Call for entries
The Boekman Foundation and partner NWO are calling on PhD students to submit dissertations on arts, culture and society from 2018 and later. Applications can be submitted until 15 September 2021.
About the award
The Boekman Dissertation Prize is awarded every three years to the best Dutch PhD research on art, culture and society. It is named after Emanuel Boekman who, on June 6th 1939, was the first person in the Netherlands to write his PhD thesis on the relationship between government and the arts.
Over recent years, Dutch universities have given more attention to the value of research into art and cultural policy. Particularly into the social relevance of arts and culture. PhD students contribute to this with relevant and pioneering research. More often than not, however, PhD dissertations garner little attention outside of their academic field. This award aims to change that.
The Boekman dissertation prize consists of €10,000 and aims to make amplify and stimulate research in this field. To this end and in the year following the award ceremony, the journal Boekman devotes one of its issues to the subject of the winning dissertation.
Jury
The jury of the 5th Boekman dissertation award consists of:
Helleke van den Braber, professor of Patronage Studies at Utrecht University and assistant professor and program coordinator of the master’s program ‘Cultural Policy and the Business of Art’ at Radboud University;
Xandra Schutte, chief editor at De Groene Amsterdammer;
Jan Baetens, professor of Cultural Studies within the department of Literary Studies at KU Leuve;
Araf Ahmadali, director Arts and Culture at the City of Amsterdam;
Olav Velthuis, professor of cultural sociology and economic sociology at the University of Amsterdam, chairman of the jury.
Former Prize winners
2018: Hanka Otte, Binden of overbruggen? Over de relatie tussen kunst, cultuurbeleid en sociale cohesie. (On the realtion between art, cultural policy and social cohesion)
Read the Jury report here (Dutch language).
2015: Thijs Lijster, Critique of art. Walter Benjamin and Theodor W. Adorno on art and art criticism.
Read the Jury report here (Dutch language).
2012: Amanda Brandellero, The art of being different: exploring diversity in the cultural industries.
Read the Jury report here (Dutch language).
2009: Marijke de Valck, Film festivals. From European geopolitics to global cinephilia.
Read the Jury report here (Dutch language).
All participating dissertations can be found in our online library collection.