Easter gardens and Christmas trees
By Fridus Steijlen – When I arrived in mid-January in Ambon for my second year at Pattimura University I saw Christmas and New Year decor on the streets,…
By Fridus Steijlen – When I arrived in mid-January in Ambon for my second year at Pattimura University I saw Christmas and New Year decor on the streets,…
By Dilara Yentür – At 04:17 on February 6th, 2023 an earthquake ravaged the lands of southern Turkey and northern Syria. Buildings crumbled like sandcastles, roads tore apart,…
By Lilian Ebbelaar – During my time conducting fieldwork in a prison I have learned multiple things by actually doing fieldwork. The most important things I have learned…
By the SpW editorial team – Tidings When the dead call at your doorGive them sweets and presents,Candlelight and hot chocolateDon’t be afraid butWish them goodwillThey will pass…
by Freek Colombijn – Few people will have missed the fact that the PVV (Partij voor de Vrijheid, Party for Freedom) has been the big winner of the…
by Ellen Bal, Freek Colombijn, Ton Salman, Irene Stengs and Marjo de Theije – Our friend, former colleague, and eminent anthropologist Oscar Salemink passed away on 23 September…
By Wiebe de Jong – Creating real illusion A good story is one that gives you the feeling that you are really there. But how can one immerse…
By Wiebe de Jong – How I ended up here I finished my masters in anthropology back in 2008 at Radboud University Nijmegen, and after at about five…
By Ewa Strzelecka and Marina de Regt. This June will be remembered as a month of celebrating Yemeni studies and dialogue in the Netherlands. The so-called forgotten war…
By Fridus Steijlen – There are things in daily life that seem to always continue without notice. For me, one of them is going to the hairdresser, more…
By Barbara van Male – ‘When it came to major issues such as migration, climate crisis, inequality, I often felt a sense of unease. How could I to…
Door Freek Colombijn – Vers van de pers: het eerste schoolboek antropologie voor middelbare scholieren! Achter de saaie titel ‘Een kennismaking met antropologie’ gaat een levendig b…
By Peter Versteeg – The opening images of the documentary “White Balls on Walls” show us an ivory tower: a huge building, shining white, almost sterile, a stronghold…
By Michiel Baas. The University of Amsterdam has appointed a committee to investigate academic freedom within its institution. The reason for this is a complaint from lecturer Laurens…
By Luciana Massaro Writing ethnography can be an intimidating experience. As anthropologists we face the challenge to write and interpret what research participants share with us in a…
by Anastasiia Omelianiuk – There is a striking contrast between significant attention to Ukraine after the 2022 re-invasion and the pre-February abstinence of Ukraine in the global cultural…
By Maaike Matelski On 8 December 2022, Nickey Diamond visited the VU for two lectures. Nickey is an activist from Myanmar who recently started a PhD in Anthropology…
‘The midwife tells the woman in labour that she sees she is having a hard time during the contractions. “The strength of them is good, after breaking the…
By Marina de Regt. “So this is Xmas, and what have you done, another year over and a new one just began”, John Lennon and Yoko Ono sang…
By Aleeha Zahra Ali A year and a half ago, I learnt what grief was. Before that I had known waves of sadness, despair, depression, heartbreak and anger.…
Door Esther Teelen “Ik maak een stopmotion waarin ik mijn veldwerkervaringen verwerk”, dacht ik direct bij het beluisteren van een discussie over het Nederlandse coronabeleid. In de langetermijnaa…
By Thijl Sunier On October 28, 2022, I shall give my valedictory lecture speech as professor of anthropology, chair of Islam in European Societies. The theme of the…
By Freek Colombijn. “Football is the most important thing of unimportant things”. The truth of this quote, which I often give in my classes, but which –if I…
We are pretty sure that summer is here! If you have no idea what to do with all this spare time, let’s see whether we, the SpW editorial…