Amsterdam School of Historical Studies

Marie Yasunaga, a postdoctoral researcher at the Freedom of the Streets: Gender and Urban Space of Early Modern Eurasia 1600-1850, salvaged the original sketches hidden in the library’s depot, bringing out the precious first-hand drawings from about two decades of the historical oblivion.

Identifying 80 out of the 101 black sumi ink drawings with the corresponding book illustration, her close analysis unraveled the artistic production process and discovered significant evidence proving that there were cases where the depiction not only of the physical material aspect of the urban space but also of people appearing in the cityscapes did base on the artist’s direct observation of the reality. Read more

Houssine Alloul has been awarded an NWO Open Competition SSH XS grant for the project (No) Ambassadors of Modernity: Habitus, Interculturality, and the Ottoman Diplomatic Venture in Europe, 1832-1914

Most scholarship on the history of modern diplomacy presents it as a uniquely Western-European story. Conspicuously absent are Ottoman diplomats who, for nearly a century, represented their empire in Europe’s capitals. To overcome this historiographical lacuna, this project proposes a multi-sited enquiry, the first of its kind, into the social networks, intercultural amities, and habitus of Ottoman envoys and their equally ignored female relatives. It demonstrates how, despite Orientalist biases, Ottoman diplomats (Muslim and Christian) formed an integral if contested part of the 19th-century diplomatic milieu. As such, it will make a vital contribution to the New Diplomatic History.

A new network and research seminar series kicks off on February 23rd: the Historical Literatures Lunch. Welcoming scholars interested in textual cultures up through the early 20th century, HLL will provide an informal space to share recent work, try out new ideas, or discuss a (literary) text in a low-stakes, interdisciplinary environment. We're also interested in sharing best pedagogical practices, approaches to publication, and other relevant topics. Read more

The UvA participates in several national Read & Publish agreements offering UvA researchers – besides reading rights - the option to publish open access without costs in 11,000+ journals. A number of these agreements have been renewed or extended in 2023. Besides national agreements, the UvA also independently enters into Read & Publish agreements with publishers. What’s new in 2023? Read more

The conference Character Assassination, Illiberalism, and the Erosion of Civic Rights will take place 22-23 June 2023 in Amsterdam. The call for papers is open now with deadline 15 February 2023. Read more

In October 2025, Amsterdam will celebrate its 750th anniversary. In light of this upcoming celebration, two of the city’s institutes of higher education, the University of Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, are inviting academics, artists, and others to share their research and knowledge on one particular topic: Amsterdam diaries and other stories of the self. The conference will be held at the University of Amsterdam, 26 – 28 October 2023. Please submit your abstract before Wednesday, 1 April 2023. Read more

The conference 'Voices of migrants to and from the Netherlands, 16th-20th centuries' will take place 15 June 2023 in Amsterdam, University Library. The call for papers is open now with deadline 1 March 2023. Read more

Het Jaarcongres van de Werkgroep De Zeventiende Eeuw vindt plaats op 25 augustus 2023 in Amsterdam, in de Universiteits Bibliotheek. Het thema van dit congres is MICRO-MACRO over het dagelijks leven in hyperdetail. Welke aspecten van het dagelijks leven in de zeventiende-eeuwse Nederlanden en overzeese gebieden zijn inmiddels bekend, welke personen komen daardoor scherp in beeld en welke nieuwe kennis, inzichten en perspectieven levert dat op? Maar ook: wie en wat zijn er buiten beeld gebleven, en waarom? De call voor papers staat nu open met deadline 14 maart 2023. Lees meer

'The Power of Necessity: Reason of State in the Spanish Monarchy, c. 1590–1650' examines how thinkers and agents in the global Spanish monarchy navigated the tension between political pragmatism and moral-religious principle, bridging the persistent gap between theory and practice in political thought. Read more and access the online version

Gerard Wiegers, with Sipco Vellenga, published a book on the development of bilateral Jewish-Muslim relations in London and Amsterdam since the late-1980s. It offers a comparative analysis that considers both similarities and differences, drawing on historical, social scientific, and religious studies perspectives. The authors address how Jewish-Muslim relations are related to the historical and contemporary context in which they are embedded, the social identity strategies Jews and Muslims and their institutions employ, and their perceived mutual positions in terms of identity and power. Read more and open access edition

For the first time, Early Modern Streets unites the diverse strands of scholarship on urban streets between circa 1450 and 1800 and tackles key questions on how early modern urban society was shaped and how this changed over time. The volume brings together scholars from different backgrounds and applies new approaches and methodologies to the historical study of urban experience. In doing so, Early Modern Streets provides a comprehensive overview of one of the most dynamic fields of scholarship in early modern history. Read more

Van Willem van Oranje tot Anne Frank en Ayaan Hirsi Ali: vluchtelingen drukken al eeuwenlang hun stempel op onze cultuur, geschiedenis en identiteit. Toch zijn veel historische vluchtelingenstromen uit ons collectieve geheugen verdwenen. In het onlangs verschenen boek 'De vluchtelingenrepubliek', onder redactie van UvA-onderzoekers David de Boer en Geert Janssen, vertellen vijftien historici hoe nieuwkomers ons in de afgelopen vijf eeuwen hebben gemaakt tot wie we zijn. Daarmee biedt het boek nieuwe perspectieven op de vluchtelingencrises van vandaag en morgen. Lees meer

