Posthumus Summer School 'Crises and History' (Utrecht, 6-10 July 2026) - deadline registration 1 June 2026 |
After two successful previous editions, the N.W. Posthumus Institute will once more offer the Posthumus Summer School on ‘Crises and History’ on 6-10 July 2026. Dr Jessica Dijkman, associate professor at Utrecht University and Scientific Director of the N.W. Posthumus Institute, will deliver this Summer School, which aims to help students acquire the knowledge and skills to develop their own research ideas on this theme and select and use the methods and sources to carry out the research. Participation is free of charge, participants should register ultimately by 1 June 2026.
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ESTER RDC 2026 to be held at KU Leuven (26-28 October 2026) - deadline abstracts 15 June 2026 |
On 26 to 28 October 2026 the 2026 edition of the ESTER Research Design Course (RDC) will be held. This year’s edition will be hosted by the KU Leuven under the guidance of Maïka De Keyzer (photo). The N.W. Posthumus Institute (as secretariat of the ESTER Network) and the local organisers of KU Leuven Seville welcome abstracts for this RDC. The RDC assists candidates in setting up a high quality and well-designed plan for their dissertation under the guidance of a team of senior researchers and research design specialists whose task it is to provide comments and feedback. Candidates wishing to participate are requested to send in their application and abstract no later than 15 June 2026.
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Valedictory lecture Professor Marlou Schrover (Leiden University, 6 March 2026) |
On 6 March 2026, Professor Marlou Schrover, longstanding board member of the N.W. Posthumus Institute, will deliver her valedictory lecture at Leiden University. Those who want to attend this lecture in person, should register via the registration form. The lecture will also be streamed via the livestream of Leiden University.
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Posthumus board member Jutta Bolt receives ERC Consolidator Grant |
In December 2025, the European Research Council (ERC) awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant to Jutta Bolt, Professor of Global Economic History at the University of Groningen and Board Member of the N.W. Posthumus Institute for her research proposal Africa@Work (AWORK). Through this research project, Jutta aims to examine how work and livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa have evolved over a century of profound economic, demographic, and social change. Focusing on 33 countries shaped by different colonial legacies and post-independence trajectories, the project reconstructs detailed occupational structures from 1920 to 2020. The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Jutta with this grant!
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Posthumus fellow Pepijn Brandon receives ERC Synergy Grant |
| Professor Pepijn Brandon, fellow and subsitute member of the General Board of the N.W. Posthumus Institute, recently with other researchers received a Synergy Grant of 10 million euros to investigate these questions within the TASTADE (The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Development of Europe) project by the European Research Council (ERC). A large team of junior researchers, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and data specialists will collect, compare and analyse data on investors in the slave trade within this six-year project. The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Pepijn and his fellow researchers with this grant! |
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Posthumus fellow Alicia Schrikker appointed Professor of Dutch History in the World at Leiden University |
The Executive Board of Leiden University has appointed Dr Alicia Schrikker, fellow of the N.W. Posthumus Institute and Director of Research at the Leiden University Institute for History, as Professor of Dutch History in the World, effective 1 January 2026. The chair is based at the Institute of History (Faculty of Humanities). The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Alicia with this appointment!
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Change in General Board representatives VUB |
| Recently, Professor Anne Winter, previously acting as substitute representative of our member institute Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), has become the primary representative of the VUB in our General Board, while Dr Bob Pierik will be the new substitute representative on behalf of the VUB. |
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Wouter Ronsijn ends tasks as Research Network Coordinator |
Because of accepting a new position in academia, Wouter Ronsijn had to decide to end his tasks as Research Network Coordinator of the Research Network 'Societies in Context: Interactions between humans and rural-urban environments' of the N.W. Posthumus Institute. The staff of the N.W. Posthumus Institute thanks Wouter very much for his efforts and accomplishments for this research network over the past years.
