> studying in amsterdam

This year I am living in Amsterdam to do doctoral research on Mennonite visual culture in the Dutch Golden Age.  The city offers world-class art collections, historic sites, and cultural events at every turn. As a 25 year-old Mennonite from Winnipeg (Canada), it has been wonderful to connect with the young adult community within the Dutch Mennonite church, and it has been personally and academically enriching to talk with Dutch students who are researching Mennonite history and theology at the Doopsgezind Seminarium. I find it moving to take part in congregational life at the Singelkerk, which has been used as a Mennonite church since the seventeenth-century.  It has also been fun to live with a group of other young people at the Zonshofje: this historic site owned by the VDGA (Mennonite congregation of Amsterdam) was once a hidden Mennonite church, and then a Mennonite-run orphanage and old folks home. Because of this, I often feel as though I literally get to live “in” my research.  It has been very inspiring to explore my heritage and pursue my research in a place where Anabaptism has existed for over 400 years. 

Nina Schroeder

PhD Candidate, Art History

Queen’s University, Canada