Praeses: Liesa
Liesa’s function is to make sure all the pieces fit and the puzzle stays together. She will be the piece of the puzzle between the faculty and NFK, as regards student collaboration as well as student representation. She will have the overview of the whole praesidium and will try to make sure our praesidium stays one well working entity, that every piece of the puzzle performs its function while not losing sight of the bigger picture. She will make sure that we do our very best to let every student at the HIW find its place in the puzzle.
Vice-praeses: Ian
Hello, this is Ian. He is your upcoming Vice-Praeses. Ian is a wonderful human specimen who likes yoghurt, sports, partying with the boys and of course, like any philosophy student, seizing the means of production. He is known for keeping it cool at all times, because life may not always work in your favor but at least you can cry at home afterwards. As a Vice-Praeses he’ll never back down to choose the healthiest option with impeccable determination so everyone in- and outside the Praesidium can feel welcome at the HIW. His biggest occupation next year will be helping Liesa with her hard work of being Praeses. Their not so contrasting but rather complementary personalities will play a big role in the all-round functioning of NFK, our beloved Praesidium. Being so they will be able to strive for a wealthy and functioning student association. This way NFK can reach its full potential again after the global pandemic.
Treasurer: Emma VM & Marie M
Don’t let their bright smiles and sweet eyes fool you: Emma and Marie will exercise their function as treasurers with great precision and seriousness. Their job as treasurers is not simply to guard the (nearly empty) NFK-treasury, but to make sure that NFK can organize the most extraordinary, mind-blowingly awesome or delightfully relaxing activities for all of you to enjoy. Just as it is crucial to keep ourselves healthy, we need to keep NFK healthy as well. That is Emma and Marie’s sacred duty.
PR: Nina & David
Are you lost in loads of information? Do you have 1001+ burning questions? No worries, PR-team Nina and David got your back! They will provide you with everything you need to know. Sadly, we’re not talking about all of your deep existential questions. But speaking about the practical side of being a student at the HIW, they are very ready to help you. Nina is characterized by her loud and clear voice. She don’t need a speaker to convey a message. David on the other hand, is known for talking all the time: during lunch, presentations, classes, parties or even when he’s sleeping, David can be heard discussing all matters (but mostly the inherent flaws of capitalism). They know the juicy details from the behind the scenes of the Facebook page and messenger, Instagram, website, email, and so forth. If someone from the praesidium is talking in a confused way to you, they are here to be your personal interpreter to make it clear and distinct.
Education: Radu, Sapfo, Marte, Liesa & Emma M
Team Education defends the interests of philosophy students and give them a voice to address problems, while still respecting the ideas of the faculty. They want to promote the student representation more. The most important way to represent all students is with the open education meetings. They want to attract more people there so they can give their opinion on all kind of matters. They will defend that representative opinion in meetings on faculty and university level. The system of student representation is almost as complicated as a logic class, but that we will represent philosophy students in the best possible way is logical! They want to make the process of representation easier, more visible and make more use of the NFK Education Facebook page so students know how they are being represented.
As a student representative, Marte intends to always be approachable for every student so they can feel comfortable to openly express their positive or negative feedback on education. Radu, member of both “Education” and “Social”, wants to make both ends meet. He wants to aid students with autism, eradicate procrastination, organise fun and enriching activities. Sapfo is the existentialist you can lay all your remarks on about courses and education in HIW, and she’s always there for any questions you might have (including philosophical). Coming from the far west, there is Emma who won’t hesitate to duel any question or problem who dares to provoke her. Liesa at last will have the overview of the different ways philosophy students are represented and steer everything in the right direction.
BreadMeal: Marit
As the week progresses and you are getting sick of eating the same old pasta from your dirty kitchen, and the tasteless mashed potatoes from Alma (even though they are very friendly there), then we have good news for you: your salvation is near! Every Friday afternoon you can enjoy a delicious, classy lunch with the charismatic NFK-member Marit, who will host you warmly, and who will make you feel as if you are eating at a five star restaurant. And the best part is: you won’t be broke afterwards! Because our breadmeal is a cheap and wholesome investment in your diet, your wallet and your mental health.
CUDI: Robin & Marit
Every day the most burning questions pop up in a philosopher’s mind. Which hypothetical sense of ‘can’ is there in a deterministic world? Why did Karl Marx want a revolution? How can I subtly win Vergauwen’s heart? What is the meaning of life? The good thing is, that you can find all the answers in the courses and readers! And you can find these courses and readers at the NFK course service, located in the NFK lounge in the basement of the Institute. So don’t hesitate to visit us, and get your books full of wisdom and answers to your burning life questions. Robin and Marit will be glad to help you. This is also the place where you can buy NFK merchandise, such as nice t-shirts and sweaters in a variety of colors or a brand new codex. More than enough reasons to come visit us, I would say, even if it’s just for a little chat.