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Opening for a Research Network Coordinator ‘Societies in Context: Interactions between humans and rural-urban environments’ – deadline 28 February 2026 |
| The N.W. Posthumus Institute is currently looking for a new Coordinator for the Research Network ‘Societies in Context: Interactions between humans and rural-urban environments’, who will be coordinating this netwerk in close cooperation with fellow-coordinator Kate Frederick. The position is considered to be a great opportunity for networking, developing coordination skills, and mentoring the next generation of social and economic historians. |
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Save the date: Posthumus Conference 2026 (IISH, Amsterdam, 21-22 May 2026) |
| Don't forget: The Posthumus Conference 2026 will be held on 21 and 22 May 2026 at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. The keynote lecture on the theme 'Global Capitalism' will be delivered by Professor Sven Beckert, Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University. We expect to open registration for the conference within the next two weeks and will issue a specific newsletter on this. But of course you can already have a sneak peek at the conference website...! |
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Book Launch 'Lives, Land, and Labour' by Luc Bulten (Utrecht, 15 April 2026) – registration requested |
| On 15 April 2026, the publication 'Lives, Land, and Labour: A Social History of Eigtheenth-Century Sri Lanka', authored by Posthumus alumnus and fellow Luc Bulten will be launched at the Utrecht University Hall (Academiegebouw) in Utrecht. This event is supported by both the Stichting Nederland-Sri Lanka and the N.W. Posthumus Institute. This book forms part of the book series 'European Expansion and Indigenous Response' of Brill Editors and focuses on the 'thombos', a rather unique collection of eighteenth-century land and population registers detailing the lives lived, lands held, and labour provided by tens of thousands of people inhabiting the coastal regions of Sri Lanka that were colonised by the Dutch East India Company. By using this source, Luc demonstrates how both European expansionism and local agency reciprocally affected the ways such social realities were shaped. Next to a presentation by the author, Posthumus fellows will comment on this publication. Prior registration requested. |
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Seminar and Workshop ‘Trust, institutions and capitalism in early modern Europe’ (Nijmegen, 23-24 April 2026) – keynote by Professor Craig Muldrew – deadline abstracts 6 March 2026 |
| On Thursday 23 April and Friday 24 April 2026, the section Economic, Social and Demographic History of Radboud University, supported by the N.W. Posthumus Institute, will host the international seminar and workshop on 'Trust, institutions, and capitalism in early modern Europe'. The keynote lecture at this event will be delivered by Professor Craig Muldrew (University of Cambridge), where he will present his new book 'The Capitalist Self: the Social Origins of Financial Capitalism in Early Modern Britain'. The second day of this workshop will be open to early-career researchers (MA/PhD/Postdoc) who wish to receive feedback on their (ongoing) research and will explore the relationship between the behaviours and norms of economic actors and the accumulation of credit and capital in early modern Europe. Abstracts for the workshop should be submitted ultimately by 6 March 2026. |
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Scriptieprijs Brabantse Geschiedenis 2026 – deadline 1 maart 2026 |
| ~ because of scope in Dutch only ~ Erfgoed Brabant, de Historische Vereniging Brabant en Stichting Zuidelijk Historisch Contact reiken gezamenlijk tweejaarlijks een prijs van €1.000 uit ter bevordering van de wetenschappelijke beoefening van de Brabantse geschiedenis aan de Nederlandse en Belgische universiteiten en hogescholen. In aanmerking komen scripties geschreven in 2024 of 2025 geschreven in het kader van een succesvol afgeronde masterstudie aan een Nederlandse of Belgische universiteit of hogeschool die tot onderwerp hebben de geschiedenis (in de breedste zin van het woord) van de gebieden die ooit tot het hertogdom Brabant hebben behoord, dat wil zeggen de huidige Nederlandse provincie Noord-Brabant en de Belgische provincies Antwerpen, Vlaams-Brabant, Waals-Brabant en het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest. Kandidaten kunnen tot 1 maart 2026 een digitale versie van hun scriptie indienen. |
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Call for abstracts 20th Annual MEMSA Conference (St. John's College, Durham University, UK) - deadline 9 March 2026 |
