| Accidentally, in the version of the newsletter you received earlier today, the announcement of the valedictory lecture by Professor Marlou Schrover was mentioned incorrectly. In this version, the announcement has been corrected. Our apologies for the incovenience. |
Professor Sven Beckert keynote lecturer at Posthumus Conference 2026 (21-22 May 2026, IISH, Amsterdam) |
| The IISH, as conference organiser, and the N.W. Posthumus Institute are happy to announce that Professor Sven Beckert (Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University) will deliver the keynote lecture at the Posthumus Conference 2026. This year's theme will be 'Global Capitalism', which connects strongly with Professor Beckert's most recent publication 'Capitalism: A Global History', published in November 2025 with publisher Penguin Group USA. The conference website is under construction, but will be updated regularly. |
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Save the date: 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. More details will follow in due time, but those who want to attend this lecture in person, should already register via the registration form. The lecture will also be streamed via the livestream of Leiden University.
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Posthumus fellow en onderzoekscoördinator Janna Coomans bij hoofdpersonen 2025 RTV Utrecht |
~ because of scope in Dutch only ~ Janna Coomans, coördinator van het onderzoeksnetwerk ‘Economy and Society of the Pre-industrial Low Countries in Comparative Perspective’van het N..W. Posthumus Instituut, behoort volgens RTV Utrecht tot ‘de hoofdrolspelers van 2025’ in Utrecht in verband met haar publicatie ‘Dievenland’, waarvoor Janna de Libris Geschiedenisprijs 2025 ontving. Naar aanleiding hiervan heeft RTV Utrecht in het kader van de afsluiting van 2025 een uitgebreider artikel naar aanleiding van Janna’s publicatie geplaatst.
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Posthumus Office Manager René van Weeren interviewed about history of marriage legislation |
| René van Weeren, Office Manager of the N.W. Posthumus Institute and co-author (with Tine De Moor) of the publication 'Ja, ik wil! Verliefd, verloofd, getrouwd in Amsterdam, 1580-1810', was interviewed by the Dutch national broadcast company NTR on the history of marriage legislation. Direct occasion for this interview was a recent case of a Dutch marriage being declared invalid because the formula used by the one-time wedding officiant of the couple did not meet the proper legal conditions. René was asked to comment on this from a historical perspective on marriage legislation for the online NTR section 'NTR Wetenschap' (texts and interview in Dutch only). |
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STONEM Workshop: Connected by/with/to the Dutch (1900-2025) (Utrecht, 23 January 2026) - registration required |
| On 23 January 2026, the Research Team of the project 'Sustainability Trade-offs in the Netherlands’ Entangled Modernization (STONEM) 1900-2020' will organise the workshop 'Connected wit/by/to the Dutch (1900-2025)', supported by the Research Network 'Globalisation, Inequality, and Sustainable Development in Long-Term Perspective' of the N.W. Posthumus Institute. This workshop examines the concept of entangled histories in relation to the Dutch past and its global connections from 1900 to 2025. Confirmed speakers are Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk (Utrecht University), Pim de Zwart (Wageningen University & Research), and Frank Veraart (Eindhoven University of Technology). Prior registration is required because of catering and limited seating. |
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PhD Defence Posthumus alumnus Junhao Cao (Utrecht University, 25 February 2026) |
| On 25 February 2026, Posthumus alumnus Junhao Cao will defend the PhD thesis 'Property Rights and Agricultural Growth in Northwestern Europe, 1300–1800' at Utrecht University. Supervisors are Dr Jessica Dijkman and Professor Bas van Bavel (both Utrecht University). More info will follow in due time. |
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Issue 3 (2025) TSEG – The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History published |
| Recently, the science journal 'TSEG – The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History' published its latest issue. This issue (#3 of 2025) contains an article by JaapJan van Zwieten (PhD student VU Amsterdam) on the privilege of pre-loading in Amsterdam for members of the Amsterdam skippers’ guilds, an article by Seb Verlinden, (Posthumus PhD at KU Leuven) on crisis management by the States of Brabant between 1739 and 1742, an article by Margo Groenewoud (postdoc researcher at Radboud University) on networks of radical black activism in port cities in the Caribbean and America in the 1920s and 1930s, and an article by Thunnis van Oort (postdoc researcher at Radboud University and project leader of the Surinam Time Machine project on the transcription of files of the ward registers of Paramaribo (1828-1847). The issue is open-access, but can also be ordered as printed version. |
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Call for proposals TSEG Essay Prize – deadline 1 February 2026 |
The editors of the journal 'TSEG – The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History' invite young researchers to submit essays for the TSEG Essay Prize. PhD students as well as postdocs who obtained their PhD within the last 3 years who believe that historical research is an indispensable guide to understanding the present and the future, are invited to pitch a draft historical essay (max. 750 words, English or Dutch) that addresses these questions. The essay may start from a contemporary social issue, and could be a theoretical treatise or a historical case study, but should make clear why the story deserves special attention Proposals should be submitted ultimately by 1 February 2026.