Diverging from critical paths that have focused on nostalgia as a memorializing practice or on Stuart nostalgia for Elizabeth, this book argues that Shakespeare’s Elizabethan history plays stage nostalgia as a future-focused political rhetoric. In doing so, the book suggests new directions for studying nostalgia. Read more

10 February 16:00 Agnietenkapel

Anne-Lot Hoek, ASH PhD candidate, will defend the dissertation entitled 'De strijd om Bali. Geweld, verzet en koloniale staatsvorming 1846 - 1950' supervised by Prof. Peter Romijn and co-supervised by Dr David Kloos. Read more

8-9 February University Library, Belle van Zuylenzaal
Jewish literature — by which we understand literature by Jewish authors on Jewish topics— has struck a powerful chord in post WWII global culture. At a time when European Jewish culture had been all but destructed, it paradoxically obtained an unprecedented urgency among mostly non-Jewish audiences. At the same time, the history of the holocaust gained a central place in the intellectual and moral restoration of the Western world. Read more

8 februari 16.00 Universiteitsbibliotheek, Doelenzaal
Wees welkom bij de boekpresentatie van Jews and Muslims in London and Amsterdam door Sipco Vellenga en Gerard Wiegers. Er is een kort programma met onder meer een reactie van Anne-Marie Korte (Universiteit Utrecht) en Bart Wallet (Universiteit van Amsterdam). Lees meer

10 February 15:30 - 16:45 University Library, Doelenzaal
The program in Modern Greek Language and Culture of the University of Amsterdam & the Dutch Society for Modern Greek Studies (NGNS) invite you to a public lecture by dr. Vivy Perraky: Adamantios Korais’ two great friendships in Amsterdam: Daniel and Jeanne Wyttenbach. Read more

13 February 16:00 - 17:30 OIH E0.14C
Wouter J. Hanegraaff (UvA) will give the lecture 'Altered States of Knowledge' in the programme Current Issues in Religious Studies and Western Esotericism. Read more

14 February 15:30 - 17:00 University Library, Doelenzaal
After the sacking of Antwerp in 1585, the Northern Netherlands became the centre of manufacture and trade of high quality linen and of bleaching linen fabrics from at home and abroad. Melanie Braun of The School of Historical Dress will demonstrate the importance of reconstructions of surviving historical garments and show some of her own reconstructions of seventeenth-century ruffs. Judith Noorman, director of the Amsterdam Centre, will speak briefly about the ruff as an iconic image of the seventeenth century. Read more

15 February 20:00 - 21:30 Spui25
Naar aanleiding van de publicatie van De vluchtelingenrepubliek gaan historici in gesprek over de sporen die vluchtelingen hebben achtergelaten in het Nederlandse landschap. Met onder anderen David de Boer en Geert Janssen. Lees meer

21 February 15:00 Spui25
Lezing van Ludwig Robert’s toneelstuk Der Pavian, ein Trauerspiel uit 1824 dat handelt over een baviaan die symbool staat voor de behandeling van Duitse Joden in zijn tijd, omlijst met een inleiding van Ezra Engelsberg (DIA) en lezing van Deborah Hertz (University of California) ‘Secret Secrets and Open Secrets in the Life of the Playwright Ludwig Robert'. Lees meer

23 February 17:30 PCH, room 1.04
Festive book launch for Shakespeare’s Golden Ages: Resisting Nostalgia in Elizabethan Drama by Kristine Johanson.

This short talk on Shakespeare’s suspicion of nostalgia takes as its starting point the idea of a golden age. Via Ovid and the Elizabethan spin machine of iconography and court poetry, I then discuss the political significance of the Golden Age during the first decade of Shakespeare’s career. Finally, I turn to desire, that essential element of nostalgia and discourses of the idealized past. Examining Shakespeare’s plays, I show how he stages desire’s power to transform perceived past loss into future revolution. Read more

The Marilena Laskaridis Visiting Fellowships in Modern Greek Studies are sponsored by the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, which is also the main sponsor of the Marilena Laskaridis Chair of Modern Greek Studies at the University of Amsterdam, held by Prof. Maria Boletsi. The fellowships are offered annually on a competitive basis and by application. The call is open to projects from all disciplines in the humanities and/or social sciences that engage with aspects of Modern Greek culture and/or history. The fellowships aim to strengthen research in the field of Modern Greek studies at the University of Amsterdam and internationally, encourage academic collaborations and exchanges, and give the opportunity to young and more experienced scholars in this field to advance their research. Deadline 1 March 2023. Read more

The FGw Consortium Fund supports research staff in initiating or consolidating national or international networking activities, with the aim of increasing research collaborations with (inter)national (and non-academic) partners. Ultimately, the fund should pave the way for applications by a consortium, both for EU grants (e.g. Horizon Europe Global Challenges; Marie Curie Doctoral Networks; COST) and in the context of the Dutch National Research Agenda (NWA). AIHR call page