Culture: Tycho, Filip, Thomas & Kiran
For a 20/20 year of Culture, not one student of Philosophy should have the disprivilege of being deprived of Les Beaux Arts. Each inspired by their personal Muses, these four Byronic heroes are here to salvage your souls from the destitute Waste Land of culturelessness and introduce you to a world of cultural Splendour hitherto unseen. They shall each bear their own Herculean Task in this glorious Undertaking. Betwixt Kitsch and Philistines, Filip will not shy away from navigating any Art Exhibition that his way comes. Tycho shall orchestrate occasions to celebrate the Talent that lays dormant in us all and bless our ears with Song and Rhyme. Faced with a myriad of movies, one must not fret, for Thomas will select the crème de la crème be they known or obscure. Armed with The Literary Canon, Kiran will join the forces of Erudite in the Epic War against illiteracy and ignorance.
Fakbar: Glen & Ian
Hello, this fine specimen is Glen and this lovely man is Ian and they are the handsome faces of team Fakbar. At the moment their Fakbar is as absent as their love life, so they will search for both next year (if you want to help them with either of those slide in their DM’s) To make a fakbar function properly they will provide everyone with beverages that suit their night the most, variating from a fresh beer to a hot cup of tea. The vision of team Fakbar this year is to bring the people together again so everyone can get to know one another while having a nice chat (and providing us money of course, even though Glen is a filthy Marxist xoxo Ian)
Social: Alex, Radu & Karlien
We all have a picture in our minds of your stereotypical philosophy student, up in the clouds, with a fetish for strange concepts and sometimes other things… and here at the HIW we just about fill the pot on that broad spectrum of quirky. But none of that matters with the kids at Social, as everyone is welcome to their weekly exorcisms, extraterrestrial demonstrations and communal baths. Social focuses on integration and the celebration of everyone and everything, and if you go visit them, you’ll be met with a huge smile and maybe even a high five if you’re lucky. Whether you need to drink your sins away, or create some new ones, you can most likely find them in the freshly painted (yum) basement of the HIW, also known as the Lounge. Leading Social is Alex, who may or may not be the most British person you will ever meet and will likely greet you with a wry smile, followed by a friendly offer of a tequila shot. Radu comes to us from the 15th century, and sees himself as some form of Vlad the Impaler, who is fearless and justice hungry. Whilst lastly we have Karlien, who is complete joy in human form and could account for the smile on children’s faces. So, go check out some of their events, and you’re bound to make friends, but there are no promises that you won’t be signed up to some sort of pyramid scheme…
Sports: Ewout, Filip & Thomas
WE ARE NFK WE DO SPORTZ: volleyball, basketball, Football, futsal And every other thing involving movement! WE ARE SPORTZ WE DO NFK
Volunteers: Luca & Marie E
With pride we present to you our trustworthy volunteers. For everyone who has never heard of Luca, under what rock do you live..? He has been a pillar of strength for NFK. After 3 full years full of energy and enthusiasm, he still has much more left. He is ready for a fourth, but are you? Marie’s presence, which you might be accustomed to from last year’s breadmeal, will warm everyone’s heart and it will also cheer you up wherever you encounter her! Her spontaneity and social skills might make you envious even. Quite obvious of a fact but they both look fabulous in pictures, too!
Party: Edna, Hannah, David, Karlien & Dennis
For the party animals amongst you team Party will initiate you to the coolest parties in Leuven. And for the people who aren’t party animals, they’ll also organise cosy gatherings to hang out with friends. If you’re in the mood for a dance, you can let yourself go with the flow and dance shamelessly with Hannah. For the barflies, you can fly free with Dennis and just have a nice chat. And if you’re not really a dancer, but still want to be on the dancefloor, you can have a heated discussion with David surrounded by the dancing queens. If you’re someone who just wants to sing along with the greatest hits of all time, you can help Edna with causing hearing damage to the people around you. Meanwhile, Karlien will keep the ones interested entertained by going on an adventure, always fun to do something shady to end the night! (what could possibly go wrong?) After all, Party just wants you to have the time of your life at the most amazing events in Leuven!
Zeitgeist: Sapfo & Mehmet
The Zeitgeist this year will try its best to make #studentjournalsgreatagain with weird events that will make you think “why is the damn journal doing all these?”. Well, you can still just ‘submit’ that rant you wrote on contemporary matters, your obscure poetry, and even your entopic graphomania on our hopefully more frequent issues!
Remember all the cool kids that wrote for Les Temps Modernes around 1940’s, those that you have to read every week? Journals, not the peer-reviewed boring ones, were crucial for the development of individual philosophers in their youth. If team Zeitgeist can manage to create a sense of community and establish regular, but still exciting somehow, meetings they are sure that everybody will both enjoy and benefit from it.
You will probably see Sapfo the most, since she is the only socially capable one in the group. Don’t say silly things about Aristotle and NEVER compliment Stanislavski in her presence. She is also a professional actress, how cool is that? Mehmet, a.k.a rocker_metalhead, is the poster-boy and the despised Zizekian. He is your boy for never-ending drunk political conversations that could somehow involve psychoanalysis. You might hear him the most if they manage to get their Zeitgeist Radio going this year! If they are doing a weird interdisciplinary workshop & reading group at any point this year, blame it on Remzi. You can encounter him ranting about Irigaray, contemporary Japanese aesthetics or obscure Ottoman artists at the lounge. They are all excited to bring more Zeitgeist to you this year, for you to read and also listen this time!
