New colleague Jelle de Swart joins ELS

My name is Jelle de Swart. I am 30 years old and live in Utrecht. I am involved in theatre association Expiatio, where I organize theatre camps for 12-to-18-year olds in a medieval fantasy setting. I also enjoy playing music (playing drums, guitar and bass). I my spare time I enjoy sewing costumes and playing in my band.

15 August was my first day at the ELS group and I am really looking forward to working here for the coming year. In my previous job I taught at Utrecht University at the Science and Innovation Management bachelors program. I get energy from teaching and the new environment here with all these smart people who know so much about education (that’s you! 😉) is a great opportunity to increase my own knowledge and skills in this area. I am looking forward to hear all your ideas and share some of mine.

My tasks are quite diverse: I will teach in the presentation skills module and in PREP (entrepreneurship education). Additionally, I will teach entrepreneurial skills in Amsterdam at the MADE-academy (filling in for Lisa Ploum). Also, I will be involved in a EWUU alliance research project with Yvette, in which we will look at adaptive expertise development of students in inter- and transdisciplinairy teams. Lastly, I will be involved in a society-based education project in which I will take over Carla’s role. So, it is quite the diverse package with a lot of new and exciting challenges ahead. I am really looking forward to meeting you all and getting involved in the group!