Research School for Economic and Social History

Blog

  • Danielle van den Heuvel appointed Full Professor in Social and Economic History at Utrecht University

    Danielle van den Heuvel appointed Full Professor in Social and Economic History at Utrecht University

    Danielle van den Heuvel, current board member of the N.W. Posthumus Institute on behalf of the University of Amsterdam, has been appointed as Full Professor in Social and Economic History at Utrecht University, starting 1 September 2024. Danielle did her PhD at IISH/VU University, on Female entrepreneurs in the Dutch Republic, for which she received the IEHA Best Dissertation Prize in 2009. She then worked for several years as a researcher and lecturer at Cambridge University. At the moment, she is Associated Professor at University of Amsterdam, where she leads the Vidi-project ‘Freedom of the Streets. Gender and Urban Space in Eurasia’.

    The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Danielle with this appointment! Danielle will also leave the board of our institute as representative of the University of Amsterdam; she will be succeeded by Dr Justyna Wubs-Mrozewicz.

    MORE INFO

  • PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Ingrid Schepers (University of Antwerp)

    PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Ingrid Schepers (University of Antwerp)

    On 11 June 2024, Posthumus alumna Ingrid Schepers successfully defended the thesis ‘Mobilising labour: A spatial analysis of railway infrastructure, commuting flows and rural-urban relations in Belgium, 1846-1961’ at the University of Antwerp. Promotors were Professors Greet De Block and Ann Verhetsel (both University of Antwerp).

    The N.W. Posthumus staff congratulates Ingrid with the successful defence!

  • Workshop ‘A peek into the neighbour’s garden’ (University of Antwerp)

    Workshop ‘A peek into the neighbour’s garden’ (University of Antwerp)

    The Centre for Urban History (University of Antwerp) and the N.W. Posthumus network Economy and Society of the Pre-Industrial Low Countries in a Comparative Perspective jointly organise the workshop ‘A peek into the neighbours’ garden’ on Friday 15 November 2024.

    The intention of this workshop is to provide a forum for work in progress or recently finished work on the Low Countries and to approach these new research developments from a comparative angle.

    The deadline for abstracts passed on 15 August 2024. Participants just wanting to attend without presenting are admitted on a first come, first served basis, space permitting.

    FULL CALL (PDF)

  • PhD Course ‘The Versatile Interior’ (Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, 27-11 November 2024)

    PhD Course ‘The Versatile Interior’ (Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, 27-11 November 2024)

    The PhD School of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts is offering the PhD course ‘The Versatile Interior’ on 27-29 November 2024.

    This PhD course aims to explore interiors as versatile, ambiguous and complex phenomena. Through architectural history, social history, design, art, and anthropology, multifaceted and even sometimes paradoxical aspects of interiors will be unfolded. How such complex phenomena can be grasped and comprehended will be discussed through genuine and rigorous analytical discourse. Several examples will be presented forming the basis of the course and these will be studied through academic texts. In addition, there will be an excursion to a local museum where interiors are reconstructed to further inform the discussion. Participants are asked to submit a draft paper describing examples of versatile interiors that will be discussed in a group format. Two central questions will be addressed:

    • How can interiors be comprehended in all their complexity?
    • How can the ambiguity of interiors be framed through theoretical perspectives?

    The versatile interiors to be studied are: hoarder homes, homes with glossy surfaces and white walls, architects’ and artists’ homes as well as home workspaces. Furthermore, the course will focus on design principles in historical interiors, i.e., within the early modern period. Theses such as diffuse or limitless boundaries of space and cases where the exterior, urban space and landscape are drawn into the interior are to be disucssed.

    Participation in the course will be awarded with 3 EC. For participants form outside of Denmark, a participation fee may apply.

    Abstracts should be submitted by 15 September 2024; a full paper of maximum 2,000 words and an image should be submitted by 15 October 2024. Applicants must relate their papers to their PhD research and the theme of the course.

    FULL CALL (PDF)

  • Successful 2024 edition Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar

    Successful 2024 edition Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar

    On 12-18 May 2024, The Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar 2024 took place in Prato, Italy. This year’s edition focused on the theme of ‘Social and Geographic Mobility’ and hence was closely connected to the preceding study week ‘Social Mobility in Pre-industrial Societies: Tendencies, Causes, and Effects (13th-18th Centuracies’ of the Datini Insitute. At the Datini-ESTER seminar fifteen PhDs and early career postdocs from universities in Spain, Sweden, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium delivered high quality paper presentations and academic discussions, making the seminar to a successful event, to which the beautiful weather also contributed. The theme for the 2025 Datini-ESTER seminar will be on the issue of ‘finance’; the call for papers for that event is to be expected within the next few months.

