As our anniversary year has come to a close and we have entered 2022, NIAS looks ahead to the coming years. Years in which the institute will continue to provide an intellectual safe haven, defend intellectual freedom, expand our programme with artists and intensify our efforts to achieve a diverse NIAS community.
OPEN CALL
Apply Now for NIAS Individual Fellowships 23/24
NIAS has opened its annual call for individual fellowship applications. This is an opportunity for scholars who wish to spend 5 or 10 months in the academic year 2023/24 to carry out curiosity-driven research as a member of the interdisciplinary NIAS community in Amsterdam. Deadline is 15 March 2022.
Call for Nominations: Writer-in-Residence Fellowship
The Dutch Foundation for Literature and NIAS invite nominations for the writer-in-residence fellowship at NIAS for the academic year 2022/23. For many years, this programme has allowed writers and scholars to benefit from each other's work. Submission deadline is 15 March.
This talk explored human behaviour in the context of (containing) infectious disease. What type of human behaviour do infectious diseases expose? And how to inform better policy-making that takes into account the intricate interactions between virus, group behaviour and policy? Together with NIAS Distinguished Lorentz Fellow and epidemiologist Luc Coffeng, anthropologist Ginny Mooy, and sociologist Will Tiemeijer this programme unraveled the interplay between infectious diseases and health related behaviour and beliefs. Talk is subtitled in English.
Every year more and more people get diagnosed with advanced forms of cancer or other incurable diseases. It is up to medical professionals to deliver them the bad news and to continue conversations during the ensuing illness trajectory. But are they properly equipped to deal with this difficult task? A discussion evening organised by for-women-in-science fellow Liesbeth van Vliet, with Anne Rios (current for-women-in-science fellow), Anthony Back, Jonathan Koffman, Marike de Meij and Eveliene Manten-Horst. On 9 Feb, online @De Balie, 19.30 CET.
What insights can women’s experiences, their use of language and their ways of communication add to our understanding of the early modern Mediterranean? This NIAS Talk sheds light on the underexplored voices of women in the Mediterranean. With NIAS fellow Eric Dursteler, Professor of History at Brigham Young University, alumna Maartje van Gelder, Associate Professor of early modern history at the University of Amsterdam, and Nisrine Mbarki, writer, poet and literary translator. On 15 Feb, online @Spui25, 17.00 CET.
The annual Nuit des idées, organised by the Institut Français, centers around the theme of 1001 ways to feel at home in Europe. What role can a sense of belonging in Europe play in this age of identity awareness? Former writer-in-residence Jannah Loontjens discusses European identity in an evening with Mahir Guven, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Didier Leschi and Margot Dijkgraaf. On 27 Jan, online @OBA (French and Dutch), 20.00 CET.
Earlier this month, Robbert Dijkgraaf was sworn in as Minister of Education, Culture, and Science the Netherlands. In September he was at NIAS to reflect upon the topic of a free academia: "The great challenge for the scholarly community will be to preserve and strengthen our academic freedom, to keep expanding our view, and to allow as many different perspectives as possible. Keep the thought police out, also among ourselves. It is never our aim to be comfortable, reach a consensus, or stop asking difficult questions."
Matthijs van Boxsel, Maria van Daalen, Hélène Gelèns, Kees 't Hart, Atte Jongstra, Lieve Joris, Jannah Loontjens, Marcel Möring, Hagar Peeters, Aleid Truijens, Henk van der Waal and Christiaan Weijts, and a foreword by Tommy Wieringa
In a rich collection of personal stories, poems and essays, written especially for this collection, thirteen of our writers-in-residence take a critical look at feelings of belonging. NIAS' first literary publication in Dutch was published on 8 December, and is available in book stores, but you may buy the book at NIAS now at a reduced rate of 10 euro's (limited offer).
Theoretical modeling for cognitive science and psychology
Iris van Rooij, Distinguished Lorentz Fellow 2019/20
"Theoretical modeling is like sculpting," write Van Rooij and her colleague Blokpoel. "There is no fixed procedure. It requires creativity and the occasional courage to try something new." As part of her fellowship, Iris van Rooij developed an open access textbook for all who would like to be able to make their own, formally precise, theoretical models in any domain of cognitive science or subfield of psychology.
