Since 1988, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has annually awarded Dissertation Prizes for outstanding dissertations in the fields of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law. The Dissertation Prize consists of an amount of €3,000 and a certificate. A maximum of five prizes are awarded to young researchers in the humanities and social sciences who have defended a dissertation of exceptionally high quality at a Dutch university. This year, the dissertation by Joris Verheijen has been honored with a prize.
Verheijen received the prize for his dissertation Revolution in the School Corridor: Radical-Romantic Bildung In and Outside Education from 1789 to the Present. In his dissertation, Verheijen discusses how decades of neoliberal efficiency thinking have turned education into a straight, result-oriented school pathway, while leaving no room for alternatives. Can the German ideal of Bildung bring about change in this regard? In debates about educational reform, the focus is usually on the conservative Bildung philosophy of Goethe and Humboldt. However, there also existed a radical-romantic conception that called for drastic social changes. Joris Verheijen uncovers the forgotten ideas of Forster, Böhmer, and Schlegel. It is precisely from them that we can learn how truly critical thinking can be sparked, how writing education can be freed from the straitjacket of linear essays, and how students can shape themselves instead of being shaped.
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Supervisors: Prof. dr. Marli Huijer & Prof. dr. Jos de Mul.
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