Embarrassment of riches at Humanist University in Utrecht

A conference to mark the fifth anniversary of the University of Humanist Studies in Utrecht was held from 21-23 April 1994. The subject was the ‘Embarrassment of identities: humanism and the future of Europe.’ The main speakers were Senator David Norris from Ireland, Professor Grazia Marchiano from the University of Siena-Arezzo, Professor Alexander Zinoviev, a writer from Russia now living in Munich, Professor Daniel Callahan, a philosopher from New York and Professor Stephen Toulmin from Los Angeles.

The areas covered by the workshops were very wide; Humanism in Europe: its historical and philosophical roots and actual relevance; the heretogeneity of Europe; nationalism, economic development and democracy; solidarity in health care: problems and new perspectives; a feminist perspective on European identity; the arts in Europe; drugs policy in Europe; human rights in Europe.

The Universiteit voor Humanistiek was founded in 1989and is a fully-fledged university with government support on the grounds that it ‘a confessional university established on behalf of the Humanist Association’ and therefore has similar status to that of Dutch theological universities. Its students undertake a six-year course to be come humanist counsellors. Humanism and also other life stances are studied in detail. There is practical work and a search for a ‘real life’ humanism in which thought and action, life in theory and practice are interwoven. Practical work and potential career can involve work in the field of hospitals, prisons or centres for drug-addicts or prostitutes.

‘It is an academic community of people discussing, among themselves and with others, matters that concern not only the meaning of life, ethics, care and welfare, but also the philosophical, political and social aspects thereof. Not from a Utopian standpoint, but from one that is consciously centred in a society that challenges questions to be asked and arguments to be weighed.’

Science and the philosophy of science come into the curriculum, but the aim is for ‘science with a human face.’ ‘Only science that contributes to a more amenable world and to a society worth living in may rightly be called science with a human face. That is why the university aims to disseminate scientific knowledge as clearly as possible to society at large.’

Humanist studies include postmodernism, political humanism, body consciousness and aesthetics. ‘Students are not handed a dogmatic structure or a recipe for world improvement; at most, they receive that interdisciplinary bricks, which they can use in their dealings with the quality of life.'

The University for Humanist Studies now has about 250 students. It is associated with Dutch humanist organisations and with the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

At the introductory session of the Lustrum Conference, Mrs Hedy d’Ancona, Dutch Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture spoke. She spoke of two tendencies in Europe: the tendency to greater integration and the greater links with developing Eastern European countries. People have cultural and national identities. These identities can degenerate into unhealthy nationalism and a reversion to feelings thought obsolete. To counteract this is the need for openness to other cultures and diversity and dialogue.

The process of democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe led to cultural identity expressed in national or ethnic forms, which could take a violent form. Where identity was so intense it was necessary to develop a dialogue and to create a multi-coloured patchwork of peoples. The tragedy of Sarajevo is that it involves many who had not previously identified with a national or ethic group.

It is necessary to steer a middle course, tempering identity with respect for others. ‘We need a porous identity, which can absorb what is all around, but which has its own firm centre.’