By Guillermo Cardenas In his 2009 speech in Cairo, Barack Obama mentioned Cordoba: “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. We see it in the history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition”. Obama used al-Andalus as proof of the tradition of tolerance of Islam. In the context of theContinue Reading
By Tom van der Meij Look around you. Look at the phone in your hand or the laptop on your table, the lightbulbs that enlighten your walls and furniture, the machinery in your kitchen. Look outside, at the street lighting, cars, people with headphones, airplanes, billboards. Think of the thingsContinue Reading
By Hannah Vonberg Sustainability as a concept is becoming more and more prominent in our society. It is commonly defined as ‘meet[ing] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,’ and closely tied to climate change and our way of consuming.Continue Reading
By Catalina Hurtado In an elementary school setting in Singapore, I witnessed many talent shows and guest speakers. Despite taking place almost 6 years ago, a one-liner delivered by a History teacher has managed to stick in my mind to this very day – “You were given two ears andContinue Reading
It’s beginning to look a lot like Sphaera recommendations. With the holidays right around the corner, it is also time for the Sphaera book, movie, tv-show, and music recommendations to come to town. Isn’t that all one could possibly want for Christmas? So sit back and Sphaera, as we giveContinue Reading
By Georgia Aimilia (Aimilina) Sarafi As part of my internship with the Amnesty International Student Group in the Hague, I wanted to explore whether incentivising the production of artivism through a prized art contest targeting students in the Hague would reenergise youth community engagement in international politics that may haveContinue Reading
By Doga Mehter What synonyms come to mind when you think of happiness, a word with numerous connotations? The color yellow, spring, flowers, laughing and sparks all around us? Happiness is sought and chased after in a never-ending cycle of ‘if I finish this…’ or ‘if I achieve this…’ HappinessContinue Reading
By Tom van der Meij A couple of months ago, The Guardian asked prominent British writers how they coped with the Corona crisis and the lockdown the United Kingdom found itself in at the time. Celebrated novelist Julian Barnes wrote that he had found pleasure indulging himself in the moviesContinue Reading
By Zuzanna Mietlińska Polygamy, polygyny, and polyandry. Three different terms that embrace the same phenomenon – plural, inter-human relationships. Polygyny is when one man is in a relationship with more than one woman. Similarly, polyandry is when one woman is in a relationship with more than one man, and polygamyContinue Reading
By Tom van der Meij It sounds like an absurd premise; an animated Netflix show about a speaking horse, set in a world in which all, well, almost all, animals can talk, have jobs, love affairs and live peacefully together with humans. The horse is called Bojack Horseman, he isContinue Reading