Mindlab is at the UT! Next Monday, Mindlab will be performed for the final two times in the Vrijhof. Curious to know all about Mindlab? Shortly after 9 March, we will publish an overview that takes you from the start of the Mindlab movement to the point we are now. How did your colleagues experience Mindlab? How was it for you? And what will the UT do with all the input of the Mindlab Café? You will read and see it soon. And just to make you curious: there's more to come, so keep an eye on www.utwente.nl/mindlab.
On 13 February Mindlab premiered in the Theaterloods in Radio Kootwijk, the home theatre of TheaterMakers Radio Kootwijk (formerly known as Productiehuis Plezant). This was an overwhelming success. Reactions range from 'impressive' and 'it really triggers you to reflect and start conversations' to 'very recognizable' and 'gripping'. And everyone agreed: the actors perform incredibly well!
Mindlab is about working and living within and outside a university. It's a must-see science fiction thriller that challenges you to reflect on what drives you, on what you stand for and on what you want to achieve. And it also inspires you to consider your role and professional life at the university. Mindlab challenges you to be part of an experiment that makes you sit on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Curious? These pictures will give you a sneak peek of what is in store for you.
What Mindlab can do for you
The University of Twente is keen to create an open and safe working and living environment, both within the university and on campus, and Mindlab is part of that ambition. ‘It is essential that we foster an open climate at our university, a climate that creates a safe space where dilemmas can be raised, considered and tackled,’ says Mirjam Bult, vicechair of the Executive Board. ‘The impressive Mindlab production makes a start towards achieving precisely that ambition.’
This is how Mindlab began
The initiative began when Professor Ellen Giebels, vicedean of the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences (BMS) at the University of Twente, experienced two other theatre productions by TheaterMakers Radio Kootwijk (TMRK): Rauw (‘Raw’, put on for the Dutch national police force) and Vuurdoop (‘Baptism of Fire’, for the Army). She decided that the time was right for a similar production about all the factors that influence the world of science. ‘Science is under scrutiny,’ Ellen Giebels explains, ‘focusing on questions of integrity, the benefit to society, the quality of teaching, internationalization and funding. Academia is a fantastic place to work, but it can sometimes be hard to keep all those plates spinning. That’s when I ask myself: what really matters, and what might not?’ You will find the complete story of Ellen in this article of UToday.
