Buijs, artificial nails, and Israel: Folia’s best-read pieces of 2023
Of course, the Laurens Buijs affair could not be missing from our overview of the 10 most-read articles of 2023. But stealing at the self-serve checkout, being gifted, and articles about the war in Israel and Gaza were also among readers’ favorites. Here is the complete list of the top 10.
1. Stealing at the self-service checkout: “I’ve been banned by Albert Heijn”
Surprisingly, despite all the controversy surrounding lecturer Laurens Buijs, the article about how more and more students are stealing at self-serve checkouts ranks first. Due to rising prices in supermarkets, people are increasingly “forgetting” to scan a product. Like Jennifer (real name known to the editors), who steals €200 worth of goods every month, people are also stealing more expensive products with increased frequency.
2. Opinion | Woke culture threatens academic freedom in social sciences
The opinion on woke culture in social sciences by lecturer Laurens Buijs published in the third week of January was an instant hit. The media tripped over each other to report about the feud at the UvA. The UvA and Buijs became seriously at odds with each other during 2023. Buijs was suspended and several lawsuits followed, after which an agreement was finally reached in late 2023 and Buijs left.
3. Students launch petition against interdisciplinary social science teacher
Students also chimed in on the discussion surrounding Buijs. “Buijs’ claims about non-binary people actively undermine their safety at the UvA,” three students wrote in a letter to the Executive Board in late January. Laurens Buijs subsequently reported sick indefinitely after “a failed conversation with the Executive Board.”
4. UvA sets up investigation into “woke” culture in social sciences
Before the relationship between the UvA and Laurens Buijs derailed, the Executive Board promised to investigate the “woke” culture within the Department of Social Sciences. The report was published in the summer and concluded that there is no “woke culture” or “serious institutional abuses” that threaten academic freedom at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Behavior.
5. Gifted at UvA: “The level is too low for me”
During giftedness week in March, Folia spoke with Kevin Santifort, who is gifted. Bored at school, he sought more of a challenge at college. “For me, the level of studies is too low. I barely study—and pass most subjects with an excellent grade by only going to the lectures.”
6. UvA lecturer writes book on poverty: “My mother is only concerned with survival”
In May, the book Maybe you should aim a little lower by UvA lecturer Milio van de Kamp was released. He went to school in an underprivileged neighborhood in Amsterdam where the computers were chained to the wall. “When I look at my mother, I see she is busy just surviving,” Van de Kamp said in this interview with Folia.
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7. UvA dentist and dermatologist warn against artificial nails
In November, dental professor Albert Feilzer and dermatologist Thomas Rustemeyer warned against the use of artificial nails. More and more young people are walking around with dainty, colorful artificial nails, but it is not entirely without risk. “An allergy to gel nails can mean having to go through life toothless,” say the two medical professionals.
8. Jewish students feel unsafe and unwelcome at UvA
Even before the situation in Gaza and Israel escalated, we wrote about how some Jewish students do not always feel safe at the UvA. A previous occupation implicitly called for violence, according to students interviewed in this piece. “If you don’t adhere to a pro-Palestinian ideology at UvA, you’re going to get hit hard.”
9. Hundreds of UvA students dissatisfied with UvA stance on Gaza
And then on October 7th, Hamas launched a violent, large-scale attack on Israel. Israel struck back with attacks on the Gaza Strip, home to Hamas. Thousands of civilians have been killed. Critics at the UvA felt that the university did not condemn Israeli actions against Palestinians strongly enough. The letter was signed by nearly 700 PhD students, students, and staff.
10. President of the Board Ten Dam: “If we take a stand, we foster polarization”
The divisions at the UvA provoked by the war in Israel and Gaza caused president of the Executive Board Geert ten Dam “serious concern,” she indicated to Folia in an interview in November. In the seven and a half years that she has been president of the UvA, she has not seen a conflict at the UvA that “polarized so incredibly quickly.”
