The Ivory Tower

The PVV, the former biggest coalition party in the Netherlands, writes in its election program that “our culture and Western way of life are threatened” by “the ongoing asylum tsunami.” This rhetoric is not an exception. Migration is one of the most polarizing topics of our time. Integration is much less discussed, although it is arguably not a migration but an integration or acceptance crisis we...

Across Europe and the United States, right-wing populist movements are inseparable from our political reality, and identity politics increasingly govern political discourse. While the rise of Western populism has received significant scholarly attention, few have examined its relationship with religion and how right-wing parties use it as a cultural identity marker to advance their agendas.  Dr. T...

Together with Daniel Mügge , we dive into the world of Artificial Intelligence. What role does politics play? Could AI threaten democracy? Who’s really steering its development? Why might using ChatGPT be a slippery slope? And what are politicians in Brussels getting wrong about it? From personal data to global power plays, in this episode of The Ivory Tower, we explore the risks, the hype, and th...

The discussion on migration and integration is more relevant than ever in the Netherlands. Ideas around integration are hotly debated in politics. To get another perspective on this, we asked Lea Klarenbeek to join us in a conversation on the way integration is seen in society and research.  Lea Klarenbeek wrote her dissertation on Integration at the University of Amsterdam. Her research primarily...

In the past decades, our knowledge about climate change has grown considerably. Why are we still not doing enough? Erik Swyngedouw says that we, in one way or another, enjoy climate change. Sounds weird? Let´s see if, throughout this conversation, we can come to understand. Erik Swyngedouw is professor of geography at the University of Manchester in the School of Environment, Education and Develop...

In this episode of 'The Ivory Tower,' we speak to Dr. Olga Burlyuk, assistant professor of Europe's external relations at the University of Amsterdam. We dive into one of Olga's recent publications on how the EU's internal rule of law crisis affects its legitimacy in the European neighborhood. We also discuss her widely-praised article on epistemic imperialism, and Olga tells us about how curiosit...

For our first episode of 'The Ivory Tower', we will be speaking to Dr. Frederic Hopp. Frederic is Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam's School of Communication Research. His research interests span morality in media and communication, and how moralized messages are cognitively processed and inform human behavior. During this episode we discuss an article that was recently published...