Amsterdam University College
Published 12 May 2009

Academic Core

Deirdre Klein Bog, copyright Erik de Vries

Head of Studies (Academic Core): Deirdre Klein Bog, MA

AUC's Head of Studies (Academic Core) and Curriculum Manager is Deirdre Klein Bog, MA.

Before joining Amsterdam University College as its Academic Coordinator, Deirdre Klein Bog was Deputy Director (Management) of the Amsterdam Business School. She joined the business school at its beginning in 2001. Before this she had been head of the Financial English Department of the Amsterdam Academy (a joint venture of Hogeschool Holland and VU University Amsterdam). Originally from Northern Ireland, Deirdre Klein Bog obtained her MA in History and Political Science from Trinity College, Dublin, and her postgraduate degree in education (PGCE) from the University of Greenwich in London.

Direct phone number: +31 (0)20 525 8785

Drs. Dora Achourioti

  • Dora Achourioti coordinates and teaches the academic core course 'Logic, Information flow and Argumentation' at AUC. She studied Philosophy and History of Science at the University of Athens. She continued her studies at the University of Amsterdam, where she obtained an MPhil in Argumentation at the Department of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric, and a Msc in Logic at the Institute of Logic, Language and Computation - both cum laude. She has previous teaching experience in the University of Amsterdam (Philosophy Department and Master of Logic), University of Durham (tutorials) and University College Utrecht. Dora is currently completing her dissertation at the University of Amsterdam (Philosophy Department - ILLC). Her research is centered around the notion of truth and situated in the area between the philosophy and logic.   

    Room: 2.41
    Direct line: 020-5258739

Sarah Chandler, MFA

  • Sarah Chandler teaches Creative Writing and Academic English at AUC. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), and received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a fellow in Poetry and Screenwriting at the Michener Center for Writers. Sarah has taught theatre, film, English and Creative Writing at Loyola University Chicago, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, and the University of Texas at Austin, where she ran the Graduate Writing Center for several years. Her writing and teaching interests include Shakespeare, film noir, nonlinear narrative films, landscape and identity, travel literature, and contemporary American fiction and poetry.

    Sarah’s writing has received commendation from South By Southwest, the Paramount Pictures/Chesterfield Foundation, the Associated Writing Programs Awards, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Bucknell Seminar for Younger Poets, and La Muse, among others. The author of several children’s books, Sarah is also a frequent contributor to the BBC.com and the co-author of five recent and forthcoming Lonely Planet travel titles, including the new city guide to Amsterdam.

Photo of Velen Arias Garcia

Drs. Belén Arias Garcia

  • Belén Arias García teaches Spanish at AUC. She is also a Lecturer in BA Courses Spanish Proficiency at the University of Amsterdam.

    Belén Arias García obtained her Master's in Spanish Philology from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). She has worked since February 2005 as a Lecturer in BA Courses Spanish Proficiency at the University of Amsterdam, developing various courses, syllabi and digital environments for teaching Spanish as a second language.

Photo of Ellen Bal

Dr. Ellen Bal

  • Ellen Bal teaches Identity and Diversity in a Global City at AUC. She is a tenured lecturer and senior researcher at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, VU University Amsterdam.

    She studied History at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. She received her doctoral degree from the Erasmus University in 2000 with a dissertation on ethnicity and minorities in Bangladesh.
    Since 2000 she has also worked on migration, transnationalism and the Indian diaspora in Surinam and the Netherlands. Ellen Bal specializes in South Asia, with a particular focus on Bangladesh. Her main fields of research cover ethnicity and identity formation, indigenous peoples, migration and transnationalism, youth and human security.

Photo of Johan van Benthem

Prof. Johan van Benthem

  • Johan van Benthem teaches Logic, Information Flow and Argumentation at AUC. He is a University Professor of Logic at the University of Amsterdam, Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, and Weilun Professor of Humanities at Tsinghua University Beijing.

    His main current interests are logics of information flow, rational agency, and intelligent interaction. In 1996 he received the NWO Spinoza Award for his work on logic, language, and computation.
    For more information about Johan van Benthem, please see the link below.

