Kimberly Jansen is a PhD candidate at KITLV, where she conducts research as part of the project ‘Language and society in the Caribbean’. Her work examines the impact of colonial history on language use within the Surinamese diaspora.

Kimberly holds a BA in Language and Culture Studies from Utrecht University and a BA in Spanish Language and Culture from the University of Amsterdam. She obtained her MA in International Relations, specializing in Culture and Politics, from Leiden University. During a semester at the University of Minnesota, she focused on African American history and U.S. politics, which deepened her understanding of the legacies of slavery, racialized language policies, and resistance—among other things—through language, themes that also inform her current research.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of language, (imperialist) policies, and identity, with an emphasis on political discourse and the role of framing in shaping societal narratives.

Alongside her PhD research, Kimberly also works as a Spanish teacher.