‘Nature or nurture?’- Introduction by the Programme Chair
What is more important: nature or nurture? Scientists have been grappling with this puzzle for over a century. Recently, a different take on this important puzzle has been offered by investigators. Are we what our genes dictate us to be, or are we what our environment offers us, in order to become who we are? The debate has been conducted in the form of opposite schools of thought. You either belong in the camp of nature or nurture. With the advent of increasingly sophisticated DNA techniques, nature appeared to be winning.
However, a newly emergent field of sociogenomics has now offered an alternative perspective. It is not a black and white choice between genes and environment. In fact, scientists in this field argue that they cannot be separated; nature and nurture closely feed off each other in an extremely intimate relationship. If a child is born with a specific ability or talent this can only come to fruition if the environment in which it grows up recognizes this talent, and feeds it. The environment stimulates the genetic ability and further enhances it. As Dalton Conley, one of the scholars in this field, has argued: ‘they both shape each other, with nature influencing the way we experience nurture and nurture influencing the way our nature expresses itself’.*
As educators in the International Studies programme, we have tried to encourage and cultivate your natural talents, nurturing them in what we hope has been a stimulating learning environment. Moreover, we hope that since leaving International Studies, you have landed in a nurturing environment, and that your natural talents have come to further fruition. Do not forget that also your contribution to International Studies, your specific backgrounds and feedback in the course and programme evaluations, have influenced our development as teachers as well as the curriculum. Even after leaving, you continue to add to the rich tapestry of International Studies when you share your experiences. Our Alumni Dreams showcase some of your amazing stories, which are always a joy to read.**
Not only do we hope to send a new crop of Graduates into the world in August, with diverse talents and abilities. Also in September, we are preparing to welcome a new cohort to International Studies. It will be an exciting challenge for us to again start recognising the new talents and offer them our plentiful opportunities to grow and develop in our educational environment.
Wherever you have landed, do not forget to pay it forward! Wishing you a wonderful summer on behalf of the International Studies team.
*Dalton Conley, ‘A New Scientific Field is Recasting Who We Are and How We Got That Way’ New York Times, 13 March 2024. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/opinion/genetics-nature-nurture-sociogenomics.html
** https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/internationalstudies/alumni/alumni-dreams