Photo of Jan Bouwe van den Berg

Prof. Jan Bouwe van den Berg

  • Jan Bouwe van den Berg teaches Calculus at AUC. He graduated in both Mathematics and Physics, and continued his studies at Leiden University to obtain a PhD in Mathematics. He subsequently moved to Nottingham (UK) as a Research Fellow.  

    Currently, he is Professor of Differential Equations and Applications at the VU University Amsterdam, developing mathematical methods to understand the nonlinear dynamics of pattern formation. Furthermore, he is the Director of Education at the Department of Mathematics, where he also teaches a variety of courses at the Bachelor and Master level.
    For more information about Jan Bouwe van den Berg, please see the link below.

Dr. Catherine van Beuningen

  • Catherine van Beuningen teaches Dutch at AUC. She obtained a master degree in general linguistics from Utrecht University, and a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the University of Amsterdam.

    After finishing her Ph.D. in the field of second language acquisition in 2011, she now works as a postdoctoral researcher in a project exploring individual differences in first and second language learners' listening proficiency. She also teaches courses in multilingualism at the Dutch department of the University of Amsterdam. Before and during her Ph.D. research, she has taught Dutch language and culture courses at the University of Amsterdam, the Káróli Gáspár University in Budapest (Hungary), the Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic), and the University of Debrecen (Hungary). In 2007-2008, she was also employed as a lecturer in the educational master's program of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam).

Copyright Dora Tamari Tutnjevic

Dr. Forrest Bradbury

  • Forrest Bradbury teaches nanoscience and mechanics in the physics track and gives courses and remedial lessons in calculus and statistics.

    After a BSc in physics and a BSEng in mechanical engineering from Ohio University, he completed a PhD in electrical engineering from Princeton University.  As an experimental scientist, he has studied the possibility of using semiconductor material systems for controlling quantum information.

    Additionally, he has been involved in volunteer projects through Engineers Without Borders USA and the United Nations Development Programme, serving as a mentor for a solar energy project in Peru and a consultant in renewable energy design for a Cameroonian organization, respectively.

Direct phone number: +31 (0)20 525 8792

Eddy de Bruyn

Dr. Eddy de Bruyn

  • Eddy de Bruyn (PhD, Cornell University) teaches Basic Research Methods and Statistics, Psychology as well as Developmental Psychology at AUC. He is Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam.

    His main current interests are (early) adolescent behaviors, in particular relationships between popularity, social dominance, bullying and victimization, and social and academic behavior. He is also developing a theoretical model that incorporates adolescent behaviors in an evolutionary psychological framework.

    For more information about Eddy de Bruyn, please see the link below.

    Direct phone number: +31 (0)20 525 8818

Photo of Melanie Eijberts

Melanie Eijberts MSc

  • Melanie Eijberts teaches Identity and Diversity in a Global City at AUC. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences (summa cum laude; major tracks: anthropology, psychology, sociology) from University College Utrecht and a Diploma in American Studies from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. She has received her Master of Science degree (cum laude) in Comparative Studies of Migration, Ethnic Relations, and Multiculturalism from the University of Utrecht in May 2006.

    Currently she is pursuing a PhD degree at the department of Culture, Organization, and Management at the Vrije University of Amsterdam. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Halleh Ghorashi she is investigating the sense of belonging and participation/integration strategies of women of Moroccan and Turkish descent in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Dr. Jonathan Gill

  • Jonathan Gill received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in American literature and has taught literature, history, and writing at Columbia University, Barnard College, the Manhattan School of Music, Fordham University, the City College of New York, and the Hogeschool van Amsterdam.  He specializes in American literature and culture, in particular Realism and Naturalism, vernacular music’s, the literature of immigration, and the cultures of intolerance.  His most recent work is Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History, From Dutch Village to Capital of Black America (Grove/Atlantic 2011).  He has also published articles and reviews for the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Nation, the Boston Review, the Guardian, and the Associated Press, and he is currently book critic for the Holland Times

Dr. Erella Grassiani

  • Erella Grassiani teaches Identity and Diversity at the AUC. She is a lecturer of qualitative research methods at the department of Sociology at the VU University. In 2009 she received her doctorate at the department of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the VU University in Amsterdam. Her dissertation dealt with moral issues of Israeli combat soldiers serving within the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Her main research specialties are military culture, soldiers’ morality and the militarization of Israeli society.

