Partner Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen

Aankomende programma’s

09 12 25

De waarheid en waan van documentaire fictie

Enkele jaren voor zijn dood vertrouwde de in Zuid-Afrika geboren Reger (1942-2022) zijn archief toe aan zijn vriend Guido Snel. Dit archief werd de bron voor een documentaire roman over deze eigenzinnige antroposofisch psychotherapeut. Een gesprek over het leven van een wereldburger in Amsterdam, over feit en fictie, wetenschap en esoterie, en de status van docufictie.

Programma’s uit het verleden

03 12 25

Lezen voor waarden: over taal, verhalen en burgerschap in de klas

Hoe leer je jongeren om weerbare, kritische burgers te worden in een tijd van algoritmes, polarisatie en nepnieuws? En wat kan taalonderwijs daaraan bijdragen? De auteurs van Lezen voor waarden. Taal en burgerschap in de klas (red. Yra van Dijk en Marie-José Klaver) nodigen u uit voor een prikkelende avond over burgerschapsonderwijs vandaag.

28 11 25

Fragments, Clues, and Surprises in Literary Biographies: Writing Cavafy’s Life

Following the release of a new biography of the Greek diasporic queer poet Constantine Cavafy, author Gregory Jusdanis will read from the book alongside selections of Cavafy’s poetry. He will then engage in conversation with Dutch literary biographer Koen Hilberdink on the thrills and challenges of literary biography as a genre.

26 11 25

Femicide en geweld tegen vrouwen in literatuur en theater

Welke verhalen over femicide en geweld tegen vrouwen hebben we van vroeger meegekregen? Hoe hebben die ons beeld van geweld tegen vrouwen en vrouwenmoord gevormd? En wat kunnen literatuur en theater er vandaag de dag aan bijdragen om femicide als maatschappelijk probleem bespreekbaar te maken?

24 11 25

50 jaar Surinaamse onafhankelijkheid in poëzie, literatuur en geschiedenis

Dit jaar vieren we 50 jaar Surinaamse onafhankelijkheid. Op de vooravond van Srefidensi Dey, Onafhankelijkheidsdag, nemen we vanuit verschillende perspectieven de Surinaamse wordingsgeschiedenis en identiteit onder de loep. Een avond waarin een grote variëteit aan Surinaamse stemmen klinkt, en we ons buigen over de betekenis van de Surinaamse onafhankelijkheid, toen en nu.

21 11 25

Het platteland in verbeelding

De uitslagen van recente verkiezingen – nationaal, regionaal en internationaal – worden geduid met verwijzingen naar een toenemende kloof tussen stad en platteland. In hoeverre draagt de culturele, sociale en politieke beeldvorming van het platteland bij aan deze kloof en de polarisatie die eruit zou voortkomen?

09 10 25

Vijftiende Jacob van Lenneplezing

De stem van de negentiende eeuw: erfenis en naklank van politieke redenaars en debatcultuur

Een paar weken voordat Nederland de Tweede Kamer opnieuw verkiest, spreekt Henk te Velde over politieke redenaars in de Nederlandse negentiende eeuw. In deze vijftiende Jacob van Lenneplezing zal hij laten zien hoe debatcultuur, regels voor discussie en welsprekendheid sinds 1800 bepalend zijn geweest voor de Haagse politiek en het moderne Nederland.

09 09 25

Book launch Mieke Bal

Moments of Meaning-Making

With Moments of Meaning-Making, cultural theorist, video artist, and writer Mieke Bal has written her 50^th book. This remarkable work, published by Valiz, is both her most personal and her most associative – an ABC of concepts, memories, and reflections shaped by a life of teaching, writing, making, and thinking.

05 09 25

Een gesprek over de eerste generatie Turkse migrantenvrouwen

De stille vrouw

Actrice en theatermaker Dilan Yurdakul ontmoet voormalig staatssecretaris voor Cultuur en Media Gunay Uslu rond een gedeeld verhaal en een gedeelde behoefte: het geven van een stem aan de eerste generatie Turkse migrantenvrouwen – moeders, grootmoeders. Wat betekent het om hun leven, dromen en pijn te erkennen? Hoe luid of hoe stil waren hun stemmen? En hoe leeft hun nalatenschap voort in de generaties na hen?

