Angelina Souren on Thinkific

Hi there. I'm Angelina Souren.

Highlights that are relevant for you:

►I hold a teaching certificate (graduate students, auditorium setting) from VU University Amsterdam and have taught graduate students at VU University Amsterdam and the University of Twente. I’ve occasionally supported individual foreign students too, both in the Netherlands and in the US. I used to be in Toastmasters.

►I’m a former board member of the Environmental Chemistry (and Toxicology) Section of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society as well as a former board member of NIMF, a Dutch foundation for women in science and technology.

►I was one of the associate editors of the international newsletter of the US-based Geochemical Society for over ten years and I was on the team of the ARCADIS magazine Elements for around three years (through my business). ARCADIS is a global science and technology company that offers high-end engineering consulting services, for example with environmental remediation projects.

►I’m the author of a book on the new eugenics (“We need to talk about this”), a book about otherization (“Is cruelty cool?”) and some quirky flash fiction in the style of Spike Milligan and Donald Barthelme. I’ve also helped create Dutch versions of popular science books (such as For Dummies) and science textbooks.

I became self-employed in 1997, when I was still living in Amsterdam. I worked with an international network of associates, serving clients from all over the world who use and create scientific knowledge.

In the second half of 2004, I relocated to southern England and took my business with me. I've previously lived in the US, where I did PhD research and volunteered in seabird rehabilitation. I adopted two non-releasable feral quaker parrots who taught me a lot about life and about speciesism over the course of the next two decades.

Before I turned myself into a scientist, I used to work in tourism & hospitality in Amsterdam, where I interacted with people from a wide variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Since my move to England, I've been increasingly exploring topics in the area of bioethics and diversity, such as otherization, autism, discrimination, workplace bullying, narcissistic personality disorder, gerontophobia, ableism and insularity. There is a strong neuroscience component in all of this.

 

MY COURSES

I currently have no active courses. I've created several, but when I’m no longer happy with them, usually because they’ve become outdated, I retire them.

One of my courses was about the ethics of daily life (inclusivity). I also had a very short course with practical tips for how to shield yourself against stranger-stalking if you are your own boss such as the owner of a small-business or an independent professional, hence have to have an online presence. This topic ties into diversity and inclusivity as well as otherization, which is the opposite of inclusivity.

I previously made a practical social media course specifically aimed at visual artists, based on my experience of having worked with a few. Creating that course taught me a lot about sound, lighting and video editing.

 

 

FUN FACTS

 ►Before I had even learned how to start a car, I took a flying lesson and got to fly an Aero Subaru Fuji FA-200 for a few minutes. I enjoyed it very much, but my eyesight stopped me from pursuing this professionally. That said, I probably should have become a veterinary surgeon, but I mistakenly thought I couldn’t stand the sight of blood. So I didn’t pursue that either, but I later noticed that I had absolutely no problem with witnessing necropsies and assisting during medical procedures when I was volunteering in wildlife rehab.

►I got into bird rehab as a volunteer while living in Florida. When I called around for volunteering opportunities, a bird hospital was the first to call me back. I now occasionally rehab a pigeon and adopted my most recent rehab pigeon, slightly handicapped.

►In the same period, on my way back from the lab late at night one evening, I picked up a bat from the middle of the street to place it in a safer spot. It bared its teeth and bit me. It barely broke the skin, but I happened to be in a rabies quarantine zone which I had not known. Although the risk was small, it was best to get the rabies vaccine. Seven injections, a blood test and a lot of dollars later, I still had not started foaming at the mouth. Lesson learned.

►While doing two months of geological fieldwork in Sweden for my Master’s degree, I accidentally dipped my car into a deep overgrown ditch not once but twice! I had to be towed out by helpful Swedes who happened to be passing in their cars. My friends couldn’t stop laughing. From the chemistry and structure of rocks, I later ventured into marine biogeochemistry, the chemical interactions between life, earth and oceans.

►I have never been into consumerism so I repair, upcycle and repurpose a lot.
 
That's me, in a nutshell. I hope that you will also share your own story, with me and with your fellow students.

Anything else you want to know? Please ask.

I hope your day is going well. Thanks for having stopped by.

Best,

~ Angelina