Research School for Economic and Social History

Author: René van Weeren

Posthumus Writing Retreat in Abdij van Berne (Berne Abbey)

From 16 until 21 June 2025, seven Posthumus PhD candidates gathered in Berne Abbey in Heeswijk-Dinther for the annual Writing Retreat of the N.W. Posthumus Institute. This five-day retreat offers students the opportunity to work on their dissertation or paper…

PhD Defence Posthumus alumnus Dániel Moerman

On 11 September 2025, Posthumus alumnus Dániel Moerman will defend the PhD thesis ‘A hydrosocial history of drought and societal resilience in the cities of Deventer and Zutphen, 1500-1900’ at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Supervisors are Professor Petra van Dam…

Several Posthumus fellows receive NWO-XS Grant

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded several fellows of the N.W. Posthumus Institute an NWO XS Grant. This grant is awarded for ideas with a maximum budget of 50,000 euro that hold great promise and aim to enable proposals…

New publication by Peer Vries

Posthumus Fellow emeritus Professor Peer Vries and Annelieke Vries-Baaijens recently published their book The rise of the modern state in Europe, 1450-1914. Whereas the current world consists of states with their own, demarcated, usually contiguous territory, and recognised authority, in…

Successful PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Robin Rose Southard

On 23 June 2025, Posthumus alumna Robin Rose Southard successfully defended the PhD thesis ‘Biting the hand that feeds: contesting the food guilds in 18th-century Brussels’ at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Supervisor was Professor Wouter Ryckbosch (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). The N.W.…

Successful PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Heleen Blommers

On 2 June 2025, Posthumus alumna Heleen Blommers successfully defended the PhD thesis ‘Deconstructing the War on Poverty: why a failure narrative became entrenched in American political discourse, 1964–1974’ at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Supervisors were Professor Karel Davids (Vrije…

CLARIAH Summer School

From 30 June 30 to 2 July 2025, CLARIAH will host its annual Summer School at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. This event is designed for advanced MA students and researchers interested in digital heritage and humanities…