Libris Geschiedenisprijs 2025 awarded to publication 'Dievenland' by Posthumus fellow Janna Coomans |
The Libris Geschiedenis Prijs 2025 has been awarded to Janna Coomans, Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, fellow of the N.W. Posthumus Institute and coordinator of our Research Network ‘Economy and Society of the Pre-industrial Low Countries in Comparative Perspective’ for her publication Dievenland – overleven in de Middeleeuwen [transl. Country of Thieves – surviving in the Middle Ages]. The prize is annually awarded to the best history book aimed at a general public by an expert jury based on the criteria of having an original concept, being pleasant to read and being based of solid historical research. According to the jury 'Coomans’ drive for research has produced a book that is as craftfull as it is compelling, specifically making the atypical people in the Middle Ages interesting’. The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Janna with this award!
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N.W. Posthumus Institute and Huizinga Institute offer 3-day workshop on 'Networks in History' (Amsterdam, 21-23 January 2026) - deadline applications 10 December 2025 |
| The Huizinga Institute and the N.W. Posthumus Institute are offering a 3-day workshop on 'Networks in History', to be held on 21-23 January 2026 at the International Institute of History in Amsterdam. This thematic course aims to enable early-career researchers to consider the purpose, potential and procedure of historical network analysis for their research projects. The classes will treat the process and steps of reasoning prior to adopting a specific programme to enter and analyse the data. The focal point is historical network analysis but other approaches to studying networks in history will also be discussed. Participation (if successfully completed) is valued at 2 EC and is open to interested PhDs and Research Master Students. Applications should be submitted ultimately 10 December 2025. |
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Successful ESTER RDC 2025 in Seville |
| On 3 November insunny Sevilla, the 2025 edition of the ESTER Research Design Course kicked off. For three days, 50 PhD candidates in Social and Economic History from various European countries (among whom the PhDs of , cohort 2024 of the N.W. Posthumus Institute), presented and discussed their research projects and received thorough and helpful feedback from peers and senior scholars. The N.W. Posthumus Institute, as ESTER secretariat, is grateful to the Institutio de Economía y Negocios of the Universidad de Sevilla, in particular to the local organisers Germán Jiménez Montes, Isabel Bartolomé Rodriguez and Jerónia Pons Pons for hosting us, as well as to all ESTER fellows and supporting staff. The 2026 RDC will be held at the KU Leuven. |
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Second PhD Career Day Research Schools at IISH |
| On 14 November, the Research School Political History, the Huizinga Institute, the Research School for Medieval Studies, and the N.W. Posthumus Institute jointly welcomed c. 50 PhDs at the IISH in Amsterdam for the 2nd PhD Career Day. Alumni from a wide range of fields presented their career stories and provided the PhDs with useful info and advice. Keynote speaker at the event was Valika Smeulders, alumna of the Huizinga Institute, with her lecture titled 'Dare to fail!' about exploring new career tracks. |
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Robrecht Declercq ends task as Research Network coordinator |
Because of his recent appointment as Expert Resources and Sustainable Development with the Federal Institute for Societal Development, Robrecht Declercq unfortunately had to end his work as coordinator of the Research Network ‘Globalisation, Inequality and Sustainability in Long-Term Perspective’. The coordination of this network will be continued by his fellow coordinators Frank Veraart and Daniel Gallardo Albarrán. The N.W. Posthumus Institute thanks Robrecht for his efforts for the research network and the N.W. Posthumus Institute over the past years and congratulates him with his new appointment.
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Posthumus affiliates received Honourable Mentions Roger Schofield Award 2025 |
At the 2025 Conference of the European Society of Historical Demography (Bologna, 10-13 September 2025), Posthumus affiliates received an Honourable Mention in the competition for the Roger Schofield Award. The Roger Schofield Award has been established to recognise the best paper presented by a young demographer (under 35 years of age) at the European Society of Historical Demography Conference. Posthumus alumnus Joris Kok received an Honourable Mention for the paper ‘Adult mortality in Amsterdam, 1856-1926’, co-authored by Angelique Janssens, fellow and former Scientific Director of the N.W. Posthumus Institute. Dinos Sevdalakis, current PhD Representative with the N.W. Posthumus Institute, received an Honourable Mention for the paper ‘The onset of fertility rise in West Africa: Disentangling fertility change by using parity data in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger’, co-authored by Adrien Remund and Posthumus board member Hilde Bras.
The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates all with these recognitions!
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Several Posthumus affiliates contributing authors of ‘The Cambridge Urban History of Europe’ |
Cambridge University Press has announced the forthcoming publication of ‘The Cambridge Urban History of Europe’, a series of 3 volumes. The printed version is expected to be available from 20 November 2025, the online version is expected to be available from January 2026 onward. The three volumes comprise contributions by several Posthumus affiliates. Long-standing Posthumus fellow Maarten Prak is the general editor of all three volumes.