| On 13 and 14 July 2026, the Medieval and Earl Modern Student Association (MEMSA) will organise its 20th Annual Conference at St. John’s College at Durham University. This year’s conference theme is ‘Connection, conversation and contention: encounters in the Medieval and Early Modern World’. All kinds of connections took shape in the period of 500 AD – 1800 AD, e.g., the founding and spreading of the major monotheistic religions like Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, the establishment of the silk roads, the sub-Sahara trade and other major trading sea-lanes in South East Asia, the colonisation of the America’s and the founding of trade posts in Africa and Asia by Europeans. It was also a period of conversation, the founding of European medieval universities, the house of wisdom in Baghdad, and the emergence of a republic of letters in the Early Modern period. However, with connection also comes contention; the Arabic conquests, the crusades, the colonial conquests or the many devastating wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. To investigate these interactions, the MEMSA conference committee invites postgraduates to send paper abstracts of 300 words on either connection, conversation or contention in a broader sense during the Medieval or Early Modern period. Abstracts should be submitted ultimately by 9 March 2026. |
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International conference ‘Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus’ (Brussels, 13-14 March 2026) – deadline 11 March 2026 |
| The SHOC Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in association with the Medieval Caucasus Network and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, will organise the international conference ‘Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus’ on 13 and 14 March 2026 at the premises of the VUB Campus in Elsene, Belgium. Keynote speakers are Nik Matheou (University of Edinburgh) and Irina Arzhantseva (Insitute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences). The organisers welcome anyone with an interest in the history of the Caucasus or in methodologies for studying the experience of non-elite groups, such as women, peasants, or enslaved people. Registration open until 11 March 2026, a participation fee applies. The conference can also be attended online. |
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Boekpresentatie 'De Utrechtse Historische Studentenkring 1926-2026 (Utrecht, 14 maart 2026) |
~ because of scope in Dutch only ~ In 2026 viert de Utrechtse Historische Studentenkring (UHSK) het honderdjarig bestaan. Ter gelegenheid hiervan verschijnt in maart van dit jaar bij uitgeverij WBooks de publicatie 'De Utrechtse Historische Studentenkring 1926 – 2026: Een eeuw verenigd door Geschiedenis'. Aan deze jubileumpublicatie werkten naast Posthumus fellow Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk als auteurs Mette Bruinsma en Jorrit Steehouder en twee redactieassistenten van de UHSK, Jasmijn Cox en Chiara Evans mee, ondersteund door drie stagiairs voor de dataverzameling voor het boek: Lieke Loman, Aigui Thewissen en Zita Zwart. Op 14 maart 2026 vindt de boekpresentatie plaats in de Theaterzaal van de Neudebibliotheek te Utrecht. Belangstellenden dienen zich vooraf aan te melden.
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Call for Proposals to organise 2026 ESEH Summer School in Environmental History – deadline 15 March 2026 |
The European Society for Environmental History (ESEH) welcomes proposals for organising the 2026 ESEH Summer School in Environmental History. The ESEH Summer School is an annual gathering of post-graduate and early-career researchers, led by academics in the field of environmental history. Proposals for 2026 may focus on any theme in environmental history, including but not limited to energy histories, water histories, forest and land-use histories, environmental knowledge and expertise, climate histories, or multispecies histories. Applicants for organising the 2026 ESEH Summer School in Environmental History should apply ultimately by 15 March 2026.
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Research Day 2026 IOS Platform ‘Bottom-Up Institutions for Societal Change’ (Utrecht, 19 March 2026) – keynote lecture by Tine De Moor - registration requested |
| On 19 March 2026, the Platform Bottom-up-initiatives for Societal Change of Utrecht University’s Institutions for Open Societies network will organise the Research Day 2026. Several of our platform members will present and discuss their research activities Tine De Moor, Professor of Social Enterprise and Institutions for Collective Action at the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University Rotterdam, will deliver the keynote lecture 'From grassroots to governance: the maturation of citizen collectives in the Netherlands'. Because of the room capacity and catering, registration is requested. |
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Jaarcongres Werkgroep 'De Nieuwe Tijd' 2026 (Amsterdam, 20 maart 2026) – registreer uiterlijk 15 maart 2026 |
~ because of scope in Dutch only ~ De werkgroep De Moderne Tijd organiseert op 20 maart 2026 in Amsterdam een jubileumcongres met als thema 'Feest! Jubilea en herdenkingen, 1780-1940'. Deze editie markeert het vijftigjarig bestaan van de werkgroep, eerder ook bekend onder de Werkgroep De Negentiende Eeuw. Toehoorders kunnen zich tot uiterlijk 15 maart 2026 inschrijven per e-mail. Er geldt een deelnemersbijdrage, voor studenten geldt een gereduceerd tarief.
