Call for Global Slavery History Fellowships (GSHF) in Amsterdam
13 March 2025
A coalition of Amsterdam based Archives, Museums and Historical institutes* with the generous support of the Insinger Foundation has taken the initiative for a five-year programme that offers three two-month long fellowships per year for curators, archivists and historians in the field of slavery history. The fellowships are open to professionals working on the history of slavery in the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Indonesian archipelago, linked to the Dutch involvement in slave trade and slave labour.
* Allard Pierson Museum/UB, Amsterdam Museum, Black Archives, IISG, NINSEE, Rijksmuseum, Stadsarchief Amsterdam, UvA, Wereldmuseum
Theme
The attention to the Dutch colonial slavery past has increased considerably over the last years. Especially communities that were subject to the contemporary ramifications such as systemic racism pushed for acknowledgement and changes in perspectives and priorities within academic institutions, museums and archives. A missing link is the input and expertise of inhabitants of societies that were colonized and where slavery and other forms of forced labour were rampant. The slavery past has a broad and pervasive impact, both in personal histories and the social structures of these societies. The questions, perspectives, and expertise of young professionals (especially historians, archivists, librarians, and curators) from societies affected by this colonial slavery past and its knock-on effects in the Americas, Africa, and Asia are essential to inform contemporary debates about and dealing with the slavery past. The fellowships aim to support this group of young professionals.
Call
Candidates are asked to write a motivation letter and a plan that includes their preference for one of the institutes in GSHF coalition and a rough idea on how they would like to spend their time in Amsterdam and what they expect from they stay.
What we offer
The fellowship includes free housing and covers travel costs, health insurance, as well as a monthly allowance up to a maximum of 1500 euros. We expect that the institutions to which candidates are affiliated continue to pay their monthly salaries for the duration of the fellowship.
Each year the programme can accommodate three fellows in the Spring (April-May) and three in the Fall (October-November).
Fellows will be based at the International Institute of Social History and – by mutual agreement – will be linked to their counterparts working in one of the Amsterdam Institutions united in the GSHF coalition.
The fellowship is meant to exchange perspectives and views between the fellows and their Amsterdam counterparts related to the history of slavery. The fellows are invited to work with the collections, archives, research or other ongoing projects at one or multiple of the Amsterdam heritage and research institutions. Please take a look at the websites of the partner institutions to explore their collections, archives, research and expertise.
For this round of fellowships, applicants might find it interesting to know that there is the opportunity to collaborate with special upcoming exhibition Justice and Unjustice: Trans-Atlantic Slavery and the Classical Antiquity at the Allard Pierson Museum.
At the end of each fellowship period there will be a public event where fellows and their Amsterdam counterparts reflect on the experiences gained during their stay.
The deadline for the call 2025 (October and November) fellowships is May 1st, 2025.
For more information and a list of the requirements, please click the button below.