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LeidenGlobal course ‘Methodologies in the Social Sciences and Humanities’ (Feb-June 2026) – deadline 15 January 2026 |
The Leiden University Institute for Area Studies in collaboration with LeidenGlobal offers a twelve-week course ‘Methodologies in the Social Sciences and Humanities’. This course will allow beginning scholars to develop a critical understanding of methodologies in the social sciences and humanities. The course will run from February until June 2026. Successful participation is valued at 10 EC. Registration is open to Research Master students (who are required to register via MyStudyMap), as well as PhD students (who should register via the LeidenGlobal webpage). Deadline for registering is 15 January 2026.
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Call for papers – 12th Tensions of Europe Conference (Eindhoven, 8-10 July 2026) – EXTENDED deadline 16 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) 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 the extended deadline of 16 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 15 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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Voorstellen Treub Bate KHMW welkom - deadline 31 januari 2026 |
~ because of scope in Dutch only ~ Het bestuur van de Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij (KHMW) stelt met ingang van 2026 vanuit het Treub Fonds van de KHMW jaarlijks een onderzoeksbate van 25.000 euro beschikbaar ter bevordering van wetenschappelijk onderzoek in de Nederlandse Cariben, Suriname en Indonesië. Voor deze Treub bate komen in aanmerking promovendi, postdocs en medewerkers met een dienstverband aan een Nederlandse kennisinstelling en gepensioneerde onderzoekers die een dienstverband hadden en een aantoonbare duurzame relatie hebben met een Nederlandse kennisinstelling. Het onderzoek dient te worden uitgevoerd in bovengenoemde (zee-)gebieden. Aanvragen voor de bate dienen vóór 1 februari 2026 te zijn ingediend.
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National Meeting ‘Towards New Horizons of Scholarly Publishing’ (Radboud University, 5-6 Feb 2026) – prior registration requested |
On 5 and 6 February 2026, Radboud University will host the National Meeting ‘Towards New Horizons of Scholarly Publishing’. Goal of this event is to bring researchers together who care about the future of the academic publishing system and are motivated to make a positive change. Participants will explore what Diamond Open Access (a fully open publishing model where no fees are asked for publishing or reading) has to offer. Keynote speakers will address a breadth of topics concerning DOA, such as the national and European infrastructure of DOA, challenges in transitioning to such a system, starting and managing a DOA journal or flipping a journal, and many more. Attendance is free of charge, but prior registration is requested.
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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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Call for papers Dag van de Nieuwste Geschiedenis – Journée de l’Histoire Contemporaine 2026 – deadline 1 February 2026 |
| The Belgische Vereniging voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis – Association belge d’Histoire contemporaine BVNG-ABHC and the University of Antwerp call for papers for the 2026 edition of the Dag van de Nieuwste Geschiedenis – Journée de l’Histoire Contemporaine, to be held on 29 April 2026 at the City Campus (Hof van Liere) of the University of Antwerp. The theme of the 2026 edition is ‘Ctrl-Alt-History: (Digital) Humanities meets AI’. The conference aims to focus on the use of AI in (Belgian) historical research, heritage management, and education, and to provide a forum for exploring the opportunities, risks, and challenges of AI within the Belgian historical landscape by inviting contributions that approach these developments critically, empirically, and/or pedagogically. Proposals should be submitted ultimately by 1 February 2026. |
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Workshop ‘Histories of taxation, (in)equality, and redistribution’ – deadline proposals 6 February 2026 |
The Research School Political History and the Duitsland Instituut Amsterdam jointly organise the workshop ‘Histories of taxation, (in)equality, and redistribution’ on Friday 13 February 2026. The workshop will include contributions by Professor Marc Buggeln (Europa Universität Flensburg), Emeritus Professor Marjolein ’t Hart (VU Amsterdam), and Dr Maarten Manse (Linnaeus University), and explores the role of taxation in relation to (in)equality, redistribution, and colonial power relations. The workshop is free of charge and explicitly open to research master students and PhD candidates. Those who want to participate should send an email, including a short statement (max. 1 page) reflecting on how the history of taxation could provide new perspectives on your research, to The Research School Political History ultimately by 6 February 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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KNHG publishes updated version ‘Professional standards for historians’ |
The KNHG (Koninklijk Nederlands Historisch Genootschap [transl. Royal Dutch Historical Society]) recently updated the already existing Dutch version of the code of ethics for historians, titled Normen voor historici. An English version is now also available. This code of ethics is intended to establish unwritten and existing standards for historians and can serve as a guideline in education and research.
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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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