The complex social issues of our time call for academics with both in-depth knowledge and a broad social orientation. On Tuesday 28 October The UvA Education Day 2025 will focus on: how do we best prepare students for a dynamic context, both domestically and internationally?

In a world where political, social and technical developments have an increasing influence on education, a crucial role lies with the teacher. How can we best support and guide students as they grow into independent and socially aware professionals? And what does this require of you as an academic teacher?

The UvA Education Day 2025 is your invitation to explore, strengthen and get inspired by academic development! Join us on Tuesday 28 October 2025 and contribute to future-proof education.

Awards for teachers and students

Good and inspiring education is of great importance to the UvA. That is why we present UvA Education Awards to exceptional teachers and courses, education projects or -teams that contribute to good and inspiring education. In addition, the best and most original Master’s theses written at the UvA are rewarded each year with the UvA Thesis Prize. The jury judges the submissions by scientific quality and originality.

About UvA Education Day 2024: Connectedness in education

How do we stay connected in times of academic transitions, such as hybrid learning, AI and the international classroom?

Keynote: Connecting the Dots

Jessica Taylor Piotrowski,
Professor Communication in the Digital Society

Please find the slides here

In today’s rapidly evolving academic world, success often hinges on our ability to connect the dots—integrating various relationships to support a thriving academic environment. This keynote will explore how the power of connection can be a game-changer for higher education.

We will examine how connecting the dots between faculty members can benefit education. The crucial partnerships between faculty and support staff will also be highlighted, showing how these relationships elevate education in powerful ways. Of course, at the heart of education is the interwoven connection between faculty, student, and course content. Here, we will discuss concrete strategies for cultivating this connection to best support engaged learning.

Join us, Tuesday 22 October, as we uncover strategies to connect the dots!

Programme

The UvA Education Day is a celebration of education. Together, we focus on the importance of teachers and the education they provide within the UvA. The programme of the upcoming UvA Education Day reflects current trends within the UvA. There will also be plenty of time for group sessions and unattached networking. During the sessions, you will explore a sub-theme in which you are interested together with colleagues.

The programme consists of:

11:30 Walk-in/brunch and meeting lecturers and colleagues from all faculties
12:15 Opening by Rector Magnificus Peter-Paul Verbeek and chair Dr. Toni Pape
13:00 Keynote Connecting the Dots by Prof. Jessica Piotrowksi
13:35 ceremony UvA Education Awards
14:00 Group sessions, with a choice of 10 diverse topics (90 minutes)
16:00 ceremony UvA Thesis Prize 2024
16:30 Closing & drinks

10 group sessions

Group session 1: Who is the self and who is the other?
Group session 2: Fair and inclusive assessment
Group session 3: Let us rally together! Activating change: transforming higher education to address societal challenges
(NL) Group session 4: Wie is… De Drog (in Dutch only)
Group session 5: Connected in independence – How to strengthen collaboration between students outside lectures
Group session 6: Inclusion and connectedness – Teaching and learning strategies to enhance inclusion and connectedness in the international classroom
Group session 7: Deep Democracy in the classroom
(NL) Group session 8: Panelgesprek UvA-scriptieprijs 2024, met Abdelkader Benali (in Dutch only)
Group session 9: Sensing the connection
Group session 10: The power of autonomy and connection in education

About the chair of the day

Dr. Toni Pape is the chair of the day of the UvA Education Day 2024. He works as a researcher and teacher in Media studies at the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on the aesthetics of contemporary television and video games. Toni teaches mainly in the Bachelor’s programme ‘Media and Culture’ and the Master’s programme ‘Television and Cross-media Culture’. He has also taught courses for the Netherlands Institute of Cultural Analysis. In 2019, his course ‘Introduction to Video Game Studies’ received the Humanities Faculty’s Teaching Award. In his courses, Toni likes to bring students together through blended learning, peer reviewing and research-creation workshops.

More about Dr. Toni Pape (UvA profile)

The UvA Education Day is organised by TLC Central in collaboration with the TLC Network.