{"id":143875,"date":"2022-09-15T11:35:39","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T09:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=143875"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:25","slug":"iss-students-receive-mandatory-training-sessions-on-transgressive-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/09\/15\/iss-students-receive-mandatory-training-sessions-on-transgressive-behaviour\/","title":{"rendered":"ISS students receive mandatory training sessions on transgressive behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of this year, new students at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague are required to attend a series of workshops on transgressive behaviour. Student counsellor Martin Blok: “We are the only faculty in the Netherlands that makes these workshops mandatory.”<\/p>\n

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New students receive mandatory trainings on transgressive behaviour<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFeba Sukmana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Dean Inge Hutter, student counsellor Martin Blok, confidential adviser Debra Young and PhD student Brenda Rodr\u00edguez Cort\u00e9s welcome new students to the aula of the ISS Building on Thursday. Rows of white chairs stand ready for the participants, the PowerPoint presentation displays the photos of the people involved in the workshops \u2013 with their desired pronoun after their name.<\/p>\n

Signing agreements<\/h2>

On their arrival, students are given two identical sheets of paper stating \u2018Declaration for a Safe and Inclusive ISS\u2019. These contain agreements such as \u2018work to create a safe space in which we can be vulnerable, honest and open with each other\u2019 and \u2018refrain from bullying, discrimination or intimidation, whatever form these take\u2019. Students are required to sign these agreements and to return them to student counsellor Blok. \u201cYou can take the other copy home with you and stick it on your fridge, so that it always reminds you of these agreements,\u201d says Rodr\u00edguez Cort\u00e9s, half-jokingly, to the participants.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018There are several universities that offer similar workshops, but we\u2019re the only faculty to makes this mandatory and part of the curriculum\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

As soon as all 140 students have taken their seats in the hall, Blok and Rodr\u00edguez Cort\u00e9s begin explaining the workshops. \u201cWe began with a similar training course in 1992,\u201d recounts Blok. \u201cBut we realised that the participants were people who either already knew a lot about the theme or were interested in it and hence were already aware of transgressive behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ISS wants all students to have a basic knowledge of this theme, which is why the Institute makes the workshops mandatory. Students receive one credit for the series. \u201cThere are several universities that offer similar workshops, but we\u2019re the only faculty to makes this mandatory and part of the curriculum. However, a student protest was needed last year<\/a>\u00a0to convince the management that these workshops really are worth the effort,\u201d says Blok with a wink. \u201cOf course, we hope that the rest of EUR will now follow in our footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t