MIND SPELLER - KU Leuven

Honorary
doctors 2010
Patron Saint's Day
Jaak Poot
On 2 February 2010, K.U.Leuven conferred
the degree of doctor honoris
causa upon six eminent people. The
Academic Council chose the theme of
‘The Child’ for this year’s celebration.
Radhika Coomaraswamy
Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka) is Special Representative
of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
She is famous for being a human rights activist, particularly
for the rights of children and women in conflict situations. “Fighting
for them is like second nature,” Coomaraswamy says. “When
I get discouraged, I think of the experience of child soldiers and
pick myself back up. Many of these children went through hell
but they continue to be full of hope, life and dynamism.”
“I negotiate with government leaders about the ways they
can bring violence and child abuse to an end, as well as about
facilities for the suitable care of ex-child soldiers. Moreover, I
try to meet with rebels who actively recruit children or commit
violence against them. Some rebels are convinced that they take
very good care of children who have lost their parents in violent
conflicts. When I argue that we are able to provide even better
care for the children, they are usually convinced and let the children
go.”
“The forms of acts of war are changing. This also results in
other forms of the abuse of children in armed conflict. For example,
some insurgents are now using children as suicide commandos.
Sexual violence towards women and children is also increasing.
Of course sexual violence has been used to intimidate
people for a very long time, but it is intensified by the complete
impunity in many regions of the world. That is precisely why it
is so difficult to put a stop
to it.”
“It is very important
that western countries
devote attention to this
problem. This influences
the positions their representatives
take at the
United Nations. In my
opinion, the academic
world also has important
responsibilities in this regard.
It can analyse current
conflicts, provide
insight into terrorism,
the techniques of drug
cartels, etc. From this, professors
may deduce strategies
and methods that
help us to respond more
effectively.”
Christopher Colclough
Professor Christopher Colclough (United Kingdom) is the
Commonwealth Professor of Education and Development and
Director of the Centre for
Education and International
Development at the
University of Cambridge.
His research focuses on
the connection between
providing quality education
for all and the way in
which that education can
serve economic growth.
“Education for all
children is the most direct
way to improve the fate
of the world’s population
that lives in poverty,” Professor
Christopher Colclough
tells us. “Education
stimulates the economy
and results in greater
prosperity and emancipation.”
Radhika Coomaraswamy
(© Rob Stevens)
Christopher Colclough
(© Rob Stevens)
Giacomo Rizzolatti and Vittorio Gallese receive their honorary doctorates from Rector Mark Waer. (© Rob Stevens)
“High quality primary education is not only important as
a social strategy, but also as an economic one. This is especially
true in the case of girls. Research has demonstrated that a higher
level of schooling for women contributes to the increased health
of their families and that they provide better food for their children.
They have fewer children and consider high quality education
to be of greater importance. Unfortunately, there continue
to be too many countries in which parents remove their daughters
from school too early to marry them off or to make them
work.”
“Developed countries in the north must insist more forcefully
on reaching the millennium development goals. Development
aid is our strongest weapon in this regard. But unfortunately,
very few countries actually meet the promised rate of 0.7
percent of their BNP. Too few politicians realise that prosperity
in the north is linked to increased prosperity in southern countries.”
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne (Belgium) are documentary
film makers and film directors who raise fundamental social,
political and pedagogical issues in their multi-award winning
films. Both Rosetta and L’Enfant were awarded the Golden Palm
at the Cannes Film Festival. “Receiving the highest European
cinema accolade is obviously an amazing acknowledgment,”
Jean-Pierre says. “As a result, we have automatic access to the
means we need to continue making our films. But we try to
keep such awards in perspective: they are subjective, momentary
events.”
“It is wonderful, however, that a renowned university is
highlighting the value of fiction film in this way. We are very
proud of this gesture of appreciation. We consider it to be the
recognition from the academic milieu that film is an important
medium for the investigation of the world.”
“We are very interested in the chemistry between the generations.
A child is a promise – the continuation of life. Children
make the world a more enjoyable place to live. We are very interested
in why some generations have good relationships with
one another and why some don’t. We always tell a story about
individuals who have locked themselves up internally but who,
through an encounter
with someone else, are given
the chance to change.
They begin their journeys
alone, but are given the
choice to engage in a relationship
with someone
else.”
“Although there are
two of us, when we make
films, we become one filmmaker.
At a certain point,
we act based on exactly
the same intuitive feeling.
If we ever do contradict
one another, we do so as
part of our attempt to accomplish
the same goal.
Just like an old married
couple. Only one without
any of the problems!”
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
(© Rob Stevens)
Giacomo Rizzolatti
Professor Giacomo Rizzolatti and Professor Vittorio Gallese
(Italy), who work at the Department of Neuroscience at the
Universita degli Studi di Parma, discovered the mirror neuron
system together. Their research contributes to reflection on the
learning processes of children and opened new pathways in the
research of the origins of autism.
“I started by researching the neurology of sight. First, I
observed how apes look at objects,” Professor Rizzolatti says.
“Then we discovered that there is also a motor response to visual
stimuli. This led us to study what happens in the brain when
monkeys pick up objects of various forms and sizes. Only much
later did we notice that there were also motor reactions when
the monkeys observed how we arranged the objects for them,
and even when we were simply handling the objects.”
“I prefer the term ‘mirror mechanisms in the brain’ to ‘mirror
neurons’. They are located in various areas of the brain. The mechanisms
in the motor cortex are directly linked to what one does. If
I see somebody pick up a glass in a café, I know they are likely to
drink from it. The mirror mechanism links one action directly to
the action that usually follows it. The second group is in the part
of the brain that we call the insula, and is related to emotions. If
you see somebody start to cry, mirror mechanisms that instantly
elicit an empathetic reaction start to function in your insula.”
“There is much debate about the third area. Personally, I
am convinced that mirror mechanisms are active in response to
phonological aspects of language. Amongst other things, these
help us to interpret cries and shouts spontaneously. Cognitive
psychologists are often very critical of our discovery. They prefer
complicated interpretations and criticise our theory. Human pathology,
however, proves that we are right.”
Vittorio Gallese
“Based on our observations, we developed our hypothesis
of embodied simulation: an automatic and subconscious process
that aids us to acquire direct access to other people’s worlds,”
Professor Vittorio Gallese says. “This is the foundation of our
social interaction and of empathy because it enables us to read
and interpret the meanings and intentions of other people. Embodied
reaction is not a Pavlovian reaction, however. The way
in which we learn to interpret the behaviour of others is also
involved. Thus, we have shed new light on the importance of the
environment and upbringing of children.”
“The discovery of mirror neurons influences the way in which
we interpret many phenomena. After seventeen years of research,
we are still only at the beginning. Autism is a good example. We
used to think that people with autism lacked spontaneous theoretical
insight into the behaviour of other people. In 2001, however,
precisely the opposite was suggested: in people with autism,
the automatic mechanisms that enable us to feel the intentions of
others do not function properly, which is why they have to learn
theoretical insights to understand those intentions.”
“In her book, a woman with Asperger’s Syndrome writes
that she doesn’t understand spontaneously why children enjoy
themselves at playgrounds. She needed to be given a theoretical
explanation precisely because there was no automatic association
of playing and enjoyment. The problem of autism has not
been solved, but mirror neurons open an entirely new perspective
on insight into autism and its treatment.”
Online
Read the full interviews at http://www.kuleuven.be/ci/
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