Bastiaan Rijpkema appointed Professor by special appointment of Tolerance
Bastiaan Rijpkema has been appointed Professor by special appointment of the new chair Tolerance at the Faculty of Humanities with effect from 1 July 2021. The chair was established by Stichting Leerstoel Uytenbogaert.
As Professor by special appointment of Tolerance, Rijpkema will dedicate the next five years to innovative legal and historical research on the European debate on tolerance. He will focus in particular on discussions about freedom of religion, association and expression. Rijpkema also wants to broaden and deepen his current research on democratic tolerance. He will continue in his role as senior lecturer at Leiden University’s Faculty of Law for three days a week.
The new chair is based at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS). Scientific Director Prof. Ab de Jong is looking forward to working with the new professor: ‘LIAS is delighted with the arrival of Bastiaan Rijpkema. We are looking forward to challenging him from the perspective of our various disciplines and regions – the Middle East, Asia, International Relations, Religious Studies – and also to learning from him. The new chair of Tolerance is a tremendous addition to the Institute.’
About Bastiaan Rijpkema
Rijpkema is a prominent voice in the academic debate on democracy and tolerance, and he combines philosophical, legal, political and historical perspectives in his research. In addition to his research and teaching, he regularly contributes to the public debate.
For his research on democratic tolerance, he was awarded the Prinsjesboekenprijs (2016) for the best political book and the New Scientist Science Talent Award (2017) for the greatest Dutch/Flemish scientific talent. He recently published Lokale weerbare democratie (2020), and this summer, in collaboration with an interdisciplinary consortium, he will be launching an empirical legal NWO research project on conflict resolution by online platforms.
Rijpkema has lectured on such subjects as the foundations of law, the philosophy of science, the philosophy of international law and legal and philosophical issues surrounding blasphemy at bachelor’s, honours and master’s levels.
Strengthening cooperation between Humanities and Law
Rijpkema strongly believes in the importance of interdisciplinary education and looks forward to continuing in this vein at the Faculty of Humanities. Building on his close involvement in teaching at the Faculty of Law and his administrative positions, he also hopes to further strengthen the cooperation between the Humanities and Law faculties.
About Stichting Leerstoel Uytenbogaert
The chair was established by Stichting Leerstoel Uytenbogaert, which was founded in 2019 by Jan Maarten Boll (1942–2020). The foundation is named after the Remonstrant leader and advocate of tolerance Johannes Uytenbogaert (1557-1644). Its aim in supporting this chair is that it will promote knowledge and awareness of tolerance.
Chairman Professor Geert Corstens is delighted with the appointment: ‘We have every confidence that Bastiaan Rijpkema’s talent, energy and commitment will guarantee the success of this chair. We wish Professor Rijpkema the very best of luck!’