Dare to Think'Dare to Think' (in Dutch: 'Durf Denken') is the credo of Ghent University. Critical and independent brains study, do research and work at Ghent University.
'Dare to Think' (in Dutch: 'Durf Denken') is the credo of Ghent University. Critical and independent brains study, do research and work at Ghent University.
From 'Dare to Think' to 'To Think is to Dare'
Ghent University temporarily changes its credo from ‘Dare to Think’ to ‘To Think is to Dare’.
Everything starts with thought. This is something we've been saying for years – the credo of Ghent University is ‘Dare to Think’. But that’s only half the job. Now more than ever, our thinking needs daring. Ghent University, as a haven for courageous thinkers, prompts everyone to take the step from thinking to daring and doing. We are therefore launching a plea for people to be more daring. Driven by courage. Hope. Idealism. And a healthy dose of contrariness.
We primarily want to use this symbolic action to invite our students, staff and alumni to turn critical thinking into critical action. But we also want to encourage everyone to go beyond that: we want them to show a healthy dose of courage in order to help society grow. We will be bringing this message to the streets, our campuses and social media from 13 February 2023.
Ghent University conveys this message at regular intervals, with clever statements in creative communication campaigns.
Dare to Think is in our DNA. It is because of those who dare to think, who defy dominant views and strong convictions, that the world progresses and we learned that the earth is not flat and that we are not the centre of the universe.
The look down leads to questions up there
In 2022, the GUM (Ghent University Museum) opened the exhibition 'PHALLUS. Norm & Form' until April 2023.
What do you see down there? We already know a lot about our sexual organs. But actually, there's a lot we don't know either. Moreover, in both science, art and even in broader society, attention is not fairly divided between male and female sex organs.
Ghent University and the GUM want to make this discussable - in all possible norms and forms. With a striking connect-the-dots booklet and drawings on toilet doors, we show that there is more than classic 'dicks' or 'vaginas' (and that vagina is not even always the right word). Very Dare to Think!
Sometimes you have to start with a blank sheet to come up with new insights
In 2020 Ghent University and the GUM (Ghent University Museum) paid a tribute to the blank page. They painted Ghent's iconic Graffiti Street completely white together with street artists, turned their profile pictures and online banners blank and simultaneously published an empty book.
Every blank page, every new page, can lead to a new insight. This way, we can move from truth to truth. Everyone can experience this journey in the GUM. After all, science is a journey of trial and error, doubt and imagination.
In 2019 Ghent University challenged everyone to think critically about scientific (un)truths. After all, something is true until science disproves it, isn’t it?
A social experiment
In 2018 a social experiment took place at our campuses. A crowded auditorium, three professors, full of false statements... Would you react?
Via the flexible Dare to Think label in our brochures, merchandise, ... we make the reader think. We show that you can also think outside the box. That things are not always as they seem.