04 06 25

Onderzoek naar vroegmoderne vrouwen in verleden, heden en toekomst

Van marge naar middelpunt

Vroegmoderne vrouwen: verleden tijd? Allerminst! Van stadhoudersvrouwen als Amalia van Solms, prominente geleerden als Anna Maria van Schurman en innovatieve auteurs als Betje Wolff tot de verhalen van naamloze vrouwen uit archieven. De afgelopen decennia bloeit de studie naar vrouwen uit de periode tussen 1500 en 1800 als nooit tevoren. Daarnaast vinden ze hun weg naar het bredere publiek via tentoonstellingen, publiekboeken en podcasts. Vanavond werpen verscheidene deskundigen hun licht op hen.

26 05 25

The Jewish Street: Amsterdam and Paris After 1945

Jewish urban landscapes throughout Europe changed irreversibly during the mid-twentieth century. Taking the concept of the “Jewish street” and zooming in on French and Dutch case studies, our lectures will analyse what happened to Jewish sites and quarters between the 1930s and the 1960s, with an emphasis on the post-war period.

21 05 25

De Staat van de Europese Literatuur 2025: Andrej Koerkov

Op 21 mei spreekt de Oekraïense schrijver Andrej Koerkov de zevende Staat van de Europese Literatuur uit, onder de titel ‘A Garden of Unwritten Books’. De lezing vindt plaats in de Aula van 20.15 tot 21.45 uur.

20 05 25

Democracy and AI

The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in democratic societies is an ongoing concern for many researchers, albeit for different reasons. During this event, we will explore the often illegitimate but not illegal applications of AI in democratic practices, focusing on the role of the news media, political decision-making, and policy.

16 05 25

Girl Online: Symposihmm #1

Girl Online is a full-day programme hosted by The Hmm, a platform for internet cultures, taking place across SPUI25 and University of Amsterdam locations on Friday 16 May. Expect talks, performances, workshops, and more. This first ever Symposihmm will dive into girl trends, self-infantilisation, girl as a strategy in digital spaces, and the future of girlhood. It is part of This is who you’re being mean to, The Hmm’s broader 2025 year theme, exploring gender expression online.

12 05 25

Agents and Agency at the EU and Mexico-US Borders

Our news media offer daily accounts of migration crises in the Mediterranean and North America. Yet much of the reality of human agency, mobility, and power in border regions remains unseen and unknown. What are the historical roots of the brutal inequalities manifested at international borders? How do migrants and residents of border regions survive, subsist, and exist? And who benefits from migration crises, as well as the narratives that surround them?

09 05 25

A Conversation with Bado Ndoye

Thinking African Philosophy

How to conceive of the characteristics, possibilities, and boundaries of contemporary African philosophy? Senegalese philosopher Bado Ndoye engages with this question and reflects on the challenge of philosophizing from Africa while undertaking the urgent task of decolonizing Western philosophical legacies. Moderation: Jamila Mascat.

08 05 25

PEN Belarus’s fight for freedom of literary expression and human rights

Forbidden Voices

Under the present Lukashenko regime, freedom of literary expression in Belarus has ceased to exist. Writers are persecuted and locked away, some have fled. In exile, PEN Belarus continues to fight for Belarusian voices to be heard and read. Tonight, our panel will shed light on this ongoing struggle.

02 05 25

Sieg Maandag: Trauma and Art in the Aftermath of Bergen-Belsen

Sieg Maandag (1937-2013) was seven years old when he was photographed by George Rodger as he walked among the piles of bodies in the liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. His father was killed there, his mother survived camp Beendorf and was reunited with him six months after the war. Sieg’s family were diamond dealers. After the war he learned to work with diamonds, traveled the world, fell in love, sang at the Paradiso night club, and painted hundreds of paintings and ceramics. This presentation, on the 80th anniversary of the photo documenting his liberation, focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to his art as representation and transformation.

25 03 25

Cybernetic Capitalism

Today’s form of capitalism is organized on principles of information and communication, the domain of what used to be called “cybernetics”. At work as well as in our free time, we merge with our computers, networks, and, increasingly, artificial intelligence. What does it mean to live under this regime of cybernetic capitalism?

21 03 25

Opera Forward Festival

What Does National Identity Sound Like?

*Unfortunately we will not have a livestream for this program*

How can we comprehend the connection between politics and music? In what ways does ‘the canon’ shape national identity, and how do policies and grassroots movements influence this dynamic? By exploring the sounds of national identity, the Think Tank of the Opera Forward Festival 2025 presents its insights into the musical aspects of nationalism, focusing on the impact of canonization, politics, and identity.