Drs. Sára Gutvill

  • Sára Gutvill teaches German language at the AUC. She has been teaching German for several private language schools throughout the past 15 years, preparing tailor-made courses for students in a wide array of organisations as well as governmental departments. Besides German she also teaches Hungarian and Dutch. She’s been involved in developing teaching material for language schools as well as the UvA.

    Sára Gutvill obtained her master degree in German Literature and Linguistics at the University of Vienna in 2001. Later she studied Classical Singing at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and currently she is combining performing and teaching.

Photo of Franziska Heinloth

Dr. Franziska Heinloth

  • Franziska Heinloth teaches Calculus at AUC. She studied Mathematics in Göttingen and Bonn and obtained her PhD in Mathematics from Utrecht University. She subsequently moved to Essen as a postdoctoral researcher.

    She teaches calculus at AUC and works at the VU University Amsterdam as a lecturer and study advisor.

Dr. Rudolf de Jong

  • Dr. Rudolf de Jong (1958) teaches Arabic language at AUC. He is also teacher of Arabic at the University of Leiden and the University of Amsterdam. He is Secretary of the ‘Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe’ and co-General Editor of the Online Encyclopaedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics (Leiden: Brill).

    He studied Arabic at the University of Amsterdam (MA cum laude, 1992; PhD cum laude, 1999) and specializes in dialects of Arabic. He has authored two volumes on the Bedouin dialects of Bedouin tribes in the Sinai Desert of Egypt as well as several articles on a variety of Arabic dialects

Prof. Dr. James Kennedy

  • James Kennedy is professor of Dutch history at the University of Amsterdam.  He is from the United States where he was trained as a historian. His mother being Dutch, he visited The Netherlands regularly ever since he was a child. He obtained his PhD degree in European History at the University of Iowa and subsequently specialised in contemporary history of The Netherlands. Kennedy became well known through his books Nieuw Babylon in aanbouw (1995) on The Netherlands during the sixties and Een weloverwogen dood. De opkomst van de euthanasie in Nederland (2002) on euthanasia in The Netherlands.

    Kennedy worked at the VU University Amsterdam as a professor of Contemporary History from 2003-200, and he was associate professor of History and research fellow at the AC Van Raalte Institute of Hope College (US) from 1997 till 2005. He is currently working on two publications: Toekomst van het Nederlands protestantisme (Boekencentrum) on the future of Dutch protestantism, and A Concise History of the Netherlands (Cambridge University Press).

Drs. Yurii Khomskii

  • Yurii Khomskii teaches Logic, Information Flow and Argumentation at AUC. He studied mathematics and piano performance and holds a Bachelor's degree in both. After that he obtained his Master's degree in logic (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam.

    Currently Yurii Khomskii is completing his PhD in mathematical logic at the University of Amsterdam. His research deals primarily with the precise formalization and axiomatization of basic mathematical concepts used in various fields of mathematics and beyond.

Dr. Maurits de Klepper

  • Maurits de Klepper teaches Basic Research Methods & Statistics II and Advanced Statistics, and, he is also a tutor and internship coordinator at AUC. He holds a master in Social Sciences (cum laude) from the Faculty of Social Science, VU University in Amsterdam, and in October 2011 he received his PhD from the same faculty. His dissertation topic is dynamic social network analysis applied to the field of organization science. Before teaching at AUC he also taught classes such as Social Networks & Organizations and Advanced Network Analysis. In his spare time, he loves to cook and write about cooking.

Photo of Jeroen de Kloet

Dr. Jeroen de Kloet

  • Jeroen de Kloet teaches Chinese Studies at AUC. He is Assistant Professor Mediastudies at the University of Amsterdam and works on the cultural implications of globalization in China.

    He recently co-edited the volume "Cosmopatriots - On Distant Belonging and Close Encounters" (Rodopi), and has published on popular music, cinema and new technologies in China. His current NWO funded research project is titled "Celebrations and Contestations of Chineseness - The Beijing 2008 Olympics and 21st Century Imaginations of Place, Culture and Identity."

