Women on the (historical) map!
Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam
Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Dutch suffragette Aletta Jacobs – everyone knows some famous female historical figures. But the representation of women in the history canon is still far from on a par with that of men. The Freedom of the Streets research group is changing this by focusing on the lives of women in earlier times via an online platform and public lectures.
Freedom of the Streets explores why women have disappeared from the streets as towns and cities have become more modern. They do this by literally mapping the way women used the streets in cities in Europe and Asia – Amsterdam, Edo-Tokyo, Berlin, and Batavia (present-day Jakarta) – between 1600 and 1850. They use innovative digital methods such as 3D reconstructions and data visualisations. The insights generated by the research are actively shared with a broad public through the group’s own website, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel. They also organise public lectures in cooperation with the culture and heritage sector such as the Municipal Archives, Museum Night, and Nerdnite.
The grant from the Rewarded! Fund will be used for continued development of a digital learning pack; this will be published on f-site, an online initiative presenting lessons from history about women. Secondary‑school pupils will be involved with the subject matter and the digital techniques used to conduct research, for example through innovative assignments in the form of apps such as a history Pokémon-Go.
Websites:
Freedom of the streets
Twitter – Freedom_Streets
StorymapJS – Everyday Mobility in the Streets of 18th Century Amsterdam
Coordinator:
Danielle van den Heuvel, universitair hoofddocent
Other group members:
Gamze Saygi, postdoc
Bob Pierik, promovendus
Marie Yasunaga, postdoc
Antonia Weiss, promovendus
Bébio Amaro, assistent professor
