Who’s RUW Foundation?
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RUW stands for: Re-Imagine the University of Wageningen. Most importantly, it’s WUR (Wageningen University and Research) backwards. As a foundation it was born in the 60s by students that wished to bring life to science by involving citizens into research.
We think of RUW now as a vessel of bringing people together to address topics valuable for the local context (eg. Architecture, politics, gender issues and more).
Our goal as a foundation is to creating the circumstances and platforms for academia and citizens to meet, form communties and reframing what their life in this town means to them. After all, Wageningen is a diverse community; a melting pot of old people, young people, locals, asylum seekers, poets, squatters, students, lost & found, cats, trash, treasures and many, many stories.
Who’s The Jester?
The Jester is one of the outputs of RUW Foundation, a newspaper printed 4 times a year and spread in multiple locations around town. It is based on the creative work of volunteer writers, editors, and illustrators. Born to be a critical editorial of amateur journalism (or citizen journalism if you will), it focuses on the relationship of science with society, and the entanglement formed by academia and our economic system.
The name – The Jester – was chosen in honour of the professional jokers or ‘fools’ who entertained medieval courts, and sometimes were bearers of bad news. They were portraying their observations of the world through witticisms and satire.
You might imagine The Jester as a cloud floating over Wageningen
with a magnifying glass. You might imagine The Jester as a creature that comes
out of its box when it hears of something worth investigating. You might
imagine The Jester as a slightly grotesque character, who you won’t necessarily
like immediately, but who you’ll definitely be intrigued by. Or you might think
of The Jester as the person sitting right next to you.
But why does the Jester do what they do? The Jester is a platform for people to explore their creativity. Stand in front of an empty paper and fearlessly putting a chunk of themselves in, whether it is collage, poems, illustrations.. experimentation is our only rule. And most importantly it is a hub of asking questions..
Can science communication be critical instead of a series of success stories? How are institutions accountable for harms they cause? How can we use humour to discuss about difficult issues, dismantling them and try to see them for what they really are? How to be playful and daring, yet responsible for your words?
But why does the Jester do what they do? The Jester is a platform for people to explore their creativity. Stand in front of an empty paper and fearlessly putting a chunk of themselves in, whether it is collage, poems, illustrations.. experimentation is our only rule. And most importantly it is a hub of asking questions..
Can science communication be critical instead of a series of success stories? How are institutions accountable for harms they cause? How can we use humour to discuss about difficult issues, dismantling them and try to see them for what they really are? How to be playful and daring, yet responsible for your words?
Logo by: Dominique Rooks
© The Jester 2024