News
Statement of Solidarity with Wageningen Student Encampment
We support the student-led movement on campus to pressure WUR to divest, boycott, and disclose ties with Israeli institutions and companies complicit in apartheid, occupation, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. From May until the end of November, students were camping on the bridge between Orion and Forum, while months of negotiation with the Board to end complicity in human rights violations seemed to be ignored, downplayed, or defended in the name of ''academic freedom''! We stand behind the students demands and urge the Boards to reorient from fantasy, hypocrisy, and denial towards accountability and justice.
New books in our critical book library
We developed a new sign up format.
Now you can easily borrow books with your phone via google forms: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc0_cNFrSS-VRVWRd8KSV7sqsng2mPKnU-bHE8-eiBT8d45jA/viewform?usp=send_form
As we continuously update the library, we are curious what you want to see on the shelf. Whats your favorite book that is missing in our library? Message us!
Interns Wanted!
All events in one view
keep reading below for more info!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Film screening + discussion of YINTAH
Movie night: Yintah on the 21st of April
The movie follows the Wet'suwet'en nation that reoccupies and protects their ancestral lands from the Canadian government and several of the largest fossil fuel companies on earth.
Their struggle against the construction of a Gas pipeline continues to this day.
Details
Screening starts at 20h, on the 21st of April, in the Old Library of the Clockhouse, Generaal Foulkesweg 37. No need to sign up!
Exchanges of Capoeira Angola: Resistance, Ancestry, and Becoming through the Ground
~ Resistance is in constantly adjusting one's position towards and notion of what is to be resisted ~
About the facilitators: Mestre Marcelo Angola founded the Centro Cultural de Capoeira Angoleiros do Mar in 1999. Its central base is located at Barra Grande, a fishing village on the island of Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil. The island of Itaparica is located in the bay of all Saints, where successive generations of capoeiristas maintain the roots and traditions of Capoeira Angola, while influencing its history, philosophy and artistic movements. From here Mestre Marcelo Angola worked to preserve the values and foundation of Capoeira Angola, both within and outside Brazil.
Dienke Stomph is a doctoral student and lecturer at the Cultural Geography Group of Wageningen University (WUR). In her PhD she focuses on restoring our relations with the ground. She draws on academic knowledge and theories (incl. STS, more-than-human geography) but also takes Capoeira Angola seriously as a critical research companion. Meaning that as part of her research she explores European people engaging with Capoeira Angola and what it might mean for them to respond to Capoeira Angola's invitations to learn not to fear but rather befriend the ground, to not resist by going against something but by bending, feinting and negating, through that carving tentative spaces for things/acts/beliefs to become other.
In these two workshops we will exchange through music, movement and conversation as is custom in the practice of Capoeira Angola. As such we will explore the capacity of our full being (hands, feet, hearts, heads) to navigate complexity, trouble and connection. For both of these workshops we extend the invitation to be open to experience something new, something strange, something 'other', to not reject this from a position of superiority or a desire for control, but rather to play with what it conveys to you, to be open to its significance and therewith its potential to negate the preconceived. How might we navigate complexity differently, inviting play, ritual and comradeship into resistance movements? What can we learn from ancestry and what ancestor do we want to become?
In the first workshop ( 20th of May ) the focus is on establishing a first contact with Capoeira Angola's movements, rhythms and making contact with the ground. For the second workshop ( 27th of May ) we are honored to have mestre Marcelo Angola joining us from Bahia, Brazil. During this workshop we go into the origins of Capoeira Angola, ancestrality, and relations between Europe and Brazil.
Curious?
Register here:
https://forms.gle/VXGE2K28E1UWYfHd7
Good to know!
We kindly invite you to come have lunch with us and explore the role of nature in your study programme. We will gather outside on campus and do some nature-inclusive exercises together, followed by a dialogue on how nature can make education more meaningful.
Please spread the word with students in your network! See you there!
- Where? Meet in front of Impulse
- When? Tuesdays 18/3, 25/3, 01/4, 15/4
MSc Thesis Topics - Cultural Geography
Are you looking for supervisors for your Master's thesis? Brainstorming topics but not sure which one to pick? Then maybe this list will help you decide! The Cultural Geography group (GEO) has put together a nice list of possible theses options for students, and we thought we'd share them here to help you make this difficult decision. Many of these topics align with what we're doing at OtherWise, think 'Art in Climate Change', 'What does Freedom mean to you?', 'Human-nature interactions' and more.
Does one of these topics call out to you?
Curious and want more information? Contact cheryl.vanadrichem@wur.nl for more info :)
And if you're still looking, consider the possibility of doing a combined thesis-internship with OtherWise!
Are you still looking for a course to take in period 6? We think this will float your boat :)
This course is for MSc and PhD students in
social and environmental sciences who want
to learn and engage more with gender and
other intersecting socio-ecological differences in their study/professional domain by applying those perspectives to concrete cases.
Topics:
- feminist approaches (eg: history, epistemology, political ecology, more-than-human)
- care
- masculinity
- decolonization
- food
- issues in feminist research
Contact chizu.sato@wur.nl for more info!
Past Events
Cosmosis: Stories of Soil and Stone
Details
Date: 15th April, 2025
Time: 17:30 start, vegan dinner and discussion at 19:00
Place: Belmonte Arboretum (https://maps.app.goo.gl/3a9JbsWVZmMqWfXXA)
Join us for an evening of immersive storytelling, reflection, and connection to the earth with Stories of Soil and Stone, a Cosmosis Quest exploring our kinship with the land.