  • NWO Summit Grant awarded to SOCION consortium

    NWO Summit Grant awarded to SOCION consortium

    The SOCION-consortium, a consortium of scientists in Social Studies and Humanities (among whom Posthumus-affiliates Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk, Selin Dilli, and Maanik Nath) researching social cohesion, has been granted a NWO Summit grant (30 mio euro) by the Dutch Research Council (FWO).

    Summit grants are intended for research consortia that already have proven its academic and societal value, as SOCION haas done via inter alia the SCOOP program (link). Through the SOCION-consortium psychologists, historians, demographers, philosophers, and sociologists join forces with societal organisations to gain insight in connections between individuals, groups, and institutions in order to develop new ways in building and strengthening social cohesion.

    The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Elise, Selin, Maanik and their consortium partners with this award!

    MORE INFO

  • Successful PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Aditi Dixit

    Successful PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Aditi Dixit

    On 17 May 2024, Posthumus alumna Aditi Dixit successfully defended her thesis ‘Asian Divergence in an Age of Globalisation: Textile Manufacturing, Trade, and the State in India and Japan, ca. 1890-1940’ at Utrecht University. Promotors were Professor Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk (Utrecht University) and Professor Christina Moll-Murata (Ruhr University, Bochum).

    We congratulate Aditi with her PhD!

  • FWO Postdoc Grants awarded to Posthumus alumni

    FWO Postdoc Grants awarded to Posthumus alumni

    In the most recent round (May 2024), the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) has awarded Postdoc Grants to several Posthumus alumni. Both Amaury de Vicq de Cumptich and Sam Geens have been granted a Junior Postdoc Fellowship, Ruben Peeters was awarded a Senior Postdoc Fellowship.

    The N.W. Posthumus Institute staff congratulates Ruben, Amaury, and Sam with this recognition.

  • PhD Defence Posthumus alumnus Björn Quanjer

    PhD Defence Posthumus alumnus Björn Quanjer

    On 1 May 2024 Posthumus alumnus Björn Quanjer succesfully defended the thesis ‘A Tale Of Tallness. A household perspective on early life determinants of male height within the Netherlands between 1850 and 1950’ at Radboud University. Promotors were Professors Jan Kok and Angelique Janssens (both Radboud University), co-promotor Dr Tassenaar (University of Groningen).

    The Posthumus staff congratulates Björn with his promotion!

  • Seminar ‘CAPASIA: The Asian Origins of Global Capitalism’ (University of Amsterdam and hybrid)

    Seminar ‘CAPASIA: The Asian Origins of Global Capitalism’ (University of Amsterdam and hybrid)

    On 21 May 2024, a hybrid seminar will be held jointly by the participants in the CAPASIA and GLOBALISE projects on the topic ‘CAPASIA: The Asian origins of global capitalism’. Confirmed speakers are Maarten Draper and Sebastian Majstorovic, both Research Associates with the European University Institute. Referent will be Luc Bulten, Postdoc Researcher at Radboud University.

    The CAPASIA project analyzes approximately 150 European ‘factories’ established in maritime Asia between 1500-1800. It views these not just as trade locations, but as vibrant hubs of material and information exchanges between Asians and Europeans. The project uses the factories as a lens to explore the Asian origins of global capitalism. In their talk, Maarten Draper and Sebastian Majstorovic will provide an overview of the aims and methodology of the CAPASIA project, including
    the development of a comprehensive database of these factories. They will also discuss how the CAPASIA and GLOBALISE projects align and build upon each other.


    CAPASIA is a five-year ERC-funded project hosted at the European University Institute in Florence. Its deliverables include a user-friendly website that will serve as a repository for data on the factories, a meeting place for scholars, and a medium for decolonising histories of global capitalism. GLOBALISE, a five-year NWO-funded
    project based at the Huygens Institute in Amsterdam, focuses on making the VOC archives more accessible to researchers.

    The seminar can be attended on location or online; the Zoomlink is displayed in the header of this post or via the button below.

    SEMINAR LINK