Comments
Read what participants had to say about the Liberty Seminar.
"The Liberty Seminar is all about dealing with more than your own mind, it’s about dealing with many other minds. First of all, those other minds are the other students at the seminar. We all have our own personal background and beliefs but we share an incredible eagerness to learn. That way, some of your convictions are reinforced, but you also get to know a bunch of new ideas. At least I did.
You also have an intense interact with the professors in a way you normally wouldn’t. During lunch, the professors will sit at the tables of the students and some of the normal student-teacher boundaries are moved aside: there is a unique academic openness, something I personally have never experienced before, even at the university. All the participants, including the other students, faculty and staff, made the Liberty Seminar a fantastic experience."
Christophe Charpentier, KU Leuven, Belgium
“What I liked most about the Liberty Seminar was the huge variety of students. First there were so many international people, ranging from South America to India. Furthermore my fellow students were studying a large variety of subjects. Studying Economics and Management myself, I did not have much knowledge of Philosophy and therefore found the discussions with the other students immensely interesting and beneficial. The format of the seminar was very conducive to this kind of conversation, because it allowed for discussion groups after each lecture, where we would work out questions for the ensuing class debate. Lastly students varied a great deal with regards to their level of studying, ranging from undergraduates to PhD students. On the whole the large variety in backgrounds made the seminar really interesting. The seminar had a very informal nature, not only between students, but also with the faculty. In the evenings we mostly explored the great many bars of Leuven, where I had a good time not only with my fellow students, but also with the members of faculty. In summary I really enjoyed attending this seminar and discussing the ideas of liberty in such an interesting and engaging environment.”
Christoph Lakner, University of Oxford, Germany
"The Liberty Seminar in Leuven was an extraordinary experience and without a doubt one of the best memories in my academic life. I had a very strong feeling that I was taking part in something exceptional and that it was important to live it intensely. Luckily, it seems all the other participants had set out to do just that. The atmosphere of the Seminar is difficult to describe. There is a common consciousness that time is flowing in the sandglass and that moments, friendships and dialogues need to be seized. It is not often that one can exchange thoughts with around 30 students from all over the world as it happened in Leuven on this occasion, not to mention the memorable discussions that I held with the professors, who were extraordinarily opened to our questions and remarks.
The promised dialogue really did take place – with fellow students and scientists alike. This happened without the barriers or the restraint that we are all so used to in our ‘daily lives’. I was very touched by many of the discussions I had then, with people emotionally and intellectually committed to the topics under discussion. I have learnt immensely from my time in Leuven and I returned from it enriched and with broadened horizons. I am extremely grateful to all the people I met for this.
The ease with which dialogue took place is very much to the credit of the organisers. I had never witnessed such excellence in organisation. Every detail was taken care of, thus allowing participants to devote their full attention to the lectures and other social events. I notably think of Emmanuel Martin, who coordinated the participants from the very first steps of registration and Evert Gruyaert, who was wonderful and full of generosity during the week of the Seminar.
The speakers, the smaller-group sessions and the field trips fuelled an intense exchange of ideas within the formal programme as well as in the corridors. The possibility to discuss face-to-face with people from very different fields of interest gave me such experiences that I could not have gathered anywhere else.
Being accommodated in an almost empty dormitory let the participants to break the ice and start building bridges between them. Those bridges do outlast the Seminar, which has given me friends around the world with whom I am still keeping in touch and this way we share experiences as well as opportunities from various fields of science.
The Liberty Seminar deals with classical liberalism uncommonly well and is especially good at promoting fresh thinking on them. At the same time, the Forum retains a human dimension that is characteristic and gives it its full elevation. It was unforgettable and I’m looking forward to participating at another event of Institute of Economic Studies or Classic Liberal Flemish Student Organization."
Julia Toser, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
“The whole experience was beyond my expectations. My main reason to attend the Liberty Seminar at Leuven was to understand how liberalism is studied and lived among students from such diverse countries and backgrounds. The Liberty Seminar gave me the opportunity of knowing people, that otherwise I would never met, who come from post communism countries, socialist countries, huge welfare governments, etc.. Despite this non liberal situations, they are very interested in the liberal ideals and really live their lives defending private property, and the right of the individuals to stand by themselves without the government interference directing their steps. I learned to admire the intellectual curiosity from all these marvellous students who by themselves discovered Liberalism. Besides the academic part, sharing a week in such a beautiful place as Leuven, gave me the opportunity of knowing a lot on the politics and major issues from many countries, which for me was priceless.
It was one of the most amazing weeks in my entire life. It gave an experience that otherwise I would never ever had. I am really grateful with the persons who made this seminar possible.”
Gloria Alvarez, Guatemala
“Ik heb de eer gehad kennis te maken met échte liberalen zoals Tibor Machan, Carlo Lottieri, Pierre Garello en vele anderen die deze week intellectueel gevoed hebben, en me overigens zeer aangenaam verrast hebben door het liberalisme niet tot louter een utilitaristische gedachte over een hervorminkje in het arbeidsrecht hier, en een wijziginkje in de marge daar te beperken; doch reeds vanaf de eerste dag de vraag opwierpen of een gedrocht als de staat eigenlijk nog wel nodig is om individuele vrijheden op leven, eigendom en het streven naar geluk te waarborgen. Ik hoop alleszins dat de organisatoren dit seminarie volgend jaar zullen overdoen, maar dan wel in Antwerpen gezien het echt een schande is dat door de – allicht overheidsgesteunde! – quasi monopolistische marktpositie van Inbev in Leuven onze buitenlandse gasten de kans en eer niet hebben gehad kennis te maken met de zemelzoete smaken van een “bolleke”. ;-)”
Xavier Meulders, University of Antwerp, Belgium
"I am a first year student and I study Management and International Relations. I found out about IES-Europe seminars from one of my economics teacher that encouraged us to participate and recommended us books and articles that in my case represented the first step towards classical liberalism. The Liberty Seminar in Leuven was the first one I participated in and I did't know what to expect. After a night long trip by bus from Cluj to Budapest and then by plane to Brussels the first impression of Leuven wasn't too great. The sky was cloudy it just stopped raining and the temperature was half than the one in Romania. I got to the dorm, unpacked and went to sleep. After a few hours of sleep everything started to get better. I met with some other early comers and the sun appeared. After this the rest of the week was a surprising new experience for me. Even if we didn't know each other we all felt connected from the moment we met in the dorm. During the week we got to know each other very well. The most surprising feeling was the connection with the teachers. During the lectures, brakes, dinner and when going out we felt equal and discussed free on the topics presented during the day and not only. The fact that you wouldn't get marked for what you said was very comforting and mind freeing. The visits were also interesting especially at the Brewers of Europe. To sum up it was an enriching experience both from the academic point of view and the social one and I would recommend it to any student that wants to get familiar with the classical liberal ideas and have a good time."
Radu Boloveschi, Romania
If you like to share your experience, please send an email to info@libertyseminar.be.