The Maastricht Journal of Liberal Arts

Diseases, Diasabilities, Designer Babies

2025-03-01T14:37:06+00:00

CRISPR-Cas9 has undergone significant developments, becoming the most widely used gene editing technique. While this tool has enhanced the feasibility of gene editing, it has also sparked controversies, particularly concerning its application in human embryos. Naturally, many questions arise, such as for what purposes the implementation of gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9 in human embryos is justified. This paper seeks to answer this question by presenting biomedical background information, discussing arguments, and providing evaluations of these arguments. It concludes that CRISPR-Cas9 is an ambiguous piece of technology that is generally justifiable to implement for disease prevention, less so for disability prevention, and not justifiable for non-therapeutic purposes.

Keywords: CRISPR-Cas9, Gene editing, Bioethics, Designer babies

Toward a Consistent Praxis

2025-02-25T00:09:41+00:00

The institutional culture of academic philosophy is deeply exclusionary. By prioritising "traditional" ways of disciplinary engagement, it excludes diverse practitioners and their perspectives. Kristie Dotson challenges this exclusion by proposing that academic philosophy should adopt the Culture of Praxis, a framework that prioritises diverse philosophical traditions and methods. In this paper, I examine Dotson's claim that the Culture of Praxis should function as a meta-standard - a guiding principle for determining the philosophical legitimacy of some work. I argue that Dotson's formulation is self-contradictory, as it imposes a universal standard while simultaneously advocating for pluralism. To resolve this tension, I explore two alternative readings: distinguishing between first- and second-order claims and interpreting Dotson's proposal as a political rather than philosophical claim. Since such exclusionary practices are not unique to philosophy, the paper contributes to the ongoing debates on diversity in academia. The issues of epistemic authority and legitimacy resonate across the humanities and social sciences.
By critically engaging with Dotson's work, this paper encourages the reader to rethink inclusivity in academic disciplines more broadly.

Keywords: Diversity, academic philosophy, Culture of Justification, Culture of Praxis, meta-standard, self-reference

CHOLA CONTRAVISUAL: NEW FEMINISMS

2025-02-25T00:14:08+00:00

In 2023, Peru made headlines for experiencing a gender-based violence crisis, with 21.194 cases reported in January and February and one woman being killed every three days in March alone. Feminist movements vow to address the ongoing crisis, yet in Peru, traditional feminism tends to marginalize indigenous, poor, LGBQTIA+ women, who are most affected by gender-based violence. Chola Contravisual (CC) is a feminist art collective based in Huancayo that challenges societal norms, stereotypes, and inequalities through their artwork. Through an intersectional and queer theory lens, I analyze how CC responds to traditional feminisms. Because they saw themselves, and other womxn with multiple subaltern identities under- or misrepresented within institutionalized feminist movements in Peru, they decided to form their own new feminism. Their methods do not follow a Eurocentric logic of knowledge production but seize indigenous ways of knowing, making their work meaningful especially because these people have been previously ignored and silenced in Andean communities and traditional feminist movements.

Keywords: coloniality of gender, gender-based violence, feminist movements, decolonial queer theory, intersectionality

Resisting the Commodification of Memory

2025-02-25T00:17:36+00:00

At the center of this paper lies a pile of candy whose properties can inspire resistance against the commodification of memory. As popular media discourses often historize and depoliticize the immediacy of HIV/AIDS, the candy piles of Félix González-Torres manage to do the opposite. It practices remembrance of the pandemic in the 1980s, while resisting state control over remembrance narratives, and rejuvenation of the discourse on HIV/AIDS. This paper wants to interrogate the particular methods of González-Torres' work that realize remembrance on its own terms. Partly through embracing the themes of ephemerality, queerness, loss, illness, and transience.

Keywords: memory, queerness, ephemerality, visual arts, HIV/AIDS

Gurdjieff in the Soviet New Age

2025-02-25T00:02:06+00:00

The Soviet Union’s totalitarian ideology suppressed religious and spiritual practices. Due to the state’s repression towards the Orthodox Church, people found reassurance in underground esoteric movements which offered alternative paths to spirituality. Gurdjieff’s emphasis on inner transformation provided a non-institutional spiritual framework that resonated with Soviet dissidents. This paper examines the influence of Gurdjieff’s teachings on the Soviet spiritual underground and how Gurdjieff’s teachings on self-fulfilment intensified resistance towards state atheism. Furthermore, by contextualising the New Age Movement in the Soviet Union, this study provides new insights into how it operated beyond the Western world and adapted to a repressive ideological environment.

Keywords: spirituality, New Age Movement, Soviet Union, Gurdjieff

Non-European European Union Member States

2025-03-27T17:47:40+00:00

This paper explores the European Union (EU’s) influence on its member states’ national identities through its membership criteria using a case study of the Czech Republic and Hungary. Recognising the EU as the primary authority—or even gatekeeper—of Europeanness and the European identity, the paper compares how the EU acts as an identity denier toward Czech and Hungarian national identities and how that subsequently impacts these two nations’ self-perception and political behaviour in a European context. Ultimately, it concludes that there are two determinants explaining the difference between the Czechian and Hungarian reactions to this denial: the national identity’s receptiveness to the EU’s European identity and the strength and aim of the EU’s denial.

Keywords: European Identity, Identity Denial, Hungary, Czech Republic, EU Conditionality

An Exploration of Reflection Week at University College Maastricht

2025-03-27T17:45:16+00:00

Student well-being has become a global priority, and many universities are seeking to implement strategies that promote student well-being to enhance the overall mental and physical health of their student community. This study explores how University College Maastricht (UCM) reflection weeks impact student well-being. A randomized group of 45 (N = 45) UCM students completed the Subjective Well-Being scale (SWB) before and after their reflection week to assess their psychological wellbeing, relationships, and physical health. Utilizing a paired-sample t-test to compare pre- and post-reflection week scores, the results revealed a significant increase in well-being (p < .001). These findings support the use of structured breaks to positively influence student well-being and provide further practical insights for universities striving to enhance students' physical and mental health. This study addresses gaps in empirical evidence regarding reflective practices and their ability to strengthen academic performance.

Keywords: academic performance, breaks, student well-being, Subjective Well-Being Scale (SWB), University College Maastricht (UCM)