07 03 25

The Effort to End Global Poverty: Then and Now

International development – the effort to reduce poverty and inequality around the world – employed millions, affected billions, and spent trillions. It held the hopes of the former colonies to create an economic independence to match their newfound political one – and the plans of wealthy countries to build an enduring economic order. Anticipating David Engerman’s new book, Apostles of Development, our panel discusses past and present development efforts.

03 03 25

CANCELLED: Empirical Ethics: On the Art of Paying Attention

What would an ethics of possibility look like? How can “paying attention” be understood ethically? In contrast with classical applied ethics, these types of empirical ethics seek to ground ethical reflection in the observation of concrete practices. Tonight, guest speakers will explore how to account for the messiness, ambiguities, and contradictions through which ethical life unfolds in the everyday experiences of real people.

*Due to illness this event has been cancelled*

06 02 25

Mapping the Erasure

Human geographer Hashem Abushama sheds his light on the significance of understanding the multiple Palestinian spatial realities that exist – taking al ‘Arub refugee camp in the West Bank as his starting point. What unfolds is a geography prone to rupture and transformation. Abushama will introduce the notion and practice of “countermaps” – a map creation process which challenges the maps produced by states. He explores the ways in which counter-mapping can bring into focus the contingent and differentiated nature of settler colonial dispossession and fragmentation, as well as the embodied, spatial practices and processes of Palestinian return and freedom.

13 12 24

Voltaire lezing

**Geannuleerd** Traîtrise et universalisme. Peut-on penser l’universalité dans le monde dit « arabe » ?

Comment penser contre le communautaire ? Comment penser contre soi et les siens ? L’intellectuel et artiste d’origine arabe pose une question qui ne se pose plus depuis longtemps pour l’intellectuel occidental : est-on un traître ? Qu’est-ce que l’universalisme pour « l’Arabe » et le musulman ? Peut-on sortir du décolonial sans reniements ? Comment un écrivain ou un intellectuel d’origine arabe, perçu comme tel, peut-il s’exprimer en Occident ? Quels sont les risques ? Quelle est la légitimité ?

28 11 24

War, Famine, and Paths to Peace

Spotlight on Sudan

Sudan is suffering the worst crisis of its turbulent history. With 13 million people displaced and much of the country facing famine, the toll on ordinary Sudanese is staggering. An expert panel unpacks the war’s background, the dynamics that fuel it, and discusses potential paths to peace.

14 11 24

Religious Radicalisations and a Crisis of Culture

In conversation with Olivier Roy, we discuss the tension and connection between the crisis of culture and religious radicalisations in both Islam and Western societies. How should we understand the call for Jihad? And what does ‘European culture’ mean today?

This program is fully booked.

04 11 24

A Conversation with UvA’s Americanists

Emotion Commotion on Election Eve

US elections are occasions for a range of emotions, including anger, melancholy, and relief. On November 4, Americanists from the University of Amsterdam will inspect the election on its eve.

***Fully Booked***

01 11 24

The European Literature Prize of Literature 2024 & The State of European Literature

An Evening with Olga Tokarczuk

This evening, none other than Olga Tokarczuk will be at the Aula of the Lutheran Church. She will engage in a conversation about the state of European literature, the importance of translation and her oeuvre.
**This program is fully booked**

25 10 24

New Directions in Sonic History

What Are Sound Studies?

Professor Holger Schulze will give us a Brief Introduction to a Very Young and Very Old Field of Research: Sound Studies. He will shed light on the more recent history of Sound Studies and the current developments in the 2020s to decolonize sound studies and investigate aural diversity.

24 10 24

De geschiedenis van Nederland 1795-1914

De wentelende negentiende eeuw

De negentiende eeuw is een eeuw van tegenstrijdigheden: industrialisatie en kolonisatie, revolutie en modernisering, nationalisering en mondialisering. Hoe kijken historici tegenwoordig naar deze periode en welke zeggingskracht heeft deze eeuw nog in de eenentwintigste eeuw?

**Dit programma zit vol, kijk mee met de livestream op deze pagina.**

24 10 24

A Conversation with Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí

Disrupting Colonial Practices of Gender

Professor Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí offers a transformative perspective on gender, challenging Western ideas and its global application. The pioneering sociologist will dive into her most influential research, discussing how African perspectives can reshape our understanding of gender, women’s rights, and knowledge production.

