TeachMeet
Exchange, inspiration & meeting
A TeachMeet is an informal mini-conference where UvA teachers meet and exchange good practices to inspire each other. It is a popular concept used worldwide for and by teachers with the aim to learn from and with each other. During each TeachMeet, a specific theme is highlighted and four to five short presentations are given, followed by drinks together. Exchange, inspiration and encounters are the key ingredients.
Next up: Navigating controversy and friction in the classroom | 5 November 2026
In recent years there has been considerable tension around the world—and we are seeing its effects in education, too. During this TeachMeet we will explore the what, how and why of addressing controversy and friction in education.
Dr Geerte Savenije will examine with us why it matters to address controversy and friction, and how this fits within a teacher’s pedagogical remit. Together we will consider questions such as “What is the purpose?”, “What are we aiming to achieve?” and, crucially: “Why make time for this?”
Dr Line Kuppens will introduce the Silent conversations method, a pedagogical approach that creates a reflective dialogue by having students write down their thoughts and respond to one another in writing (anonymously). How can this method help us to empathise more with one another and learn to understand each other’s perspective?
Saskia Arbon will discuss how to teach students to think critically about controversial topics. How do you distinguish between evidence and values in a discussion? Drawing on her sequence of lessons, she will illustrate how to foster these skills in students and have them apply them across different domains.
You will be able to register for this event soon!
Programme
| Date | Thursday 5 November 2026 | |
| Time | 14.00-17.00h | |
| Location | Spui25 | |
| Language | English | |
| Speakers | Geerte Savenije, Line Kuppens & Saskia Arbon | |
| Organised by | TLC Central |
Share your good practice and sign up as speaker!
Do you have a good practice you would like to share or do you know a colleague who has an interesting story?
What were the previous TeachMeets about?
Fellow teachers shared their experience and good practices with the wellbeing of students and teachers in higher education. Couldn’t attend and want to know more about the presentations? Feel free to contact the teachers who shared their experiences.
| Subject | Teacher | |
| Meeting the Crisis Inside Out: Embodied pedagogy for existential resilience and imagination in unsettling times | Jelger Kroese | Faculty of Science | |
| A Neurodiversity Perspective on Academic Wellbeing | Ileana Grama | Faculty of Humanities |
Fellow teachers shared their experience and good practices with Community Engaged Learning (CEL) in higher education. Couldn’t attend and want to know more about the presentations? Feel free to contact the teachers who shared their experiences.
| Subject | Teacher | |
| Community Archaeology in Rural Environments on the Island of Terschelling | Heleen van Londen | Faculty of Humanities | |
| Amsterdam Living Case Lab: where theory meets practic | Marina Khoroujenko | Economics and Business | |
| Holy Shit: Using Community-Engaged Learning to Close the Food Cycl | Claire Paulissen | Faculty of Science | |
| Placemaking | Rosanne van Wieringen | Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences |
Fellow teachers shared their experience and good practices with Storytelling in higher education. Couldn’t attend and want to know more about the presentations? Feel free to contact the teachers who shared their experiences.
| Subject | Teacher | |
| Story Telling: On Being Imperfect | Gabor Linthorst | Faculty of Medicine | |
| Including stories to histories | Jouke Turpijn | Faculty of Humanities | |
| Building imaginative ‘muscle’ through sensory storytelling: a designathon workshop for Higher Education | Ydwine Zanstra | Amsterdam University College (AUC) | |
|
On Videographic Criticism: Audiovisual Essays in Teaching and Research |
Jaap Kooijman | Faculty of Humanities |
Fellow teachers shared their experience and good practices with Gamification in higher education. Couldn’t attend and want to know more about the presentations? Feel free to contact the teachers who shared their experiences.
| Subject | Teacher | |
| How to escape a boring lecture: an educative escape game | Pieter Walstock | Amsterdam UMC | |
| Building Theory: Utilizing LEGO Serious Play for In-Depth Discussions
on Theoretical Concepts with Students |
Agnes Akkerman | Law Faculty | |
| Escaping the communication gap | Adriana Zoutman | Amsterdam UMC | |
|
Game of Traits: a cardgame to explain trait-based ecology |
Dedmer van de Waal | Science Faculty | |
| The Call’: Engaging Students Through Interactive Video Experiences | Jeroen Lemmens | Faculty of Social and Behavioural Science
|
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| Game theory experienced: speedy online games for large classrooms | Aljaz Ule | Faculty of Economics and Business
|
Fellow teachers shared their experience and good practices with genAI in higher education. Couldn’t attend and want to know more about the presentations? Feel free to contact the teachers who shared their experiences.
| Subject | Teacher | |
| GenAI for class preparation | Martin Duchac | PPLE | |
| Energy savers | Ivana Bušljeta Banks | FMG | |
| GenAI for brainstorming and as virtual stakeholders | Morten Strømme | Science | |
|
Teaching and Assessing Academic Writing in Times of GenAI |
Joost Krijnen | AUC |
 |
Participant TeachMeet 23 October: ‘I learnt more about genAI in this meeting than in the past six months.’ |