Photo of Stefan Landsberger

Prof. Stefan Landsberger

  • Stefan Landsberger co-teaches Chinese Studies at AUC. He holds the Olfert Dapper Chair of Contemporary Chinese Culture at the University of Amsterdam and is Associate Professor Contemporary Chinese State and Society at the Sinological Institute, Leiden University.

    Landsberger has one of the largest private collections of Chinese propaganda posters in the world. He has published widely on topics related to Chinese (visual) propaganda - most recently, Chinese Posters (Prestel, 2009) - and maintains an extensive website exclusively devoted to this genre of political communications (http://chineseposters.net).

AUC Viviana Mejenes-Knorr

Viviana Mejenes-Knorr BA

  • Viviana Mejenes-Knorr teaches Spanish at AUC. She is also a Spanish translator running her own business as a Language Coach: Art of Words. She has experience coaching students from junior to adult levels from different cultural backgrounds in Mexico, Canada, The Netherlands and Spain.

    In 2011, Viviana Mejenes-Knorr willl start a masters in Writing for Educational and Cultural Audiovisuals in Television and Film, at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

    For more information about Viviana Mejenes-Knorr, please see the document below.

Dr. Gerben Meynen

  • Gerben Meynen teaches Philosophy at AUC. He studied Medicine at the VU University Amsterdam and Philosophy and Theology at the University of Amsterdam.

    He received a PhD in Philosophy and in Medicine. Since 2007 he is a researcher at the Faculty of Philosophy, VU University Amsterdam. He also works as a psychiatrist at an outpatient clinic for anxiety disorders. His research interests include free will, criminal responsibility, and philosophy of psychiatry.

Elvira Muñoz Moreno, BA

  • Elvira Muñoz Moreno teaches Spanish at AUC. In December 2011 Elvira Muñoz will obtain her Master’s degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language. She also completed a five-year BA degree in Philology at University of Granada and a four-year BA degree in Translation and Interpreting at University Alfonso X el Sabio, in Madrid.

    Since 2008 she has been a Spanish teacher at the Spanish Government Cultural Institution Instituto Cervantes in Moscow, combining teaching and giving of several lectures and workshops in Language acquisition, Language Skills Development and Classroom Management. She has also designed and published a variety of didactic materials for the class of Spanish as a foreign language.

Dr. Eduard Neven

  • Eduard Neven teaches Basic Research Methods and Statistics at AUC. He is also Lecturer in bachelor courses Statistics and Mathematics at Wageningen University and Research Centre.

    After a Bachelor in Physics and Mathematics he graduated in Theoretical Physics at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. He holds two Teaching Degrees,
    in Physics as well as Mathematics. He received a PhD at Utrecht University on mathematical modelling of patterns in large-scale atmospheric circulation. As postdoc in the Vortex Dynamics Group at Eindhoven University of Technology and as research fellow in the Atmospheric Dynamics Group at DAMTP Cambridge he has done research on stability and balances in atmosphere dynamics. He has also been convenor of the BALANCE megasessions in EGS and AGU conferences.

    As Lecturer in professional universities in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht he has acquired a wide experience in developing and teaching courses in Mathematics, Statistics and Logic/Argumentation Theory for (international) students with diverse backgrounds and entrance levels.

Drs. Ulrike Pavelka

  •  Ulrike Pavelka teaches German at AUC whilst also working for the Goethe Institut Amsterdam. She obtained her Masters degree in Political Science and Japanese Studies and completed a course in teaching German as a Foreign Language at Vienna’s University.

    Ulrike’s experience includes language teaching, curriculum advising, teacher training, and language department management. She has lived and worked in Austria, Turkey as well as the Netherlands and specialises in cultural studies and group management in language teaching.

Photo of Esther Quaedackers

Ir. Esther Quaedackers

  • Esther Quaedackers co-teaches Big Questions in History at AUC.

    She obtained her MSc in Architecture with honours from the Eindhoven University of Technology in 2006. After graduating, she started organizing and teaching Big History courses at the University of Amsterdam and the Eindhoven University of Technology.  Esther is currently working on a PhD thesis on the architecture of Tiananmen square as seen from a Big History perspective.