**This program is fully booked, the livestream is available on this page**

18 10 24

Panel International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs

Emergencies of Authoritarianism: Global Entanglements

A rich panel of internationally renowned scholars sheds light on the global entanglements of authoritarianism. Based on their specific local experiences and situated knowledge, they discuss some of the main characteristics of authoritarianism today. How are its different variations connected with each other? How are they dependent on other global developments?

03 10 24

De veertiende Jacob van Lennep-lezing

De invloed van Betje Wolff en Aagje Deken op romanschrijvers in de 19e eeuw

In deze veertiende Jacob van Lennep-lezing zal Marita Mathijsen ingaan op de doorbraak die de romans van Betje Wolff en Aagje Deken veroorzaakten. Zij onderzoekt daarbij op welke wijze deze romans ook negentiende-eeuwse schrijvers, zoals Jacob van Lennep, beïnvloedden.

27 09 24

Ruim veertig jaar verhalen

De diepe sporen van hiv/aids

Het is ruim veertig jaar geleden dat Amerikaanse artsen in juni 1981 alarm sloegen: zij ontdekten een nieuw virus, dat vooral rond leek te gaan onder homoseksuele mannen. Enkele jaren later zal het virus hiv genoemd worden. Miljoenen mensen zijn wereldwijd overleden, onder wie duizenden in Nederland. Vandaag praten we over de erfenis van de hiv-epidemie en de verhalen van mensen die deze van dichtbij hebben meegemaakt.

25 09 24

Reframing Nature: Tracing Shifting Ecologies through Art

Depictions of the natural world in art offer profound insights into historical perspectives on humanity’s relationship with nature. In conversation with Estelle Zhong Mengual, Julia Kantelberg and Colin Sterling, we discuss the relation between aesthetics and ecology. How might art help us rethink our place within the natural world?

04 07 24

Lecture Axel Honneth

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. Postcolonialism and the West

There are many ways to understand the theoretical and political claims of recent postcolonialism. In this lecture, Axel Honneth understands it as a powerful and fully legitimate attempt to raise awareness of the fact that colonialism is still oppressively present in the West, even in an age that presents itself as postcolonial. In order to meet this challenge, Honneth will explore in what ways European culture needs to change its own self-understanding with regard to the past, the present and the future.

01 07 24

The Female Impact: 17th Century Women on the Dutch Art Market

Since 2021 the Female Impact project has been studying the impact of women artists, patrons, and other prominent women on the seventeenth-century Dutch art market. What are their latest insights? And which hurdles lie ahead? During the project’s annual summer event, short presentations covering a wide range of topics will show where the Female Impact stands today.

28 06 24

Het verhaal van de Lage Landen

De populaire tv-series Het verhaal van Nederland en Het verhaal van Vlaanderen roepen allerlei vragen op: wat is de historische waarde(n) van deze series? Welke rol spelen historici in het ‘maken’ ? Voor wie en tegen wie spreken zij? Over deze en andere vragen gaan diverse historici en televisiemakers in debat.

27 06 24

On the afterlives of history and ideological upbringing in Greece and beyond

Niki means Victory – but over what?

On the occasion of the Dutch translation in 2023 of the novel Niki (2014) by the Greek writer Christos Chomenidis – longlisted for the (Dutch) European Literature Prize – the author will have a conversation with Michel Krielaars and Elke Weesjes about the myths and realities around ideological forms of education in Greece, the Netherlands, and former communist states, and the multiple afterlives of history in the present.

18 06 24

Decolonising La Mer Mortelle

Infrastructures of Displacement & Racialised Boundaries

EU countries have the most mortal borders of the world, with thousands of deaths of African and Middle Eastern people each year and many more detained or living under deplorable circumstances as “illegal”—which makes them easily exploitable and deportable people. In this third edition of Decolonising La Mer Mortelle, we will focus on the structural, infrastructural and longue durée colonial legacies in current migration policies and ideologies.

13 06 24

The History, Art, and Design of LSD Blotter

Tonight, author and scholar Erik Davis presents his latest book, Blotter: the Untold Story of an Acid Medium, the first illustrated history and analysis of LSD blotter art. Davis will be joined by blotter maker Ed Visser and Erwan Le Roux, who will explore the role that Amsterdam played in the underground blotter trade.