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Room for Discussion (RfD) is an interview platform at the University of Amsterdam. In these sessions, two students from various fields of study typically spend an hour interviewing well-known academics, politicians, economists, and other guests about socially relevant topics. The interviews are held at the Roeterseiland campus, where students, staff, and journalists are welcome to visit and ask questions. A livestream of the discussions is also available and will be posted later on YouTube.
Since its inception, the discussion platform has been affiliated with SEFA, the FEB student association, as a committee. The platform typically consists of approximately ten to fifteen students and partially changes its membership twice a year.
Room for Discussion gained national prominence in 2018 when the platform invited conservative Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson.[1][2] In 2024 and 2025, Room fro Discussion once again made national news when pro-Palestinian protests interrupted seperate interviews with Chair of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer and Dutch Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans. [3][4]
History
editRoom for Discussion was founded in 2008 by students at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of the University of Amsterdam. After the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, they stated that the university needed a platform that would facilitate discussions about the causes of the financial crisis and bridge the gap between academia and the real world.[1] In addition, the goal was to provide a platform for the most diverse and divergent opinions. Over the years, the platform expanded to other disciplines and subjects, including history, politics, philosophy and journalism. During these years, the organization has welcomed a very wide range of domestic and international guests, including Christine Lagarde,[5] Thomas Piketty, Mario Draghi, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Arend Lijphart, Geert Mak, Frans Timmermans, Klaas Knot, Peter Singer en Ayaan Hirsi Ali.[6]
In 2018, Room for Discussion celebrated its tenth anniversary by hosting socially critical guests in several sessions under the theme "Society in Crisis," including exiled Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and former European Commissioner Neelie Kroes. The announcement that the platform had also invited Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson was not well received by some UvA students and staff. Eighty "concerned Amsterdammers" signed a letter asking the platform to appoint a second guest alongside Peterson to counterbalance his ideas. This led to a national uproar, with proponents of Peterson's arrival legitimizing it by advocating for academic freedom and freedom of speech, while opponents feared that the psychologist would spread his messages unchallenged, thereby normalizing far-right ideology.[7][8]
Room for Discussion ultimately refused the letter signatories' demand to add a second guest to the interview, but did allow for more audience interaction than previously planned.[9]
In 2024, Room for Discussion celebrated its fifteenth anniversary by hosting a variety of guests in several sessions including former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and then President of Global Affairs at META Nick Clegg and CEO of KLM Marjan Rintel. Chair of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer was also invited, but this interview was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protestors which forced the interview to be continued behind closed doors.
Other interviews on similarly sensitive subjects during the spring of 2024 also were forced to take place at external locations, such as that of then-outgoing Dutch Minister of Defence Kajsa Ollongren and Mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema.
The following January, Room for Discussion invited then-Minister of Defence of the Netherlands Ruben Brekelmans for an interview at the Roeterseilandcampus of the University of Amsterdam. This was also interrupted in a manner similar to that of the interview with Admiraal Rob Bauer.
Trivia
edit- At the UvA, the characteristic Chesterfield sofas on the stage are often referred to as part of the "living room style" the platform attempts to create. In 2016, Room for Discussion hosted Forum for Democracy party leader Thierry Baudet, which led to considerable criticism and protests within the university.[10] In 2017, the interview with Sylvana Simons had to be moved to a secure room in the CREA student center after the founder of the political party BIJ1 was repeatedly threatened following the announcement of her arrival.[11] In 2018, an interview with Shell Netherlands CEO Marjan van Loon was disrupted by climate activists who threw an inflatable oil pipeline onto the stage, unfurled banners, and chanted slogans. An entire coffin was also carried in.[12] In 2019, former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel delivered his first speech as President-elect of the European Council at Room for Discussion.[13] In 2020, due to the corona crisis, the platform was temporarily forced to broadcast the interviews only via a live stream on Facebook. In 2025, the platform organized a session with Kajsa Ollongren on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in the Hague in cooperation with the Munich Security Conference and Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.
- ^ Tjerk Gualthérie van Weezel (2018-10-31). "Omstreden psycholoog Jordan Peterson spreekt in afgeladen faculteit 'totalitaire wannabe's' en bewonderaars toe". de Volkskrant. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ Jorien van der Keijl (2018-10-26). "Medewerkers UvA bezorgd over komst Jordan Peterson". Het Parool. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/protest-bij-interview-militaire-navo-baas-op-universiteit-amsterdam~bb71ef16/?utm_campaign=shared_earned&utm_medium=social&utm_source=copylink. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "UvA doet aangifte na verstoring bijeenkomst met minister Brekelmans". nos.nl (in Dutch). 2025-02-05. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
- ^ "Interview van Room for Discussion met Christine Lagarde". YouTube. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- ^ "Ayaan Hirsi Ali komt naar de Universiteit van Amsterdam". Het Parool. 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ Maarten Boudry (29 October 2018). "Beste UvA-academici, de tegenstem van Jordan Peterson is hard nodig". NRC. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Donya Alinejad: De UvA had Jordan Peterson geen rechtse 'safe space' moeten bieden". Joop. 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Geen extra gast, wel extra ruimte voor vragen aan Jordan Peterson". www.folia.nl. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Protest op UVA vanwege gesprek met Thierry Baudet". ad.nl. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Sylvana Simons: "Ik houd lekker toch wel van je!"". Red Pers. 2017-02-21. Archived from the original on 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ Bart van Zoelen (2018-09-12). "Interview Shell-directeur op UvA verstoord door activisten". Het Parool. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ Ariejan Korteweg (2019-11-27). "Hoe een clubje studenten europresident Charles Michel in een grote bruine stoel kreeg". de Volkskrant. Retrieved 2020-12-03.