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Just a reminder: Save the dates! |
| Inaugural lecture Professor Danielle van den Heuvel (Utrecht, 20 November 2025) |
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| Posthumus Conference 2026 (IISH, Amsterdam, 21-22 May 2026) |
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NEHA Symposium 'Naar een meer inclusieve economische- en bedrijfsgeschiedenis' (IISH, Amsterdam, 28 November 2025) |
~ because of scope in Dutch only ~ Op 28 november 2025 organiseert het Nederlands Economisch-Historisch Archief (NEHA), in samenwerking met de Stichting Bedrijfsgeschiedenis (BSG), een bijeenkomst met als thema ‘Naar een meer inclusieve economische en bedrijfsgeschiedenis’. Deze bijeenkomst vindt plaats bij het Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (IISG) in Amsterdam en krijgt de vorm van een symposium, met onder meer een publiekslezing door prof. dr. Jan Hein Furnée (hoogleraar Cultuurgeschiedenis aan de Radboud Universiteit en voorzitter van het Koninklijk Nederlands Historisch Genootschap (KNHG)), en bronnentafels met een aantal prachtige voorbeeldcollecties. Deelname is gratis, maar aanmelding vooraf per e-mail wordt gevraagd.
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Call for applications PhD position Professor Van Winter Fund – deadline 28 November 2026 |
| The Professor Van Winter Fund calls for proposals for one PhD position. This funding aims to allow PhDs in History to obtain an independent PhD position based on an individual PhD project. The funding is awarded every 4-5 years and covers a project of up to 4 years (in case of a full-time appointment) at a Dutch university or a Dutch research institution. Eligible are proposals by a PhD in combination with an academic supervisor who has the ius promovendi at a Dutch university or a Dutch research institution. The Professor Van Winter Fund was established by Professor Johanna Maria van Winter in 1990 in honour of her father P.J. van Winter (1895-1990), professor of History at the University of Groningen from 1939 until 1965. Applications should be submitted ultimately on 28 November 2025. |
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Lezing Posthumus PhD Chris Vlam over opkomst Kruisverenigingen Noord-Holland en Utrecht, 1875-1945 (Utrecht, 30 november 2025) |
| ~ because of scope in Dutch only ~ Historicus en Posthumus PhD Chris Vlam houdt op 30 november 2025 de lezing ‘Voor allen, door allen!’ over de opkomst van de kruisverenigingen in Noord-Holland en Utrecht tussen 1875 en 1945. Chris bespreekt in deze lezing de ontwikkeling van kruisverenigingen in Noord-Holland en Utrecht. Aan de hand van jaarverslagen van provinciale koepelverenigingen analyseert Chris hoe deze organisaties ontstonden, zich organiseerden, en hun impact op de toegang tot gezondheidszorg tussen 1875 en 1945. Deze lezing vindt plaats in Het Utrechts Archief en in samenwerking met de Beroepsvereniging voor Verpleegkundigen & Verzorgenden Nederland. De lezing is gratis toegankelijk, maar reserveren vooraf is wel noodzakelijk. |
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Conference ‘Becoming Local? Forgotten Lineages of Displaced Communities Across the Indian Ocean World, 1650-1850’ (Leiden University, 11-12 December 2025) – public keynotes by Professors Sue Peabody and Jennifer L. Gaynor |
| On 10 and 11 December 2025, the international conference ‘Becoming Local? Forgotten Lineages of Displaced Communities Across the Indian Ocean World, 1650-1850’ will be held at Leiden University. Organisers are Dries Lyna and Pouwel van Schooten in cooperation with Sanayi Marcelline (all three Posthumus affiliates within the research network Routes and Roots in Colonial and Global History) and Nira Wickramasinghe (Radboud University). The keynote lectures, delivered by Professor Sue Peabody (Washington State University): ”Little’ Stories in ‘Big’ Histories. Families, Mobility, and Identity in the Indian Ocean’ and Professor Jennifer L. Gaynor (University at Buffalo, State University of New York): ‘Remembering and Forgetting in Two Worlds. Writing Histories of Forced Displacement and Submerged Genealogy’ are open to the general public. |
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Call for papers Workshop 'The Economic and Financial History of Colonialism' (Groningen, 26-27 March 2026) - deadline 15 Dec 2025 |
| The second edition of the workshop series 'The Economic and Financial History of Colonialism', organised by the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen and the University of Antwerp will take place at the University of Groningen on 26-27 March 2026. This year’s theme will be 'Diversity in Development: Colonial Legacies and Varied Paths of Growth' and invites contributions on new perspectives on how colonial economic and financial systems shaped long-term development trajectories across regions. The workshop aims to foster comparative and interdisciplinary dialogue on the mechanisms through which colonial institutions, fiscal regimes, and financial structures influenced the diversity of post-colonial growth experiences. Abstracts should be submitted ultimately 15 December 2025. |
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Call for papers – 12th Tensions of Europe Conference (Eindhoven, 8-10 July 2026) – deadline 4 January 2026 |
| The organisers of the 12th Tensions of Europe (ToE) Conference call for abstracts for this conference with as central theme ‘The meaning of the past in sustainable futures’. This conference will be held on 8-10 July 2026 at the campus of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and will be organised by the Eindhoven History Lab, part of the Technology Innovation and Society research group of TU/e in collaboration with the 4TU History of Technology center (uniting Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, the University of Twente, and Wageningen University & Research). Eindhoven and seeks to explore and discuss what it means for European and non-European scholars to write ‘European’ histories of ‘technology’ in a pluriverse world. Abstracts should be submitted ultimately by 4 January 2026. |
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Institute Gak-KNAW Award Postdoc Position – deadline 5 January 2026 |
The Institute Gak and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW) invite talented early-career researchers to apply for a three-year appointment as a post-doc researcher at an Academy institute to conduct research on the labour market and social security in the Netherlands. Eligible for this award are post-doc researchers who obtained their PhD no more than five years ago or PhDs wjo will defend their PhD thesis not later dan in the month of April 2026 and who are working on innovative research in the fields of social security and labour market in the Netherlands. Applications should be submitted in Dutch via the dedicated application form, ultimately by 5 January 2026.
