Dr. Daniel R. Curtis (History Department of Erasmus School of History, Culture & Communication (ESHCC)) has recently been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (RHS) in the United Kingdom in recognition of his general "contribution to historical scholarship". Founded in 1868, the RHS is a successful learned society, membership organisation, and charity with a 150-year history. Today, it is the UK’s most prominent and respected society working for historians and history. As a Fellow, dr. Curtis is eligible to vote in Council elections, to seek election to the RHS Council, and to apply for positions on the editorial boards of its various publications.
The award of the fellowship is in broad recognition of Dr. Curtis's ongoing work on the historical dimensions of inequality and vulnerability, which have culminated in two large NWO grants (VENI and VIDI) - where the latest one, ongoing at ESHCC, looks to explicitly use the "historical laboratory" of the past to better understand how epidemic diseases and episodes of violent conflict have redistributed economic resources.
The added value of this scheme of research is threefold.
Dr. Daniel R. Curtis: "First, we provide more systematic empirical evidence for the redistributive impact of epidemics and conflicts – with tighter spatial and temporal refinement of our approach allowing us to differentiate between temporary and structural changes. Second, we explain the direction of distribution – egalitarian or inequitable – by zooming in on the institutional framework in which redistribution takes place. Third, we reflect on the “meaning” of any redistribution seen: thus, the terms in which wealth and property was owned or accessed, the different ways in which wealth portfolios could be composed, and the prevalence of intersectional or obscured inequalities."
A link to the outcomes of Dr. Curtis's ongoing projects can be found on the website of NWO. He plans to use the next years to formulate a new scheme of research on the explicitly gendered aspects of epidemic disease outbreaks.
- Researcher