Meet The World: Cosmopolitan, yes or no?

When are you a cosmopolitan? That question was answered yesterday during the second edition of Meet The World. The Atrium of Academia was filled with about thirty curious students. With all eyes on Nathan de Groot, former campus poet of TiU, the debate started.

“Being a cosmopolitan takes more than just traveling around and see different spaces. It’s the people you meet during your journey and the responsibility you take for these foreigners.” Ralf Bodelier, expert in cosmopolitism and globalization, uses the famous philosopher Immanuel Kant as a model world citizen.

But should we only focus on figures like Kant and go on frequent travels to become a cosmopolitan? “You can’t only learn from philosophers. Instead, you acquire most of your knowledge from the people you meet. Both in your own and in foreign countries”, says Bodelier. According to him, the Dutch do know how to travel. They visit nice places and stay at beautiful hotels. But they don’t pay much attention to the residents of the countries they see. “Those people feel like cosmopolitans but they are not even close. They miss the most important quality for being a world citizen, called empathy.”

Dave Brett is a keen traveler and was born in England. In the upcoming period he will be studying Communication in Humanities at our campus. Dave is a big fan of ‘Couch Surfing’ and the past seven years he has been to seventy countries. His wanderlust all started when he was fifteen and met people from Finland on a scout camp. That was the first time in his life he made contact with other cultures. This was such a great experience for Dave that he decided to continue. Travelling has become his lifestyle.

Nowadays he also maintains a travel blog where he shares his tips and inspiration during his journey. “If you want to see the world, step out of your comfort zone. When you finally have that confidence and go beyond the borders of your hotel and hostel, you will find much more then you’d ever dreamed of.” Brett is currently working on a book about his world experiences that will probably be in stores by Christmas.

During this second Meet The World session the public, which was mostly represented by international students, got a ‘poetic surprise’. Lars Bregonje is our current campus poet and read two of his poems. In the end there was Maria Jose Recalde Vela, an international student from Panama, Ecuador and Honduras. But when people ask her where she’s from, she mostly answers with Panama, because that is the place she was born. Maria studies at our university but has lived in several countries during her youth.

She joined the discussion in the Atrium and told the audience she learned ‘color blindness’ while going to an international school. “We did not see any difference in race or skin. Everyone was equal to each other so you’d just be friended with everybody in your class.”

The small group of thirty students went home that afternoon enriched with a golden advice from our man of cosmopolitism (Bodelier). “If you travel, don’t look for student pubs or groups of internationals. Get inside the country and talk with locals. Become a cosmopolitan.”

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If you want to know more about the next editions of Meet The World, visit their Facebookpage.