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Nodegoat Workshop (IISH, Amsterdam, 20 March 2026) – registration required |
| The IISH is hosting a workshop ‘Introduction to Nodegoat’ on Friday 20 March 2026. The workshop offers an introduction to Nodegoat (nodegoat.net), a web-based research environment for the humanities, and is given by its developers, Pim van Bree and Geert Kessels. Nodegoat allows users to create their own data models for persons, places, events, or artefacts, including their relationships as well as temporal and spatial information. The platform provides analysis and visualisation tools such as network analysis, spatial and chronological representations, queries, and filters. Nodegoat is particularly suitable for projects on historical relationships, prosopography, or movements across time and space. The workshop will be held in English and is open to everyone. There is a maximum number of 30 participants, hence registration is required and processed on a first come, first served basis. |
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Workshop and Conference ‘Sowing the Seeds VIII’ (London, UK, 5-6 November 2026) – deadline 31 March 2026 |
| On 5 and 6 November, the Department of Economic History of the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Centre for Late Antique and Medieval Studies will jointly organise the workshop ‘Swoing the Seeds VIII’; this workshop will also act as the 13th Annual Conference of the Research Group for Late Medieval Economic History. The first day will be hosted at the premises of LSE, the second day will take place at King’s College in London. The organisers aim to bridge generalist history departments and specialised economic history programs, to foster interdisciplinary conversation and support innovative (and collaborative) scholarship. Proposals (300 words max.) for attending this conference should be submitted ultimately by 31 March 2026. |
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Call for paper and session proposals ESSHC 2027 Conference (Lyon, France, 21-24 April 2027) – deadline 15 April 2026 |
The International Institute of Social History (IISH), in cooperation with the École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon), welcomes paper and session proposals for the 16th edition of the European Social Science History Conference (ESSHC 2027), to be held at ENS Lyon on 21-24 April 2027. The aim of the ESSHC is bringing together scholars interested in explaining historical phenomena using the methods of the social sciences. The conference welcomes papers and sessions on any historical topic and any historical period and is organised in 28 thematic networks. Proposals should be submitted ultimately 15 April 2026 via the dedicated platform of the IISH.
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Workshop ‘From Matrimonial Ads to Dating Apps: Unraveling the Partnering Market’ (Barcelona, Spain, 4-6 June 2026) – deadline abstracts 15 April 2026 |
| The organisers of the Workshop ‘From Matrimonial Ads to Dating Apps: Unraveling the Partnering Market’ call for paper abstracts for this workshop, to be held on 4 and 5 June at the Center for Demographic Studies in Barcelona, Spain. This call for papers invites scholars from all disciplines to explore how partnering markets operate across diverse contexts and the far-reaching consequences of these dynamics, including their impact on relationship stability, social mobility, health, and family structures. Participants should submit a paper proposal abstract (300-350 words max.) aligned with the workshop’s objectives ultimately by 15 April 2026. |
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KNAW Trailblazers Fund for early-career first-generation academics - deadline 29 April 2026 |
| The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has launched a call for applications for the KNAW Trailblazers Fund. The purpose of the Fund is to support early-career first-generation academics (PhD candidates in the final 2 years, assistant professors without a permanent position, and postdoc researchers within the first three years after their promotion) in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and retain them for academia. Researchers are considered to be first-generation academics if neither of the parents of the academic hold a university degree or the researcher has a refugee background and has to rebuild their scientific/scholarly career in the Netherlands from scratch. The grants form part of the Adriana Hoogerbrugge legacy and consist of a sum of 3,000-5,000 euros (for PhDs) or 5,000-10,000 euros (assistant professors and postdocs). Applications for either of these grants should be submitted ultimately 29 April 2026. |
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Call for papers 5th Doctoral School in Medieval Economic History (Valencia, Spain, 29 June-1 July 2026) – deadline 30 April 2026 |