Prof. Dr. André Ran

  • André Ran teaches Calculus and Linear Algebra II at AUC. He studied mathematics at VU University Amsterdam, and did a PhD there as well. Afterwards he spent a year in the United States and Canada as a postdoc, before returning to VU University Amsterdam, where he is currently professor in Linear Analysis and Systems Theory. His research interests are analysis, linear algebra and systems and control theory.

    André Ran enjoys teaching mathematics at all levels, from gifted elementary school children to PhD students.

    For more information about André Ran, please see the link below.

Dr. Henk W. de Regt

  • Henk de Regt teaches Philosophy of Science at AUC. He is Associate Professor in philosophy of science at the Faculty of Philosophy of VU University Amsterdam. He holds an M.Sc. degree in physics and a Ph.D. degree in philosophy. He is interested in a broad range of subjects in the history and philosophy of science, but his research focuses on scientific understanding and explanation. He has published on these topics in high-profile international journals. In 2009 the volume Scientific Understanding: Philosophical Perspectives, which he edited together with his former Ph.D. students Sabina Leonelli and Kai Eigner, was published with the University of Pittsburgh Press. Henk de Regt is co-founder and member of the Steering Committee of the European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA).

Photo of Bob Rink

Dr. Bob Rink

  • Bob Rink teaches Calculus at AUC. He is Assistant Professor in Mathematical Analysis at VU University Amsterdam.

    He obtained a PhD in Mathematics from Utrecht University in 2003. His thesis provided a mathematical proof of a conjecture in Statistical Mechanics. Since then he has been an EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellow at Imperial College London and a visiting scholar at MSRI Berkeley. He is currently holder of an NWO Veni grant, and is investigating "Lattice Dynamical Systems''.
    For more information about Bob Rink, please see the link below.

Dr. Daan van Schalwijk

  • Daan van Schalkwijk is a tutor at AUC and teaches 'Dynamical Systems' and 'Basic Research Methods and Statistics'.

    He received his MSc in theoretical biology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. After graduating he did his PhD project at the university of Leiden and TNO, on computational modeling of lipoprotein metabolism. Now, he continues working as a Scientist-Innovator for TNO. His main research interest is the computational modeling of clinical data with the aim of improving clinical diagnostics.

    Next to his biological career, Daan has a long standing interest in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of life, and the great books of western literature. 

Photo of Fred Spier

Dr. Fred Spier

  • Fred Spier teaches Big Questions in History at AUC. He is a also a Senior Lecturer in Big History at the University of Amsterdam.

    Since 1994, he has organized the annual UvA Big History course, and since 2003 he has also taught a Big History course at the Eindhoven University of Technology. First trained as a biochemist at the University of Leiden with research experience in plant genetic engineering and the synthesis of oligonucleotides, Spier subsequently studied Cultural Anthropology and Social History at the Free University Amsterdam (M.A. cum laude), while he obtained his Ph.D. (cum laude) at the University of Amsterdam.
    Spier performed a ten year study on the long-term development of religion and politics in Peru from a world historical perspective, which led to the publication of two books. He is currently finishing a book outlining a novel approach to Big History.
    For more information about Fred Spier and his website about Big History, please see the links below.

Eliza Steinbock

Dr. Eliza Steinbock

  • Eliza Steinbock teaches Academic English and Art and the Subject at AUC. She completed her final year of high school (in Louisville, Kentucky) while studying abroad in at the international Mahindra United World College of India, becoming one of 98 pioneer students. She returned to the United States to study a wide-ranging liberal arts program (visual arts, literature, film, philosophy) at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, obtaining her Bachelors degree with an emphasis in gender and sexuality studies. She then received a Masters in Cultural Studies (with distinction) at the University of Leeds, UK. In 2005 she enrolled in the doctoral programme at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (University of Amsterdam) and in 2006 was awarded the position of ASCA research fellow. Her research focuses on the interdisciplinary benefits of working between transgender studies and film studies by developing their shared, although differently inflected, concepts, such as image, narrative, and the cut.

    Eliza has lectured in Amsterdam at the Media Studies Department of the UvA and at the School for International Training's study abroad program "International Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender." Her fields of interest include aesthetics, visual culture, corporeal/material feminist theory, (post)modernism, Continental philosophy, the Frankfurt School, transgender studies, queer theory, and pornography. She has advised students on topics such as body semiotics, transgender politics, alt-porn, and sexual performances.

