PHOTO: REYER BOXEM

The appeal of being a tradwife

Why do women vote for a misogynist like Trump, or call themselves tradwives and cling to a life of subservience to their husband? That’s what philosopher Charlotte Knowles is trying to understand. ‘We can often do things seemingly voluntarily that are not in our best interest.’ Christien Boomsma interviewed Knowles fort he Ukrant.

Alumni Event Beijing 27 June

We are happy to extend our sincere invitation to you to participate in the inaugural Alumni & Networking Evening 
of the University of Groningen (UG) on 27 June in Beijing. This event aims to unite UG Alumni in and from China, promote
Sino-Dutch Academic Exchanges, and explore more Cooperation on Digitalization and Sustainability. More information on www.rug.nl/alumni/agenda

Not the farmer but the system is the problem

There is a lot of discussion about nitrogen, soil quality, groundwater, and biodiversity. And about farmers. However, according to Raymond Klaassen, ecologist at the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen, these farmers are mostly victims of the system that we shaped together. In his view, we should mainly pay attention to the agroindustry and then, through fairly small modifications, we can greatly improve the life of the farmer and our landscape. In ‘Liekuut’, which is the Groningen dialect for straight ahead or straightforward, we regularly share the perspective of one of our academics on a topical issue. This is how we show that UG researchers contribute to the societal debate.

PHOTO: EDDO HARTMANN

Gaming: only the benefits of religion but not the drawbacks

Gods, demons, Crusaders, avatars. Video games are full of them. Lars de Wildt found surprisingly many similarities between religion and gaming. ’Game producers often use religious symbolism that consumers can make their own, which gives them the chance to lose themselves in the intensity of the game, experiencing feelings that resemble religiousness.’
Read more. 

PHOTO: CORNÉ SPARIDAENS

Interview leader SP (Socialist Party) Jimmy Dijk

Sociology alumnus Jimmy Dijk (1985) says he “prefers Groningen over the Hague's cheese dome" in an interview with the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences. Last year, Dijk exchanged his place in the Groningen city council for the Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives) and recently succeeded Lilian Marijnissen as party leader of the SP. Dijk looks back on his student days, where his deep-rooted love for politics, books and the city of Groningen arose.

PHOTO: LEONI VON RISTOK

Darting around with a tiny brain

With a brain the size of a pinhead, insects perform fantastic navigational feats. They avoid obstacles and move through small openings. How do they do this, with their limited brain power? Understanding the inner workings of an insect’s brain can help us in our search towards energy-efficient computing, physicist Elisabetta Chicca of the University of Groningen demonstrates with her most recent result: a robot that acts like an insect.