Universiteit Leiden

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Conference | D&I Symposium

Untold Stories: representation, heritage and museums

Date
Thursday 11 January 2024
Time
Explanation
Only the plenary sessions can be followed via livestream
Address
Wijnhaven
Turfmarkt 99
2511 DP The Hague

The world of museums and heritage institutions as public places have a crucial role when it comes to representation and the formation of narratives. It connects the present with the past to shape the future. But who can relate to these stories and how, when some are incomplete or untold? Which stories are represented (and which are not)? How do we acknowledge history without erasing it and how can we give a new meaning with the stories from the past in shaping the present and future?  How do you make such institutions relevant to a broader audience and what sustainable and institutional change processes are needed to create inclusive environments?

This annual symposium attracts a broad audience of students, professional staff and scientists and offers the opportunity to meet each other, connect and acquire knowledge and tools to take the next steps together towards a more inclusive community.

The event is organised by the D&I Expertise Office and the Faculty of Archaeology. 

Moderator

Pravini Baboeram

Language

The main language of the symposium will be English unless otherwise noted. English-Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN) translation will be provided during the plenary part of the symposium. During workshops SLN translation will be available upon request.

Livestream

The plenary part of the programme can be followed on 11 January via a livestream on this page, without registration.

Programme

For more information about the workshops and plenary sessions, see below.

12:30
Doors open
13:00
Welcome by Pravini Baboeram
13:05
Opening by Annetje Ottow, President of the Executive Board
13:10
Welcome by Alexander Geurds, Vice Dean Faculty of Archaeology
13:20
Keynote Valika Smeulders: Changing the Narrative
13:40
Q&A
13:50
Intermezzo
14:00
Panel talk: 10 years Diversity Officer – Challenges and milestones
14:30
Break
15:00
Workshops
16:30
End & Reception

Registration (Closed)

The D&I symposium consists of a plenary programme and workshops. Online participants can follow the plenary programme via livestream, without registration. Offline participants can join both the plenary programme and the workshops.

Plenary sessions

Changing the Narrative

Keynote by Dr. Valika Smeulders
 

Museums have long focused primarily on the history of power and wealth. This is changing at increasing speed, building on both the urgency conveyed by social movements and new interdisciplinary research. The significance of the colonial past, the role that people of different parts of the world played in building the Dutch empire, is now being added to museum exhibitions on a temporary basis, and on the long term. What does that change look like, how and by whom is it accomplished? This talk will zoom into the Rijksmuseum, its exhibition on Slavery and its ongoing work on writing a more inclusive narrative of how the Netherlands came to be.

About Valika Smeulders

Dr. Valika Smeulders (Curaçao, 1969) is head of the Department of History at the Rijksmuseum and was one of the curators for its exhibition Slavery (in Amsterdam in 2021 and New York in 2023). She earned her degree at the Erasmus University with a dissertation on slavery in museum presentations in the Caribbean and Africa and was a post doc researcher at the KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies. Her latest publications include Het koloniale en slavernijverleden van Hofstad Den Haag (editor and co-author, 2022) and Ons koloniale verleden in 50 voorwerpen (editor, 2023).

10 years Diversity Officer – Challenges and milestones

Panel discussion

 
As 2024 marks 10 years since the launching of Leiden University’s diversity policy, the Diversity Officer of Leiden University, Dr. Aya Ezawa and other panelists will reflect on what it means to facilitate change and realise the university’s goals in the area of diversity and inclusion.

Panel speakers

  • Dr. Aya Ezawa, Diversity Officer Leiden University
  • Aurelie van ’t Slot, Policy Officer Internationalisation and Diversity & Inclusion Leiden University
  • Dr. Looi van Kessel, University Lecturer at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society
  • Dr. Constance Sommerey, Diversity Officer Maastricht University
  • Dr. Esther van Opstal, Director Human Resource Management Leiden University

Workshops

 

NL = in Dutch
EN = in English

1. Holding Space (EN) 2. Through a different lens (NL) 3. A dialogue about diversity: tools for engaging with difference (EN) 4. D&I Dialogue; a public conversation full of statements about diversity and inclusion (NL) 5. Conversational Campaigns for the Amsterdam Museum (EN) 6. The importance of archiving with The Black Archives (EN)
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