The Dutch Studies section wanted to make sure that, among all these commemorative events, one particularity would not go unnoticed: the University of Liège was the very first university outside the Dutch-speaking world to be endowed with a chair of Dutch.
In order to commemorate the birth of Dutch Studies as an academic discipline extra muros, the Dutch Studies section of the Department of Modern Languages decided to give long-term visibility to its particular origins. The result is a ten-year official agreement between the university and the Dutch Embassy in Belgium, signed on 29 June 2017. This agreement established the creation of the King Willem-Alexander Chair for Dutch Studies, currently occupied by Isa Hendrikx (translation lecturer), and the annual invitation of a Dutch or Flemish visiting professor to give lectures in his or her field of expertise.
©ULg-Photo: M. Houet 2017
More specifically, the project takes the form of a visiting professorship awarded each year to an internationally renowned academic. The courses or seminars given by the visiting professor are integrated into the two existing Dutch civilization courses - one in the Bachelor of Modern Languages and Literature programme, the other in the Master of Translation and Interpretation programme. The visiting professor will provide at least four hours of teaching in each of these two courses and will also give a public lecture open to the entire academic community. Finally, there will also be an event aimed at the general public.
Dans la foulée de la mission royale belge aux Pays-Bas fin de l’année 2016, les Présidents de 14 Universités hollandaises prestigieuses ont rencontré les Autorités de l’Université de Liège ainsi que quelques professeurs et chercheurs de premier plan de l’ULiège, dans des domaines où des collaborations existent déjà ou peuvent être développées.
The content of the courses provided will vary from year to year depending on the expertise of the visiting professor. We are keen to ensure a certain balance through the diversity of the contents offered. Thus, while the courses will give priority to contemporary issues and focus on economic, political and societal aspects, they may also address historical, linguistic or literary themes.
In general, a socio-cultural and historical orientation will be favoured. This choice is prompted by a desire that the expertise of the visiting professors should complement those of the teaching staff of the Dutch Studies section (linguistics, literature and translation). Another reason underlying this choice is the observation that many students in Liège remain strongly oriented towards Belgium and France, despite the geographical proximity of the Netherlands.
