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History of the University of Groningen

Preface

In 2011, a group of students doing the course Writing, Editing and Mediating IV was assigned to work together on a book about the history of the University of Groningen. Although a lot has been written on the University in Dutch, there is no English book that deals with the entire history of the University. These students worked very hard to incorporate their translations of several Dutch sources into one final book. The book is not meant to be an exhaustive history of the University of Groningen, but can be regarded as a very broad introduction, containing the most important and fascinating elements of the University’s history. Despite the students’ best efforts, the book was never published. That is, not until now. This project was revitalised by a new group of students taking the same course three years later. We reinvested in this project, including a new and exciting goal: researching the history of the department of English. Since the University of Groningen was the first in the Netherlands to have a department of English, this proved to be an interesting subject. The two parts are presented to you as one entity, since much of the histories intertwine and complement each other. We hope you will find it interesting and that it will inspire you to learn more about our University.

Introduction

In 2014 the University of Groningen celebrates its 400th anniversary. For nearly four centuries, the University of Groningen has been a place for acquiring and passing on knowledge from one generation to another. This book aims to provide an English language history of the University. Different aspects of its history will be dealt with, from crisis to celebration, from drunken students to talented scientists, and from vicious gossip to groundbreaking research. In addition to chapters on the general history of the University of Groningen, which include thematic boxes on specific topics, this book also contains thematic sections on special University buildings. The chapters on general history are ordered chronologically.

Chapter 1

The first chapter, titled ‘The Very Beginning’, indeed starts at the very beginning, explaining the tradition of education in Groningen, followed by a history of the foundation of the University. It contains the very first celebration at the University: the official opening. This chapter also offers information on the first enrolments and the buildings that were used for the education of these students. Chapter one includes biographies of the founding fathers of the institution: Ubbo Emmius (1547–1625), Hermann Ravensperger (1586–1625), Cornelius Pijnacker (1570–1645), Nicolaus Mulerius (1564–1630), Johannes Huninga (1584–1639), and William MacDowell (1590–1667). Added to this section are the biographies of the three intellectual predecessors of the University: the renowned Groningen scholars Wessel Gansfort (1419–1489), Rudolf Agricola (1443–1483), and Regnerus Praedinius (1510–1559).

Chapter 2

No book about the University of Groningen would be complete without a few sections on student life. The second chapter, ‘Burse, Beer, and Bommen Berend’, deals with the early student life of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Questions such as ‘what did the life of a student look like back then?’ and ‘what were the most common teaching methods?’ will be answered here. From the grand opening of the University in 1614, the book moves to the first centenary and to the first crisis period in the chapter ‘A Troublesome Second Century’. After a glorious first century in which the sky seemed the limit, the University plunged into a crisis. The second century of its existence was marked by deficiencies: a declining number of students, unfulfilled vacancies, and a limited budget. However, there were a few rays of hope, such as the establishment of the Academic Hospital, to which a special section has been devoted, and the presence of some of the brightest minds of the eighteenth century.

Chapter 3

Chapter three also goes into the professional hobbies of one of these bright minds. In the eighteenth century, the natural sciences became increasingly popular. The major influences on the eighteenth-century popularization of the natural sciences were the Enlightenment, Empiricism, and Physico-Theology. However, they were not yet firmly established separate disciplines at the University. One of the brightest minds of the eighteenth century, who tried to change this and who therefore receives special attention, was Petrus Camper (1722–1789). He is arguably one of the most famous scientists and alumni of the University of Groningen.

Chapter 4 & 5

The change of government at the start of the nineteenth century marks the beginning of a new chapter, not only in this book, but also in the history of the University. Chapters four and five show how new social classes gained access to the universities. ‘A Close Shave for the University in the Nineteenth Century’ also discusses the establishment of the first student societies, of which there are still a lot in Groningen today. Chapter five pays special attention to the first female student, Aletta Jacobs (1854–1929), who attended the University of Groningen in the nineteenth century. Known by most as the most famous woman in the first wave of feminism, Aletta Jacobs was also the first female university student to graduate in the Netherlands. This chapter describes the rise of a small-town girl from the province of Groningen through the educational system. Jacobs had to overcome many challenges that crossed her path before and during her student years in Groningen to fulfil her lifelong dream: becoming a physician.

Chapter 6

The next century, the twentieth century, was a troublesome period for Europe, as most countries were involved in the First World War, the Second World War, and the Cold War. Chapter six, ‘Difficult Decades’, looks back on this turbulent time period. The University of Groningen was greatly influenced by both WWI, which broke out only a month after the institution celebrated its tercentenary, and WWII. During both wars, the University had to deal with a shortage of supplies and with a dwindling number of students and professors. The Second World War had the largest impact of the two, since the Dutch universities were important targets for the occupying power. The enforced Nazi-ideologies, which allowed no freedom of mind and research, were a fundamental threat to their existence. University life in Groningen came to a halt, since many students and staff members were called to fight, sent to work in German factories, or were in hiding. Some of these people never returned.

Chapter 7

Chapter seven, titled ‘The Student Explosion in the 1960s & 1970s’, mostly focuses on student life in Groningen. After a joyous summer, in which the liberation was celebrated, people started to sober up and the damage the war had done to the Netherlands became visible. Student life reflected the fragile state of the Dutch economy in the fifties: there was a lot of malnutrition and poverty among students. Another problem was housing, not only for students, but also for the University. Now the war had ended, more students attended the University of Groningen, which as a consequence had become jam-packed and overloaded. The end of the sixties marked a period of massive student protest all over Europe. The most famous incident in the Netherlands, regarding these protests, took place in Amsterdam: the occupation

Chapter 8

The Cold War period, described in ‘The End of an Era’, was a period of change, but also of balance. New studies, such as ‘Computer Science’ and ‘Business and Economics’, saw the light, while older studies, such as ‘Geography’ and ‘Cultural Anthropology’, were abolished. Surviving study programmes were shortened, while at the same time tuition fees rose. Student life also underwent some significant changes in the 1980s and 1990s. Simply gaining knowledge was no longer enough; students became more career-oriented, focussing on the rising business community. At the same time, students also wanted to have more fun. They wanted a busy social life with plenty of extracurricular activities, instead of ‘wasting away’ in the lecture halls or library until the late hours.

Chapter 9

The final chapter of the book, ‘The University Now’, takes the reader to the present and offers a peek into the future. It deals with the increasing internationalisation of the University of Groningen, which surfaces in: the introduction of the Bachelor–Master system, the growing number of international students, the increasing importance of the English language, and the University’s position in the world as a leading research university. It continues on the topic of student life, with new twenty-first-century leisure activities, such as the KEI week, but also more gloomily with the effects of the recent cutbacks in Dutch higher education.

These chapters on the general history of the University of Groningen are separated by a few thematic sections on special University buildings. The first of these chapters, ‘Creating a Collection’, concerns the University Library: how it developed from a Franciscan Church into the modern day house of books. Another section, ‘From Skull to Stereoscope’, is devoted to the University Museum. A large section, ‘Incubation, Illness, Recovery’, discusses the University Medical Centre (UMCG), tracing its development from a small eight-bed teaching hospital with only two staff members, to one of the largest academic hospitals in the Netherlands and the largest employer in the Northern Netherlands. The last thematic section on special buildings describes the Harmony Building.