Dutch Studies

Dutch Studies teaches Dutch language and culture as a frame for exploration, a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Its pedagogies and curriculums engage students in a guided dialog that allows them to examine their own languages, cultures, identities and the role of societal power in their own communities through the careful examination of a different language and culture.

Bringing together language and culture around issues of diversity and inclusion, the program has set itself the task, in teaching, scholarship and service, to examine the non-obvious links between, and the historical foundations of, Dutch progressivism and racism. In this process, and through close connections with academic and activism communities in the Dutch-speaking world, a decolonial language program has taken shape that is at the forefront of the move away from academic isolationism and the myth of scientific objectivity.

Looking beyond the University of Michigan community, we are discovering that the public scholarship we produce and teach is giving non-academic communities a voice and a platform otherwise not directly available to them. As our students become part of this discovery, they learn how an inclusive academy is a conduit to and an ally for social change. We are proud of 50 years of Dutch at the University of Michigan and look forward to a fearless, just, and inclusive future for our program and our community.

Dutch Studies collaborates with the Jean & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies and with the Michigan Community Scholars Program.