JSVO teaching prizes for Maarten Kunst and Jonathan Huijts
The winners of the JSVO teaching prizes for academic year 2020-2021 were announced at the opening of the faculty year on 7 September 2021.
Each year, two JSVO teaching prizes are awarded: one for the best lecturer and one for the best teacher in a tutorial class.
The prize for the best lecturer this year went to Professor of Criminology Maarten Kunst. Kunst is one of the driving forces behind the extracurricular Dutch-taught course Cold Cases.
The course is the result of a collaboration between the Department of Criminology at Leiden University and the police department in The Hague. During the course, students examine a cold case and come to possible new insights.
The singing teacher
'Hopelijk zult u door dit lied nooit vergeten
Wat u op tentamen of waar dan ook moet weten
Namelijk hoe u zich van uw schade ontdoet
Onthoudt de melodie en dan komt ‘t vast goed.'
(Hopefully this little song will help you know
All you need for exams or wherever you may go
You’ll succeed in any claims that ever come your way
Just remember this tune and you’re sure to save the day)
The above stanza was written by lecturer in Constitutional and Administrative law Jonathan Huijts, who taught his students in times of the coronavirus by singing to them about his discipline. Thanks to his highly creative way of teaching, he won this year’s prize for the best teacher in a tutorial class.
His musical talent had already been picked up by Dutch law journal Mr. Online.
Annual awards ceremony
The teaching prizes are awarded each year by the Juridische Studieverenigingen Voorzitters Overleg (JSVO, the collective chairs of the faculty study associations). Last year the prizes were symbolically awarded to all staff members at Leiden Law School.
The jury is composed of the committee members of the study associations and the assessor at Leiden Law School. After meeting with the nominees, the jury decides who the winners will be.