Alumni Week: What if we rethink the concept of family?
Wednesday 7 October | 17:00-18:30 | Surgical Theatre, University Library
- Date
- 7 October 2026
- Time
- 17:00 -18:30
- Location
- University Library
- Room
- Surgical Theatre
This event is recommended for PPLE and AUC alumni, but open to all.
Want to join? Sign up here straight away!
Speakers
Tess de Rooij is a PPLE alumna with an academic background in political science, medical anthropology, and philosophy. She co-founded THIS IS GENDERED, an intersectional feminist platform that explores how gender shapes everyday objects, ideas, institutions, and social norms. She led the team for nearly five years. Previously, she worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on women’s rights, gender equality, and open government. She currently works there as a policy researcher on development issues, including global health, women’s rights, and migration.
Lotte Houwink ten Cate is a historian and columnist for de Volkskrant and De Morgen, and writes for De Groene Amsterdammer. She received her PhD from Columbia University in New York, where she researched the second wave of feminism, and is currently affiliated with the University of London. Her essay De mythe van het gezin (The Myth of the Family) was published in 2024. She is currently working on her first academic book and a new essay.
Loes van Rijn – van Gelderen is universitair hoofddocent aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Haar onderzoek richt zich op de manier waarop opvoeding, ouder-kindrelaties en diverse gezinsstructuren de sociale, emotionele en gedragsontwikkeling van kinderen beïnvloeden. Zij onderzoekt onder meer gezinnen met ouders van hetzelfde geslacht, opvoedstress, hechting en de effectiviteit van opvoedinterventies in uiteenlopende gezinscontexten. Met zowel kwantitatieve als kwalitatieve methoden wil zij beter begrijpen welke factoren een gezonde ontwikkeling van kinderen en gezinnen ondersteunen.
Doortje Smithuijsen is a journalist, writer and documentary maker. She studied Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam and examines the impact of digitalisation on society. She writes for publications including de Volkskrant, has made documentaries for VPRO, and is known for podcasts such as VSR. Her pamphlet Capitalism Is Sexism became a bestseller.
