70th Dies Natalis

Join us for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of ISS

Date: Thursday 13 Oct 2022, 16:00 - 17:00
Type: General
Spoken Language: English
Ticket information: Registration has now closed! You can watch the Dies Natalis live by clicking on the video link below.

On Thursday 13 October the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) will celebrate it's 70th anniversary.

On this day we will travel through 70 years of ISS history, focusing on how the buildings which have housed ISS have typified and shaped the nature of the institution and are a reflection of the changing thinking about development cooperation.

70th Dies Natalis livestream - 13 October 2022

Speakers

Noordeinde Palace 1952-1977
Speaker: Wim van den Doel, Dean of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities alliance
In 1951, the then Queen Juliana generously offered part of the Royal Palace on Noordeinde in the centre of The Hague to house ISS. At the time the institute was at the vanguard of development studies educating civil servants from the global south. The focus was very much on what we now call capacity building: educating civil servants from 'developing countries' so that they could return and implement their new-found knowledge.
Hotel de Wittebrug 1977-1993
Speaker: Dr Howard Nicholas and Dr Amrita Chhachhi of ISS
A period in which the focus moved to North-South networks and an emphasis on 'training the trainers' such as NGOs, universities, trade unions, women and other organized groups. The focus shifted to research and links with international organizations in the north and south.
Former post office building 1993-present day
Speaker: Dr Elizabeth Mulewa Ngutuku, Research officer at Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, London School of Economics
Again a shift in focus, this time to become a more professional institute offering top-level education and research. ISS became much more 'South-focused' in this period with the decolonialization and co-creation of knowledge forming the bedrock of the ISS' global reach.
And from looking back at the past we will shift our focus on to the future, using the rich history of ISS to inform how we deal with new challenges and opportunities.