Dr. Ritske Rensma

About me

If you wanted to go interdisciplinary and explore multiple fields of studies in the years before there were University Colleges in the Netherlands, you had to do several degrees. That’s what I ended up doing. I started with possibly the most interdisciplinary degree of all – International Business Administration at Erasmus University (major: management and philosophy of change). I loved studying that topic, but I knew a career in business wasn’t for me – so I switched to my other passion, philosophy, and did an M.A. in philosophy at Erasmus as well (major: philosophy of religion). I then did a PhD in religious studies at the University of Edinburgh, focusing on the philosophy and psychology of religion. That’s what I now teach at UCR: religious studies, but with a lot of philosophy thrown into the mix.

In my 15+ years of teaching at UCR I’ve also focused strongly on teaching our students important ‘life skills’ like time management, research and productivity skills, which I do as part of the small team that runs the UCR Skills Center. I’ve also focussed on this topic in my academic writing, with a book about effective time management techniques for students, and a book on how students can organise themselves properly while writing their thesis.