Understanding society

“Understanding Society” is the motto Tilburg Universityhas chosen to profile itself. As a specialist in the social sciences and the humanities, the University wants its research and knowledge transfer programs to contribute to a better understanding of social issues. The motto was first used in 2008 when the new university strategy was introduced. “Understanding Society” is taken to denote examining, analyzing, learning to understand and teaching. The phrase “Advancing Society” is also sometimes used, referring in particular to valorization, to utilizing knowledge so as to contribute to solving social issues. To this purpose, many researchers and research groups collaborate with corporate or social partners in an incidental or structural capacity. An example here is Tranzo, performing health research, or Netspar, involved in ageing research with many partners. Other examples of social commitment include conferences, administrative engagements or work on advisory committees.

The Cobbenhagen legacy

“Understanding Society” is a motto that is related to the ideas of founding father Martinus Cobbenhagen from pre-War decades of the previous century. Theologian Erik Borgman, who published a book on Cobbenhagen in 2011, took this to mean “fathoming a multiform reality.” “To understand society, we need to have a university that is itself a multicolored community that keeps reforming and rebuilding itself. This is how the university reflects society, in which everyone is part of a whole that is neither fully grasped nor controlled by anyone. […] These thoughts […] seamlessly match Cobbenhagen’s conviction that it is concrete life that brings together and holds together fragmented and fragmenting theoretical thought, rather than the other way around.”

Works of art

“Understanding Society” is also the subject of a work of art by Teun Hocks from 2013. The work is on display in the Auditorium and depicts someone examining a huge footstep while producing footsteps himself. The work is a tapestry woven by the TextielMuseum in Tilburg.