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Aletia Shaw, alumna, shortlisted for the Johanna Naber Prize
An alumni of the International Land and Water Management program, Aletia Shaw, is one of the shortlisted winners of the 2024 Johanna Naber Prize, awarded by the Association for Gender History and Atria, a knowledge institute for emancipation and women’s history. Aletia wrote her thesis on ‘Decolonization of Education: History of Wageningen Student Movement and its Impact on Redefining the International Land and Water Management Program’.
The assessment process selected theses based on originality and innovation. This year, no individual winner was selected - instead three worthy theses won joint place. All winners will be announced at Gender history day (Gendergeschiedenisdag) on Saturday 23 November, at the VU Amsterdam.
In response to the award, Aletia comments:
“It is wonderful to know there are institutes out there proactively supporting research into women’s history - specifically at the level for bachelor’s and master’s students - and who are celebrating innovative research methods. I did not intend to focus my thesis particularly on ‘women’s history’, but in some ways that is how the story unfolded… A story about race, gender, colonialism, the power of student movements, and reflecting on my position in a colonial higher education institute. Having had the space, guidance and recognition to explore micro-histories from marginalized perspectives despite not studying for a history degree helped the research process to flourish. I loved being able to listen to people’s memories about the student movement from the 1970s and 80s in the town where I lived - it brought my university and Wageningen to life in a new way. Getting to collect these life narratives was an absolute privilege, and being able to share this with others in a celebration of one of the founders of the International Archives for the Women’s Movement makes me extremely proud. Many people have an interest in how historical events shape higher education today - if that is you then don’t shy away from it, even if you are not a ‘trained historian’!”
The prize is named after Johanna Wilhelmina Antoinette Naber, author of numerous historical studies and in 1935 one of the founders of the International Archives for the Women's Movement (IAV), from which Atria emerged.
Sources:
https://atria.nl/
https://www.gendergeschiedenis.nl/over-de-vvg/voorstellen-de-vvg
The assessment process selected theses based on originality and innovation. This year, no individual winner was selected - instead three worthy theses won joint place. All winners will be announced at Gender history day (Gendergeschiedenisdag) on Saturday 23 November, at the VU Amsterdam.
In response to the award, Aletia comments:
“It is wonderful to know there are institutes out there proactively supporting research into women’s history - specifically at the level for bachelor’s and master’s students - and who are celebrating innovative research methods. I did not intend to focus my thesis particularly on ‘women’s history’, but in some ways that is how the story unfolded… A story about race, gender, colonialism, the power of student movements, and reflecting on my position in a colonial higher education institute. Having had the space, guidance and recognition to explore micro-histories from marginalized perspectives despite not studying for a history degree helped the research process to flourish. I loved being able to listen to people’s memories about the student movement from the 1970s and 80s in the town where I lived - it brought my university and Wageningen to life in a new way. Getting to collect these life narratives was an absolute privilege, and being able to share this with others in a celebration of one of the founders of the International Archives for the Women’s Movement makes me extremely proud. Many people have an interest in how historical events shape higher education today - if that is you then don’t shy away from it, even if you are not a ‘trained historian’!”
The prize is named after Johanna Wilhelmina Antoinette Naber, author of numerous historical studies and in 1935 one of the founders of the International Archives for the Women's Movement (IAV), from which Atria emerged.
Sources:
https://atria.nl/
https://www.gendergeschiedenis.nl/over-de-vvg/voorstellen-de-vvg