    For more information on Eliza Steinbock, please see the link below.

    Direct phone number: +31 (0)20 525 8786

Christa Stevens

Dr. Christa Stevens

  • Christa Stevens teaches French at AUC. She studied French in Nijmegen and in Paris and obtained her PhD in the Humanities from Amsterdam University.

    She taught French literature, Literary Studies and Visual Culture at the University of Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit, Utrecht University and the School of Arts in Maastricht, and was a visiting lecturer at the Université Paris 8. She also worked for several international cultural organisations (European Writer's Congress in Brussels, La Maison Africaine and Africa in the Picture in Amsterdam). Her research interests are in French postcolonial literature (Africa, Maghreb, Caribbean) and multicultural France.

Photo of Thijl Sunier

Prof. Thijl Sunier

  • Thijl Sunier teaches the Identity and Diversity in a Global CIty course at AUC. He studied Cultural Anthropology at the Universities of Utrecht and Amsterdam, completed his PhD thesis entitled: `Islam in Beweging. Turkse jongeren en islamitische organisaties' (Islam in Motion. Turkish young people and Islamic organisations) in 1996.

    He participated in research on inter-ethnic relations in a post-war neighbourhood of Haarlem, and conducted research among Turkish youth and Turkish Islamic organisations in the Netherlands and comparative research among Turkish youth in France, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands, international comparative research on nation building and multiculturalism in France, The Netherlands and Turkey, and research on Islam and modernity.
    He was Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam until his appointment as VISOR professor of Islam in European Societies at the VU University in Amsterdam (www.visor.vu.nl). Presently he is preparing research on styles of popular religiosity among young Muslims in Europe, religious leadership, and nation-building and Islam in Europe.
    He is a member of the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research (ASSR), a member of the board of the Interacademic School for Islam Studies in the Netherlands (ISIS). He is editor of the anthropological journal Etnofoor, and a member of the board of the Dutch Anthropological Association (ABV).

Lotte Tavecchio

Dr. Lotte Tavecchio

  • Lotte teaches Academic English at AUC.  She obtained her MA in English Literature and Linguistics at the VU University Amsterdam. During her degree she also studied in Wisconsin, USA, and Cardiff, Wales.

    She completed her PhD in Contrastive Corpus Linguistics at the VU University Amsterdam. Her main research and teaching interests are contrastive linguistics, corpus linguistics, forensic linguistics, writing skills and academic skills in general.

    In addition to her job as a lecturer at AUC, Lotte teaches at the VU, where she is involved in developing a new minor programme in Forensic Linguistics. She is also a freelance language teacher and develops and teaches a wide range of English language courses at various companies and research institutions click on the B-eloquent link below.

    Direct phone number: +31 (0)20 525 8172

Dr. Jacob Vosmaer

  • After studying Mathematics (BSc, University of Groningen) and Logic (MSc, University of Amsterdam) Jacob Vosmaer entered the PhD program of the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation of the University of Amsterdam, which resulted in a doctorate in Mathematics in 2010. His PhD research focused on topics on the interface of algebraic logic, coalgebraic logic, Stone duality and point-free topology. Currently, he is teaching logic at Amsterdam University College and at Utrecht University.

Dr. Geert de Vries

  • Geert de Vries teaches Big Questions in Society and Advanced Qualitative Research Methods. He is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Among his books are: Het pedagogisch regiem (The Educational Regime,1993); Nederland verandert (The Netherlands are Changing, 2004); and Sociologie, publiek en politiek (Sociology, Public, and Politics, 2009). He has been co-editor of the Amsterdams Sociologisch Tijdschrift / Amsterdam Journal of Sociology (1993-2004) and of the Netherlands' Journal of Social Sciences (1998-2000). He is a member of the Council of the Nederlandse Sociologische Vereniging [Dutch Sociological Association]. In 2004 he won the Teacher of the Year Award of the Faculty of Social Sciences. For more information about Geert de Vries, please see link below.

Dr. Elwira Wellen

  • Elwira Wellen teaches French at AUC. She is specialized in French and Slavic languages, cultures and literatures.