Cosmosis is a growing series of audio Quests—guided by me, Paul, storyteller and self-initiated wizard—designed to re-enchant the everyday through stories, soundscapes, rituals, and magic.
The stories we tell shape the world. In these times of crisis, we must unearth ancient wisdom and create new narratives: stories of animism and ecocentrism: “I dream of a world guided by a lens of stories rooted in the revelations of science and framed with an Indigenous worldview — stories in which matter and spirit are both given voice.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer
These Quests are a practice, an exercise to shift perception and see the world around us differently. We’ll each embark on this individual audio walk guided by the Cosmosis app, followed by a group reflection over a shared meal.
Download the app here: https://app.cosmosis.quest/download. Please bring headphones and a charged phone. If you would like to borrow either of these, you can tell us in the sign up form.
Questions before the event or accessibility needs? Email us at otherwise@wur.nl
Feminist Radical Quiltmaking
🪡Feminist Radical Quiltmaking Workshop for Women's day🪡
Time to reclaim traditionally 'feminine' 'crafts' for the radical act that they are!
In honor of Women's March, OtherWise and Amsterdam Dyke March are coming together to bring you a Radical Quiltmaking Workshop on March 6, 5:00 PM-8:00 PM💜
📍Location: Clockhouse (General Foulkesweg 37, 6703BL)
Each participant will embroider or paint words and doodles of resistance on themes surrounding feminism.
You will moreover have the chance to learn some simple patchwork techniques!
Together, these patches will form a feminsit radical quilt that we will parade during the Women's March in Wageningen!✊
Materials and snacks will be provided. Just sign up and bring yourself! (Sign up Link) (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf1IXjAGOh0haZPLF3K_HP5qc846T8XmvfnWhkxMI0vrY454A/viewform?usp=sharing)
Rest, Embody, Resist (3 part workshop)
Update: First session starts on the 20th!
Join us for our three-part workshop series: REST EMBODY RESIST with Zahira Mous
Workshop dates: 20, 26 February 2025, from 5-8 pm. As we build up the content and the trust in the group, we generally expect attendance in all three sessions unless communicated with us for certain circumstances.
Location: Clockhouse building Old library (Generaal Foulkesweg 37, Wageningen)
Questions to: otherwise@wur.nl
Sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HaczU_P5ne2y48ikmF6uudZU9QmsPGHyZBx7CoSWSJ4/edit
This three-part workshop is focused on movement and mind-body connection, for people who want to heal and learn in a group setting. Zahira uses decolonized healing methods to help the community cope with the demanding reality of being human. Modalities utilized: sharing and listening, EFT, moving from the wisdom of the body, and creativity. It is a three-part workshop series during which we deepen the work each session, diving into layers of our being, making an inner inquiry and creating space within (sometimes questions, sometimes answers). With this work, you'll gain tools to help regulate your nervous system, increasing self-awareness through recognizing your worth, as well as connecting to (building) community. Welcome to REST | EMBODY | RESIST.
For whom?
Rest And Resist emerged as a platform for needing a supportive and safe space for fellow activists and artists fighting for a free Palestine, and beyond. Their work focuses on fighting exhaustion, separation, burnout, harm, and disillusionment in activist movements. If you are longing for a collective space where you can rest with intent to co-regulate, build resilience, supportive networks, mutual care, and trust, this space is for you. As we will use our bodies to move and heal what needs healing, we aim to accommodate bodies of different abilities. If you have any questions or concerns weather this space is for you, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at otherwise@wur.nl .
Poisoning the well: toxic behaviours in Academia
When: Wednesday February 12 @17:30
Where: Dance room, WUR Clockhouse (Generaal Foulkesweg 37, 6703 BL Wageningen)
There are several reasons why we enroll at a university and there are several ways in which a university education contributes to our personal and professional development. A degree can open doors to many different career paths, classes can be a great opportunity to meet new people, and some university professors are great mentors. However, the same classrooms can impact us in less constructive ways: since we are compelled to prove we are better, smarter, and more special than those around us.
Tonight, we will explore how universities shape us through discussing public intellectuals, people who make a living by being visibly smarter and more special than others. (Self-reflection can only be truly effective, if we ask ourselves the toughest questions, like, do we have something in common with Jordan Peterson?;))
Vegan snacks and tea will be provided :)
Towards Decolonial Futures
Time: 5th Dec 2024, 17.00 - 19.30 h
Location: Clockhouse (Generaal Foulkesweg 37, Wageningen), room: Old Library
Join this dynamic and reflective workshop with Niki & Katha, where we will explore the themes of decoloniality, accountability, and responsibility. Using the "7 steps forward, 7 steps backward or aside" framework, we will open up a space for awareness, self-reflection, and meaningful conversation.
This workshop will invite participants to examine the inner work required to confront and unlearn colonial mindsets, especially for those of us living in the Global North. Through dialogue, movement, and community-building, we will raise essential questions of accountability:
What does it mean to take accountability for historical and ongoing inequities? How do we navigate our roles in systems of power and privilege? What does this inner work of deconstruction look like?
Together, we reflect on power, privilege, complexity, and positionality, creating an inclusive and brave space for everyone to share their perspectives. The aim is to foster a sense of connection and community that will inspire participants to carry this work forward.
This is an invitation to move together—whether we take steps forward, backward, or aside—as we engage in this collective journey.