This summer, Professor Rosemarijn Hoefte will retire as senior researcher and member of the management team at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV), and as professor in the history of Suriname after 1873 in comparative perspective at the University of Amsterdam. Throughout her academic career, Rosemarijn has made an invaluable contribution to the field of Caribbean Studies: as a researcher, institute manager, editor-in-chief of the New West Indian Guide, and President of the Association of Caribbean Historians.

From her early research on indentured labor in Suriname to her most recent books on the colonial and slavery histories of Haarlem and Tilburg, Rosemarijn has worked tirelessly to centre voices and experiences from the Caribbean, not only witnessing the changes within Caribbean studies up close, but also shaping them. On the occasion of her retirement, we invite you to a symposium reflecting on the state Caribbean studies, past, present and future.

Invitation

We invite you to explore these developments at a symposium in Rosemarijn Hoefte’s honour, on 2 July 2026, from 13.00-17.00 PM in the Kartini Room (Leiden University Library, ground floor)

Program

13.00-13.30: Walk-in with coffee

13.30-13.45: Welcome by Diana Suhardiman (Director, KITLV) and Peter van Dam (Professor of Dutch History, University of Amsterdam)

13.45-14.30: Panel 1 Learning from the Past
Panelists: Debby Esmeé de Vlugt (Utrecht University), Ramona Negrón (KITLV), Mano Delea (University of Amsterdam)
Moderator: Rosa de Jong (Utrecht University)

15.00-15.45: Panel 2 Wrestling with the Present
Panelists: Martina Amoksi (Anton de Kom University Suriname/KITLV), Francio Guadeloupe (University of Amsterdam/KITLV), Tamira Waszink (TijdLab), Yoshina Davelaar (Stichting Keti Koti Haarlem)
Moderator: Mary-Anne Nicolaas (KITLV)

15.45-16.30: Panel 3 Looking to the Future 
Panelists: Lysanne Charles (University of Amsterdam/KITLV), Helmut Gezius (Anton de Kom University Suriname), Kasia Mika (Queen Mary University London), Manon Sanches (Anton de Kom University Suriname)
Moderator: Alison Fisher (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

16.30-17.00: Closing reflections by Professor Rosemarijn Hoefte

17.00-18.30: Reception at the Herta Mohr Building, Central Lobby

Co-sponsor

This symposium is organized with the financial support of the Members' Association KITLV (Vereniging KITLV).

Image

Rosemarijn Hoefte. Photo: Dirk Gillissen, University of Amsterdam.