Introducing: Nuranisa
Nuranisa recently joined the Institute as PhD candidate in the startersbeurs project "Cultural diplomacy and the Javanese Courts (19th and early 20th century)", led by Bart Verheijden and Fenneke Sysling. Below she introduces herself.
Leaving Leiden in 2021 at the end of my master’s studies, still in the midst of the global pandemic, was like watching the last episode of your favorite rom-com K-drama. It was a bittersweet feeling because, on the one hand, I was happy to have reached the final stage of my graduate studies, but at the same time, I felt a deep tug in my heart for leaving. Hence, when I received the news that I had secured a position to pursue a doctoral degree at my alma mater, I was ecstatic beyond measure.
First things first, a self-introduction is in order. My name is Nuranisa. Yes, it’s a single-word name. Oftentimes, I find myself in situations where I have to explain my name. I have a long story that could probably fill this entire short introduction just to explain how I ended up with such a name, so it is better to save that for another occasion!
I grew up in a small town called Ambon, Indonesia. I am sure the city name would ring a bell if one were familiar with the 17th century VOC. Let me throw a clue: it was where all the frenzy over spices originated. I spent my entire childhood and teenage years there before moving to Makassar, South Sulawesi, for university in 2012. I studied history at Hasanuddin University for four years. Truth be told, history was not my first choice of study. In high school, I was an average student at best. I did not harbor any particular interests in any subjects except German and history. Long story short, I failed to get into German studies and ended up reading history for my undergraduate degree.
In 2019, I had the chance to study abroad for the first time, pursuing a master's in history with an Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) scholarship. My graduate days were not without difficulties; in fact, it was so hard that I thought I would not make it. I still vividly remember how the first year of my master’s study was filled with constant fear of not being able to catch up in a class full of students who seemingly knew what they were doing. Looking back, I think if it were not for the safe academic environment and the support of my tutors and professors, I would not have come this far or even dreamed about pursuing doctoral studies. In hindsight, I can proudly say that studying in Leiden was a watershed moment in my life. It was as if my life was distinctly marked as before and after Leiden.
My PhD project investigates the practices of cultural diplomacy between the House of Orange and the four princely states in Java in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is part of an independent research initiative on the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in Dutch colonial history. The project will highlight diverse cultural diplomacy practices employed by the central Javanese courts during the encroaching colonial dominance period. It will be co-supervised by Bart Verheijen and Fenneke Sysling. Interestingly, Fenneke was my master’s thesis supervisor, which is how I got the recommendation. What’s more interesting is that while I have known Fenneke for four years, give or take, we have never actually met in person, as I was doing my master thesis during the time of Corona, and when I landed in the Netherlands April 29th, Fenneke was flying in the opposite direction as I was.