Dr. Maria Schiller - Theme Lead
Maria Schiller is an Assistant Professor for Public Policy, Migration and Diversity. Often comparative, her research investigates local responses to migration, focusing on governance relationships, municipal administrations and bureaucratic practice. Maria coordinates the LDE-Master program 'Governance of Migration and Diversity'.
Dr. Isabel Awad - Theme Lead
Isabel Awad is an Associate Professor in Media and Communication. Paying close attention to local histories, actors, and politics, her work underscores the key role of communication in sustaining and challenging social inequalities. Isabel is the academic coordinator of the ‘Media, Culture and Society’ Master program.
Dr. Amanda Alencar (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication) Associate Professor – Refugee settlement, place-making and digital technologies
The research project of Dr. Amanda Alencar focuses on how digital technologies can be effectively and creatively employed by refugee and host community actors to enhance social inclusion in the cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Her project was awarded the Stichting Erasmus TrustfondsOpens external. Amanda also coordinates a digital training programme for students with a refugee background as part of their preparatory 1-year program at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Dr. Asya Pisarevskaya (Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences) Postdoctoral researcher - Cities of Migration
The Postdoc project of Asya Pisarevskaya, Peter Scholten and Zeynep Kasli studies how migration-related diversity is manifested and governed on the local level. They examine the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. The researchers aim to write a book with the case studies of cities for each of the determined types of urban diversity.
Femke Vandenberg MA (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication) PhD candidate - The aesthetic dispositions of popular music consumers
Femke Vandenberg’s PhD project investigates the consumption of popular music in the Netherlands, with a focus on the audiences of nationally produced music. The project includes research topics such as cultural taste patterns, social class, social inequality, and the demonstration of nationalism through cultural consumption.
Dr. Giulia Evolvi (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication) – Media & Communication
Dr. Giulia Evolvi is a Lecturer in Media and Communication. Focusing on digital religion, her research explores religious change in Europe and the impact of digital communication on religious urban spaces and communities. In particular, she is interested in analyzing how Internet venues can both enhance and hinder the role of religion in public spaces.
Jasmin Seijbel (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication) PhD candidate - Anti-Semitism and Football Supporters in the 21st Century
As a PhD candidate at the Erasmus University Rotterdam Jasmin Seijbel works within the project Sport and Nation. Her PhD project involves educational programmes to prevent anti-Semitism in football stadiums. Jasmin collaborates with major stakeholders in the field, including the Fancoach project of Feyenoord and the Anne Frank House.
Dr. Jonathan Mijs (Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences) - UnEquality
Jonathan Mijs is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow. His UnEquality project investigates what people think and feel about social inequality. The project's focus is on the tacit information, assumptions, and experiences underlying people's understanding of inequality.
Karen Klijnhout MSc (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication) PhD candidate - Competing conceptions of city culture and cultural diversity -
Karen Klijnhouts PhD project studies the urban cultural public sphere, examining the connection between city culture and cultural diversity. The main questions of this study are: how are conceptions about city culture and cultural diversity combined in discourses and how do these discourses sustain or challenge the boundaries of the established, publicly supported urban arts and culture scene?
Dr. Maja Hertoghs (Academic Researcher Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences) - Politics of (in)hospitality: queer tourists and queer refugees
The PhD project of Maja Hertoghs focused on suspicion and affect in the closed world of the asylum procedure. This project extended into her postdoc research, in which focus lies on the contrasting ways in which queer tourists and (illegalized) queer refugees are ‘welcomed’ in cities branded as gay-paradise.
Miranda Lutz-Landesbergen MSc (Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences) PhD Candidate - Social stress, self-regulation and antisocial behaviour development -
The PhD project of Miranda C. Lutz examines the role of social stressors affecting the regulation of behaviour in children and adolescents. The goal is to answer whether deficits in the underlying mechanisms of self-regulation such as cognitive control lead to defiant social behaviour and determine how social stressors influence this relationship.
Dr. Norah Karrouche (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication) - Oral history, migration and mobility
Norah Karrouche specializes in global and oral history, and historical culture in Morocco and the Moroccan and Algerian diaspora. At Erasmus Studio, she is responsible for the integration of community oral history collections in the CLARIAH Media SuiteOpens external.
Dr. Otieno Ong’ayo (International Institute of Social Studies ) Postdoctoral Researcher - Transnational political engagement of African Diaspora communities
Dr. Otieno Ong'ayo's research examines how Diaspora communities have (self-) organized transnationally between the country of residence and various countries of origin in order to influence local policies. The research seeks to understand diaspora transnationalism (collective organizing, practices, diaspora civic agency and political remittances) and generated social transformation.
Tessa Visser MSc (Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences) PhD candidate - Talented Urban Youth
The PhD project of Tessa Visser focuses on cultural and diversity and the transition from primary school to secondary school. Both qualitative and quantitative data are combined in a longitudinal effect study of an extracurricular intervention in primary school. Research topics include self-efficacy, parental involvement, and sense of belongingness.
Dr. Warda Belabas (Erasmus School of Social and Behavourial Sciences) Assistant professor - Diversity, inclusion, identity and policy
Dr. Warda Belabas is an Assistant Professor within DPAS. Her research touches on issues of diversity, inclusion, identity and policy. From 2014-2020, she also served as a senior network officer for the academic network IMISCOEOpens external. Her work touches on the practice of local governance, and therefore she collaborates with the cities of Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp in particular in her city branding research.
Willemijn Bezemer MA (Erasmus School of Social and Behavourial Sciences) PhD Candidate - In search of trust: understanding and improving
The goal of the PhD project of Willemijn Bezemer is to analyse the effectiveness of different policing strategies that are aimed to increase mutual trust between the police officer and the public.
Dr. Zeynep Kasli (Academic Researcher Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences) - Cities of Migration
The project of Asya Pisarevskaya, Peter Scholten and Zeynep Kasli studies how migration-related diversity is manifested and governed on the local level. They examine the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. The researchers aim to write a book with the case studies of cities for each of the determined types of urban diversity.
Zouhair Hammana MSc (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication) PhD Candidate - Secondary education teachers’ and students’ engagement with cultural diversity
The PhD project of Zouhair Hammana focuses on the engagement of secondary education teachers with students who have a cultural diverse background and vice versa. The study examines how teachers and students engage with the cultural ‘Other’, how they perceive themselves in relation to the cultural ‘Other’ and what kind of practices of openness they apply towards the ‘Other’.
Naomi Rommens, MSc. (Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences) – Critical placemaking against fragmentation
The PhD project of Naomi Rommens focuses on complex socio-spatial issues related to the governance of critical placemaking, and its effect on fragmenting processes like gentrification, segregation and polarization. In particular, she is interested in inclusive participatory processes and how they can be designed and facilitated. This project is a part of Vital Cities and Citizens (VCC), GovernEUROpens external and the Resilient Delta Initiative (RDIOpens external).