    After her Masters degree in French and Polish literature in Paris, she obtained a PhD in modern literature at the University of Amsterdam in 2008. In her thesis titled “Witold Gombrowicz face à l’Autre, le moi, la transcendance” she used the dialogue between literature, philosophy, linguistics and psychoanalysis.

    She lived in France, Bosnia, Poland, Ukraine and Vietnam and worked at different schools, institutions and universities in these countries. Since 2006 she has been teaching French in The Netherlands.

AUC Harry Wels

Dr. Harry Wels

  • Harry Wels teaches Qualitative Research Methods at AUC. He is Associate Professor at the Athena Institute of VU University Amsterdam, working on the themes of Nature, Health and Transdisciplinarity. He is trained as an organisational anthropologist at VU University Amsterdam and received his PhD at the same institution on the topic of organisational cooperation between antagonistic partners in the context of private wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe.

    His theoretical interests focus on trans-species qualitative research methodologies related to conceptual issues of reciprocity, trust and altruism. Harry has taught extensively on qualitative research methodologies in fieldwork at VU University and in various countries in Africa. He served as founder and director of South Africa - VU University -Strategic Alliances (SAVUSA), hosting, among other things, the Desmond Tutu Programme.

Copyright Ron Zwagemaker

Dr. Mariëtte Willemsen

  • Mariëtte Willemsen has a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a Ma in Dutch Linguistics and Literature from VU-University Amsterdam. Before joining AUC she was Associate Professor in Philosophy at VU-University Amsterdam where she taught courses on a wide variety of topics, including the History of Philosophy, The Sublime, Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer, Martha Nussbaum and Philosophy and Literature.

    In her recent research she focuses on emotion-theories and the role of the imagination in Ethics. Willemsen joined AUC in September 2011 as a tutor and as a lecturer in Ethics and Modern Philosophical Texts.

    Direct phone number: +31 (0)20 525 8707

Photo of Kathryn Zandbergen

Dr. Kathryn Zandbergen

  • Kathryn Zandbergen teaches Big Questions in Society and Comparative Public policy at AUC.

    Kathryn obtained her BS in Management and Business, with minors in French and International Affairs, at Skidmore College, a liberal arts college located in Saratoga Springs, New York. 
    She spent her junior year abroad studying in Paris, France, and after graduating from Skidmore worked in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. From 2001 - 2003, Kathryn was an Associate Analyst in the Education and Family Support group at Abt Associates, a research and consulting firm located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Kathryn obtained an MPhil in Comparative Social Policy from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford in 2005 and completed her DPhil in Comparative Social Policy at the University of Oxford in 2009. 
    During her time in Oxford she was a tutor for 3rd year undergraduates studying social policy and was also a Junior Dean at Trinity College.

    Direct phone number: +31 (0)20 525 8184

Dr. Anja Zimmermann

  • Anja Zimmermann teaches the Basic Research Methods and Statistics and the Migration, Integration and Diversity courses at AUC. She is a lecturer in Social Sciences and a trained Social Psychologist and Life Coach. Before working at AUC (Academic Core), she worked as a lecturer in Psychology at Cardiff University, Wales (2009) and as a free-lance coach and trainer. In addition to her work at AUC, she develops and conducts a range of short-term teaching, coaching and training projects for universities and profit- / non-profit organizations. She did her undergraduate studies (Vordiplom) in Psychology at the University of Würzburg in Germany (2000 - 2002). She obtained her Master's degree in Group Processes and Intergroup Relations (2003) and her Phd in Social Psychology (2007) from the University of Kent, UK.

    Since 2004, Anja Zimmermann has been giving a range of lectures, seminar series, workshops and trainings on the following topics (in alphabetical order):

    - Advanced Statistics and Methodology (at AUC: BRMS I and II)
    - Cultural Awareness
    - Emotions
    - Group Processes and Intergroup Relations
    - Identity and Diversity
    - Leadership and Motivation
    - Social Psychology
    - Stereotypes, Prejudice & Discrimination

    For more information about Anja Zimmermann, please see the link below.

     Direct phone number: +31 (0)20 525 8174

Source: AUC
Also refer to