I joined the UvA in 2023 as full professor of European Culture after 1800, at the capacity group European Studies. Before that, I taught at the University if Helsinki, Finland, where I led research projects on parliamentary identity and culture (CALLIOPE: Vocal Articulations of Parliamentary Identity and Empire), the history of ethnicized identity in Finland (Finnishness, Whiteness and Coloniality | Helsinki University Press) and the history and present of professionalism and masculinity (Men, Masculinities and the Modern Career | University Press Library Open). I have also held various positions and research fellowships at the University of Cambridge (CRASSH), the University of the Aegean, Birkbeck College, and the Conservatory of Leipzig. I obtained my PhD at the University of Leuven, Belgium, in 2010.
My recent research ranges widely and eccentrically from parliamentary politics to parrots, but (almost) always centres on vocal practices, sounds, and the effect they have on the world. I have recently published a book on this issue (Speaking, Stammering, Singing, Shouting – Penn Press), and am leading a research project on the evolution of political debate and free speech in Europe. (The Sound of Disagreement: Embodied Histories of Political Speech 1800-present | NWO). In this project, my team and I hope to find out how our ideas about democratic practices of disagreement have changed over time, and perhaps even gain some insights into how we can learn to disagree better.
Next to these central projects, I also have a keen interest in the experience of difference and diversity in modern history, and I publish regularly on topics in disability history, and the history of embodied experience (including matters of age-differences, gender, and national identity).
I am always delighted to connect with other scholars (including graduate students) to discuss research methods and content.
Teaching and supervision
I teach across the BA and MA program in European Studies, on topics of identity, cultural expression and political culture. If you are a student in the program, and interested in writing a BA or MA thesis on a topic related to my research interests, such as
- parliamentary politics, histories of democracy, political rhetoric
- sound as constitutive of identity, nation, or subculture
- disability in Europe
- gender and representative politics
I would love to hear from you.