancipation.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018At first I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the world, but at uni, I found myself confronted with different opinions\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

You can\u2019t get a university degree if you don\u2019t feel safe. Nor can you receive academic training if your prejudices and beliefs aren\u2019t challenged and you\u2019re not being confronted with ideas that challenge your prejudices and beliefs. Academic freedom comes with a few restrictions: the law stipulates that you aren\u2019t allowed to preach hate or violence. Even beyond the legal aspects, academic communities are allowed to impose limits on what can and cannot be said, and set the boundaries of what is and isn\u2019t allowed under the principles of academic freedom. This is a discussion that is very much in line with the debates being held at EUR on Erasmian values and what exactly is meant by being \u2018Erasmian\u2019. Erasmus himself had a few things to say on the subject that may help us get a better understanding of it.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018The philosopher was a master of turning things upside down, which might help us, too, in making Erasmus University a safe space where people can experiment and get emancipated to their hearts\u2019 content\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

In\u00a0In Praise of Folly<\/em>, Erasmus created a safe space for himself. By donning the cloak of folly, he sought to get his readers to view things from a different perspective \u2013 a playful experiment that allowed him to turn the truth upside down and assess what the world looked like from that angle, as well as what it might teach us. Folly does not understand that the strange things she says may be hurtful to people: \u201cIf a rock falls on your head, that\u2019s truly bad,\u201d Erasmus has her say. The philosopher was a master of turning things upside down, which might help us, too, in making Erasmus University a safe space where people can experiment and get emancipated to their hearts\u2019 content \u2013 a place where students can divest themselves of their habits and prejudices in a safe manner.<\/p>\n\n\t

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