We are very happy to invite you to our General Assembly on Tuesday June 13th, followed by a lecture about "The origin of our culture and language" by Danny De Cock (MBA, 1976).

Where

Universitaire Stitchting / Fondation Universitaire
11 Rue d'Egmont
Brussels, Belgium

Driving Directions:

Trône /Troon: Metro: line 2 and 6 - Bus: 21/27/34/38/64/95
Porte de Namur/Naamsepoort: Metro: line 2 and 6 - Bus: 34/64/71/80

Parking des Deux Portes
boulevard de Waterloo, 2A – 1000 Bruxelles
Tél. 02.549.51.60 - Fax 02.549.51.89 - E-Mail : kdeceuninck@interparking.com
930 places- Ouvert du lundi au samedi de 6h30 à 2h, le dimanche et les jours fériés de 12h à 2h

Event Details

Danny De Cock studied art history after his international career in petrochemistry at ExxonMobil. He then wrote a book about Belgian cultural history: "From Oerknal over Icarus to Panamarenko". His book interprets and links all art styles throughout our cultural history and places them in the context of the political and social developments. His lecture goes back to the very beginning of his story: the origin of that culture and language.

The cradle of humanity was in Africa, right? Then, how come Belgians are white? Who were our ancestors and where did they come from? How did their culture evolve from simple tools and utensils to creative art objects?

Why and when did they come here? What language did they speak? Were our ancestors perhaps Celts? So how come we speak Germanic and Latin languages today? What is the origin of the language border and why do we speak Dutch in Flanders and French in Wallonia?

All these questions about the origin of our culture and language will be answered in a comprehensive presentation, followed by a Q&A session.

Cost

35 euro for members of the UofC Alumni Club and 45 euro for all others*

*It's not yet too late to pay your 2023 membership fee! If not yet done, please wire your 45€ membership fee today on the account of the association:
BE52 2100 5555 7309 (communication: membership 2023 – name).

Registration

Registration & Payment to the University of Chicago Alumni Club account: BE52 2100 5555 7309;
Communication in wire: GA 2023 – First and Last Names

Deadline: 6/13/2023

Speaker Profiles

Danny De Cock (Speaker) '76

Danny De Cock (° Oudenaarde 1952) went on to study at the University of Chicago after studying Commercial Engineering at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL). He was recruited by ExxonMobil during that stay in the USA. Subsequently, he returned to Europe where he enjoyed an international management career in petrochemicals.

In 2002, he was seconded by ExxonMobil to the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) in Brussels, where he spent seven years "helping to shape Europe" in collaboration with the European Commission. In 2004, the EU was expanded to 24 member states with nine Central and Eastern European countries. He contributed to their successful integration through implementing advanced industry standards, particularly in logistics operations.

After his retirement in 2012, he went back to school and studied art history at the "Kunst-Historisch Instituut (KHI)" in Antwerp. He graduated there in 2016 with a dissertation on the "Influence of the Glasgow Arts & Crafts Movement (Charles Rennie Mackintosh) on the Belgian Art Nouveau architecture and interior design, at the beginning of the 20th century".

Questions

Elke Segers, '01