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Call for papers Workshop 'Channeling Middle-Class Savings, 1850-1940' (Antwerp, 29-30 June 2026) – deadline 15 January 2026 |
On 29 and 30 June 2026, the University of Antwerp and the Paris School of Economics will host the workshop ‘Channeling Middle-Class Savings, 1850-1940’, exploring the investment of middle-class savings between the second half of the nineteenth-century and the Second World War.
The organisers call for papers that deal with the expansion of savings banks and other financial institutions competing to attract household savings, the government’s involvement in the management and use of savings, as well as the investment decisions of individual households. Submissions should be submitted ultimately on 5 January 2026.
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Call for papers Special Issue ‘Blue Papers’ on Netherlands and the Caribbean – deadline 15 January 2026 |
| The editors of the academic journal Blue Papers invite contributions for a special issue focusing on the Netherlands (low and high regions) and the Caribbean. This special issue of Blue Papers aims to critically examine how both historical and contemporary practices towards water management can inform practical and scalable solutions that address sustainability challenges, including climate change and beyond. Particularly welcome are papers that move beyond documenting problems or historical traditional solutions and also propose actionable, context-sensitive solutions for sustainable water futures in both regions. Papers should be submitted ultimately 15 January 2026. |
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Historicidagen 2026 (Leiden, 27-29 August 2026), Call for papers – deadline 31 January 2026 |
| On 27-29 August 2026, the 2026 edition of the Historians’ Days [in Dutch: Historicidagen] will be jointly organised by the Royal Netherlands Historical Society (KNHG) and Leiden University in the city of Leiden. The Historians’ Days 2026 revolve around the theme of ‘Future of history’, and actively promote diversity within participants, audience, program, stories, methods and presentations. Those interested to present a paper at this conference, are invited to submit a proposal of no more than 250 words to the program committee between 1 December 2025 and 31 January 2026. |
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Congratulations to our PhD alumni recently promoted! |
Dr Vicky Vanruyssevelt (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) on the thesis ‘Onderweg met amusement. Inkomensstrategieën en mobiliteit bij ambulante entertainers in Brabant (1750-1914)' [transl. 'On the road with entertainment. Income strategies and mobility among itinerant entertainers in Brabant (1750-1914)’. Supervisor: Professor Anne Winter (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). (21 October)
Dr Alexander van der Meer (Leiden University) on the thesis ‘Colonial Calvinism: Colonial Ideologies of Dutch Clergymen in Batavia, ca. 1700-1850’. Supervisors: Dr Alicia Schrikker and Professor Jos Gommans (both Leiden University). (23 October)
Dr Philip Post (Leiden University) on the thesis ‘Constructing Colonial Legitimacy in the Moluccas, 1750-1870’. Supervisors: Dr Alicia Schrikker and Professor Jos Gommans (both Leiden University). (23 October) |
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Already following us on Mastodon? |
As of 1 March 2024, the N.W. Posthumus Institute has started using Mastodon as social medium, following the decision to stop using X, formerly known as Twitter, actively for new announcements, as a result of the current developments surrounding the X platform. Do sign up with Mastodon and follow our account to keep updated frequently with new items and developments. Join us on Mastodon!
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Image credits: - Image next to item Call applications PhD Professor Van Winter Fund: fragment of the painting The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, completed in 1432. This fragment depicts the Utrecht Cathedral (Domkerk) in the middle part of the painting. Public Domain image. |
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