CIE - Centre for International Heritage Activities

Projects USA

Lecture Series Part 1: Dutch Manhattan

Status: Complete

Duration: 2009

Partners: University of Amsterdam, John Adams Institute

 

In order to celebrate the fourth centenary of Henry Hudson's arrival in New York, CIE organised a lecture series focusing upon Dutch Manhattan in the seventeenth century. The department of History at the University of Amsterdam agreed to make this lecture series a part of its BA program in 2009-2010, for students interested in Early Modern History, Dutch History or American Studies. 

 

International specialists from various academic fields were asked to participate, their contributions providing fresh insights into different aspects of the Dutch colony in the New World. The students, in order to complete the course, were required to write an essay on an aspect of the history and heritage of Dutch Manhattan. It was proposed that a small number of excellent academic essays would be published and the author of the best essay, to be awarded a trip to New York City. 

 

The target groups were Bachelor students in History and American Studies, Bachelor students in the Faculty of Humanities in general, University of Amsterdam Alumni as well as the general interested public. 

 

Lecture Series Part 2: 

Status: Complete

Duration: 2009

Partners: Nieuw Amsterdam Publishers, Boom Publishers, Netherlands Consulate New York, University of Amsterdam, National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)

 

In 2009 the Netherlands and the USA celebrated the Henry Hudson Year with a focus on Dutch Manhattan in the 17th Century. To commemorate this CIE, along with the Amsterdam Centre for the Study of the Golden Age, organised a series of lectures on Dutch Manhattan between 1609-2009, in cooperation with the Nieuw Amsterdam Publishers & Boom Publishers.

 

A series of lectures and live music sets were arranged at the Lloyd Hotel in New York. Over four nights specialists from various academic and cultural fields provided fresh insights into different aspects of the short-lived colony in the new world. Speakers included Michiel van Groesen, Frans Blom and Janne Nijman from the University of Amsterdam, Martine Gosselink of the Rijksmuseum and Jaap Jacobs (Independant Scholar). 

 

CIE then participated in the parallel lecture series in New York City in the NMAI. This presented the native viewpoint on Henry Hudson, with a group of Native American representatives also present at the conferences.