This course focusses on (finding/sharpening) your personal moral ambitions and laying the groundwork to unleashing your individual strengths and talents on the subject you want to dedicate your time, energy and passion to.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. - Marget Mead
What if … we would invest as much talent in solving the world biggest challenges, as the large companies and governments are now investing in growing the economy and maintaining the status quo (rich vs. poor, military vs. soft power, old vs. new leadership)?
This idea is gaining more and more ground all over the world. From role models as Zohran Mamdani to Extinction Rebellion and from Rutger Bregman’s ‘moral ambition’ to the work of activists and professionals, artists and social entrepreneurs and youth and older citizens around the world.
Ever wonder which role fits you best in the challenge to steer the world in the right direction?
This course focusses on (finding/sharpening) your personal moral ambitions and laying the groundwork to unleashing your individual strengths and talents on the subject you want to dedicate your time, energy and passion to.
Times are turbulent times. There are lots of reasons to be worried and affected by what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan or any area in the world that receives the hardest hits of climate change. Maybe you ask yourself this question: ”What can I do?”.
This course will help you to find an answer to this question. In one week, we will explore, get inspired and give you food for thought to think about your own moral ambition and professional activism.
Starting off with an introduction to moral ambition we will launch straight into all the things that you can do to make the world a better place. We will get inspired by successful ‘activists’ we all know (from Nelson Mandela to Zohran Mamdani and Extinction Rebellion) and use the work of maybe lesser-known role models/thinkers such as Rutger Bregman, Benjamin Todd (80,000 hours), Peter Singer, Our World in Data, Wicked Problems, the Rebel’s Notebook and much more.
We will also help you to find specific theory about problems that worry you about like: animal suffering in livestock farming, climate change, loss of biodiversity, democracy under pressure, poverty and diseases, migration issues, societal risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI), pandemics, institutional racism, youth mental health or taxation of high-net-worth-individuals. All these issues influence each other; these dynamic flows are something we will explore on a meta level in the masterclass of Evert-Jan Ouweneel philosopher and (former) international strategic director of relief organizations as World Vision and currently the Dutch Salvation Army.
Effective altruism will help to be more critical of how you might implement your time and energy to do good. For example, what causes need the most attention and what method works the best. You learn how investing in mosquito nets in specific areas in the world, makes more direct impact on saving human lives compared to donating to UNICEF. But what are the pro’s and con’s about focusing on effectiveness over working on issues happening more close to home – and maybe more close to your heart?
In ten days, we will challenge you to get active. This includes learning about a great mindset, your personal boundaries and your drive to want to make a change. The tools you will learn builds a morally ambitious life without burning out. We will have multiple outings to places and people that might inspire you. But you need to get active yourself as well. To help you find ways that fit you we will broaden your view on activism by explaining that making impact is not always picked up by the news or remembered in history books. At the end of the program, you will have taken the first steps towards your morally ambitious goal. You will leave this program with a personal morally ambitious plan that you will for your life after the program.
What’s in it for you:
Joost de Bruin
'It always seems impossible until it's done' - Nelson Mandela
Joost de Bruin has been an ambassador of positive change and youth activism throughout his career.
During his studies he worked two years in the board of the Dutch National Students Council (LSVb), after which he founded the Dutch National Youth Council (NJR) – which is the representation of Dutch youth- and student-led organisations and youth to the Dutch, European, national and local governments.
During his work at the University of Applied Sciences, he started local programs such as TEDxUtrecht, the Utrecht College Tour and minor programs (fulltime 5 month-programs) that enabled students to focus on social, entrepreneurial, cultural of personal challenges. In the past decade over 3000 artists, activists, entrepreneurs, creatives and student representatives participated in these programs.
About his work, Joost says ‘I am driven by the conviction that education should not only prepare students for a profession but also enable them to take responsibility for the social, ecological, and democratic challenges of our time. This includes actively amplifying ideas and supporting role models that demonstrate how ambition and impact can reinforce one another. And it means that the university needs to support students and professionals who challenge existing status quos in constructive ways.’
The new honours programme he and Evy founded builds on these principles, with a specific focus on students who are actively seeking to contribute to a better future and who are exploring which roles, strategie and forms of leadership best align with their values and capabilities. The program positions education as a collective practice of imagining, designing, and realising alternatives — grounded in responsibility, solidarity, and hope.
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Evy Kras
'I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.' - Angela Davis
During my studies, Evy always encountered the same thing. She saw all kinds of young people who were concerned about the world and its problems. She read articles and books about how these problems arose and how people destroy each other and the world. Evy loved learning about how the world works, but she felt that one fundamental thing was missing: What can I or what can we do to improve the world? This let her to the following conclusion: current education does not teach young people all the ways they can make a difference.
This let Evy to design an educational program together with Joost de Bruin to support people in their moral ambition and professional activism. As an applied psychologist and cultural anthropologist, she is good at analyzing dynamics in the world but does not forget the people behind these vague concepts. She has done research on development aid in the Netherlands and abroad. For more than four years now, Evy has been conducting research into (effective) altruism, both within and outside her studies. In this summer course, she will help challenge your worldview, but she will always make room for the human aspect. As a teacher, Evy therefore believes it is important to get to know each other and grow together. Her goal is to motivate as many people as possible to act on their moral ambitions. In doing so, she likes to focus on what is possible and how you can maximize your impact. Because what kind of world would we live in if everyone did that?
This course is for you if you:
This course is for everyone who is interested in moral ambition and wants to learn more of what they could do to change the world for the better.
Our broad goal is that all students (and people in general) start getting more active in fixing the world’s problems. There are many people who have ideals and are aware of the state of the world we are living in. These people do not always know how moral ambition and professional activism is a way to start making a change. This course is here to help you to get off your feet and get active. At the end of the course you’ve created a laser focus on the challenge you want to solve and what your role will be in solving it – or … what the next steps in making this choice will be.
The days will start around 10 and end at 4pm. After and before the start of the program you are more than welcome to dive into subject that might interest you.