On 25 June 2026, Jan Kok, Professor of Economical, Social and Demographic History at the Faculty of Arts, Radboud University, and longstanding member of the N.W. Posthumus Institute, will deliver a valedictory lecture (in Dutch), titled ‘Homo Dipisiensis: Over de historische demografie van ontheemden’. The lecture can be attend in-person, in that case pre-registration is…

On 4 June 2026, the N.W. Posthumus Institute, organises a book workshop, to be led by initiator Viola Müller, postdoc researcher and lecturer within the Economic and Environmental History Group at Wageningen UR. Aim of the workshop This workshop aims to bring together a community of researchers struggling with similar issues, e.g. writing for a…

The editorial board of the Journal for the History of Environment and Society (JHES), among whom a large number of Posthumus fellows, invites submissions for its 2026 Special Issue, dedicated to exploring the role of the Low Countries as both a place and an actor in global environmental history. Welcomed are contributions that illuminate how…

On 27 March 2026, Posthumus alumna Alessandra De Mulder (University of Antwerp) successfully defended the thesis ‘Embedding a consumer revolution: Shifting values in the language of London auction advertisements, c. 1730-1830’ at the FelixArchief in Antwerp. Supervisors were Professor Bruno Blondé and Professor Ilja Van Damme (both University of Antwerp. Alessandra’s dissertation examines the emergence…

The Tensions of Europe Early Career Scholars Network welcomes applications from both PhDs and Postdocs for the Summer School ‘Tensions of Europe 2026’ on 6-7 July 2026, which is organised in connection to the XII Tensions of Europe Conference ‘The meaning of the past in sustainable futures’, which will be held on the next days…

On 15 and 16 January 2027, the international coe ‘Households as Coercive Labour Regimes II’ will be jointly organised by the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) of the University of Bonn and the International Institute of Social History (IISH). Organisers of this event are Stephan Conermann (BCDSS) and Posthumus fellows Ulbe Bosma…

On 6 March 2026, Professor Marlou Schrover, who has been a member of the N.W. Posthumus Institute from the very start, delivered her valedictory lecture at Leiden University, titled Verleden, heden en toekomst: hoe we het verleden kunnen gebruiken om het hedendaagse migratiedebat en -beleid te begrijpen, en bij te sturen. With her retirement, Marlou…

On 15 April 2026, the Stichting Nederland-Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Research Network ‘Routes and Roots in Colonial and Global History’ of the N.W. Posthumus Institute will organise a book launch event for Lives, Land, and Labour. A Social History of Eighteenth-Century Sri Lanka (Leiden: Brill, 2026), authored by Posthumus fellow Luc Bulten. The…

Recently, there have been some changes in the General Board of the N.W. Posthumus Institute. Because of her retirement, Professor Marlou Schrover also retired from the General Board as well as from the Executive Committee of the N.W. Posthumus Institute. Her place as representative of Leiden University in the General Board has now been taken…

On 11 March 2026, Posthumus alumna Yannis Skalli-Housseini successfully defended the thesis ‘In the Name of Distributive Justice: Debating Fiscal Reform in 18th-Century Flanders’ at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Supervisor were is Professor Wouter Ryckbosch (Ghent University) and Dr Klaas Van Gelder (VUB). Yannis’ dissertation contributes to the recent historiographical re-evaluation of the rise of…