| The research group Cultures i Societats de l’Edat Mitjana (CiSEM) at the University of Valencia is organizing the 5th Doctoral School in Medieval Economic History, to be held from 29 June to 1 July 2026. In this fifth edition, the School will focus on ‘Taxation and State Building in the Middle Ages’. The Doctoral School will address the most recent research on public finances, taxation, and state building, with particular attention to the theoretical and methodological training of doctoral candidates and early career researchers. Keynote lectures will be delivered by Wim Blockmans (Emeritus Professor at Leiden University), Leonor Freire Costa (Professor at the Universidade de Lisboa) and Armand Jamme (Professor at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique). PhD students and early-career researchers interested in the topic are invited to submit their proposals ultimately by 30 April 2026. |
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PhD Defence Posthumus alumnus Yannis Skalli-Housseini (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 11 March 2026) |
| On 11 March 2026, Posthumus alumna Yannis Skalli-Housseini will defend the thesis ‘Fiscal policy and fairness in the 18th-century Austrian Netherlands’ at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Supervisor is Professor Wouter Ryckbosch (Ghent University). The N.W. Posthumus Institute wishes Yannis a successful defence! |
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PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Rosa Kösters (Leiden University, 26 March 2026) |
| On 26 March 2026, Posthumus alumna Rosa Kösters, researcher at the International Institute of Social History will defend the thesis ‘How to Self-Organise? Insight from Workers at Albert Heijn (Ahold) and Unox (Unilever) in the Netherlands, 1960–2020’ at Leiden University. Supervisors are Professor Leo Lucassen (Leiden University & International Institute for Social History) and Professor Matthias van Rossum (Radboud University). The N.W. Posthumus Institute wishes Rosa a successful defence! |
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PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Alessandra De Mulder (University of Antwerp, 27 March 2026) |
| On 27 March 2026, Posthumus alumna Alessandra De Mulder will defend the thesis ‘Embedding a consumer revolution. Shifting value constructions and mental frameworks in auction advertisements in the United Kingdom, c.1730-1830’ at the University of Antwerp. Supervisors are Professor Bruno Blondé and Professor Bert De Munck (both University of Antwerp. The N.W. Posthumus Institute wishes Alessandra a successful defence! |
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Congratulations to our PhDs recently promoted! |
Dr Junhan Cao (Utrecht University) on the thesis 'Property Rights and Agricultural Growth in Northwestern Europe, 1300-1800’. Supervisors: Dr Jessica Dijkman and Professor Bas van Bavel (both Utrecht University). (25 February).
Dr Arnoud Jensen (University of Antwerp) on the thesis 'Boeren als rentmeesters: Pacht tussen winst, macht en natuur in de Lage Landen, 1200-1400' [transl.: 'Peasants into Stewards: Leasehold between profit, power and nature in the Low Countries, 1200-1400']. Supervisors: Professor Tim Soens (University of Antwerp) and Professor Thijs Lambrecht (Ghent University). (12 February). |
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| The N.W. Posthumus Institute is currently looking for a new Coordinator for the Research Network ‘Societies in Context: Interactions between humans and rural-urban environments’, who will be coordinating this netwerk in close cooperation with fellow-coordinator Kate Frederick. The position is considered to be a great opportunity for networking, developing coordination skills, and mentoring the next generation of social and economic historians. Read more |
Scriptieprijs Brabantse Geschiedenis 2026 – deadline 1 maart 2026
Call for abstracts Seminar and Workshop ‘Trust, institutions and capitalism in early modern Europe’ – deadline abstracts 6 March 2026
Call for abstracts 20th Annual MEMSA Conference (St. John's College, Durham University, UK, 13-14 July 2026) – deadline 9 March 2026
Call for Proposals to organise 2026 ESEH Summer School in Environmental History – deadline 15 March 2026
Call for abstracts Workshop and Conference ‘Sowing the Seeds VIII’ (London, UK, 5-6 Nov 2026) – deadline 31 March 2026
Call for abstracts Workshop ‘From Matrimonial Ads to Dating Apps: Unraveling the Partnering Market’ – deadline 15 April 2026
Call for papers 5th Doctoral School in Medieval Economic History (Valencia, Spain, 29 June-1 July 2026) – deadline 30 April 2026
Posthumus Summer School 2026 ‘Crises and History’ – deadline registration 1 June 2026
Call for abstracts ESTER RDC 2026 (KU Leuven, Belgium, 24-28 October 2026) – deadline abstracts 15 June 2026
Jubilee competition Royal Frisian Society for History and Culture (KFG) 2027 – deadline 31 December 2026 |
Already following us on Mastodon? |
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