Program Description
The Humanity in Action Amsterdam Fellowship offers a diverse yet thorough perspective on minority issues in The Netherlands. Our aim is to facilitate a collective exploration of the social and political roots of discrimination in The Netherlands and to provide a forum for the discussion of potential solutions. The Amsterdam Fellowship is highly interdisciplinary and bridges the gap between theory and practice by connecting Fellows with academics and journalists, as well as NGOs and grassroot activists.
The intellectual touchstone for Humanity in Action and the start of Humanity in Action The Netherlands has always been the study of the Holocaust – the most devastating example of the collapse of democracy and the denial of rights to minorities. In the first week, Fellows will discuss the role the Dutch took during this period: perpetrators, resistance fighters, victims and bystanders. Fellows will also look at how The Netherlands has dealt with this period over the course of history.
From this starting point, the Amsterdam Fellowship will continue to discuss more contemporary themes such as immigration and integration in The Netherlands, refugee issues, institutional racism, xenophobia, LGBTQIA rights, Islamophobia, diversity, disability and women's rights. We strive for an intersectional approach to all of these issues, as we are looking at the overlap and interconnectedness of these topics. The underlying rationale behind this being that you cannot discuss one topic without considering the others. As the theme of institutionalized racism in The Netherlands has been a highly debated topic in Dutch society over the past few years, it has become an important theme in the program. In 2016, we focused on the refugee issue, as that was the most pressing issue at the time. To be able to focus on the most recent developments, the programmatic content continues to be developed until the very start of the program.
The program staff in The Netherlands considers dialogue between its very diverse, transatlantic Fellows to be one of the most important ingredients of the Humanity in Action experience. We therefore stimulate group discussions and Fellows' contributions. However, these can only be positive and constructive if everyone feels respected, even when we disagree. Discussions often differ per country. Therefore, we will decide together how to create a safe space for all participants. We hope that Fellows will work with us to make sure that it will remain this way throughout the program. Every Fellow will be invited to contribute to the program with a ‘Fellow Talk’ – a presentation of half an hour on a subject close to their hearts or one that they feel is missing in the program.
Organizationally, the Amsterdam Fellowship is divided into two phases. The first phase is an input phase: Fellows will meet with selected leading experts and the brightest commentators and researchers in The Netherlands. We will visit various sites and initiatives, but will also spend a lot of time in our lecture room. In the second phase of the program, Fellows will be working at an NGO on a topic related to what they had experienced in the previous weeks. This is very much a collaborative, international effort: the group will be divided into teams. After your two days of working with ‘their’ NGO, Fellows will be given time to write a report about it.
In the Amsterdam Fellowship, we will explore different ways of learning. Beside ‘old-school’ lectures, we will offer workshops, trainings, discussion groups, site visits, tours through Amsterdam by bike or on foot, museum visits, canal tours, theatre performances, public lectures and soccer clinics. In addition to the official program, there will be smaller and less formal events, organized in cooperation with the Dutch Humanity in Action Senior Fellow Network.
Program Dates
May 26 - June 25, 2017
July 5 - July 30, 2017 (John Lewis Fellows)
Location- Amsterdam, Atlanta, Berlin, Copenhagen, Sarajevo and Warsaw
Eligibility
Students and recent graduates from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine and the United States. Students and recent graduates of other nationalities may apply if they are enrolled in or have recently graduated from a university in one of the countries listed above.
Intensive and demanding, the Humanity in Action Fellowship brings together international groups of university students and recent graduates to explore national histories of discrimination and resistance, as well as examples of issues affecting different minority groups today.
The programs, when appropriate to national histories, address the destructive common roots of prejudice, discrimination and dehumanization. These practices were directed towards Jews and other minorities in Europe during the Nazi era and Holocaust. Those under colonial rule in Africa, Asia, South, Central and North America and the Caribbean Islands were subject to racist policies and attitudes. Countries which experienced other totalitarian regimes after World War II also address the impact that socialism and its implosion had on their societies.
For more information click "Further official information" below.