The winning Bachelor’s thesis, written by Rowie Rensink (BA Arabic Studies) is titled “Twee is Genoeg.” Een kritisch onderzoek naar ontwikkelingsdiscoursen in de Egyptische gezinsplanning ‘2 Kefaya’ en de nationale Bevolkingsstrategie. Over imperialisme, geïnternaliseerd oriëntalisme en moderniteit. The jury finds the thesis well written, with a clear discussion of the relevant historical context, and a thorough study of postcolonial theory. The jury was impressed by the amount of primary sources that the student translated from Arabic. The other nominees in the Bachelor’s thesis category were Emma du Chatignier and Thirza Snoek.

Marthe de Roos (Conflict Studies) titled her winning Master’s thesis Making a home in Palestine. Revealing the true colours of the Israeli ID card system. The jury was impressed by the ambitious amount of fieldwork that was carried out for this study, as well as by the structure and style of the thesis. The jury further applauds the critical self-reflection, both with respect to the rich amount of meta-data, and to the own positionality of the researcher in relation to the respondents. The other nominees in the Master’s thesis category were Daan Dijk, Yentl de Lange and Anouck de Wringer.

The prizes consist of € 150 in book vouchers for Rensink and € 250 in book vouchers for De Roos.

About the ACMES Thesis Prize

The Amsterdam Centre for Middle Eastern Studies Amsterdam annually awards two prizes to the best BA thesis and the best MA thesis in Middle Eastern Studies for work completed at the University of Amsterdam during the preceding academic year. The submitted theses should focus on the Middle East or subjects related to this region and must have received a grade of 8 or higher. The jury is appointed by the ACMES Steering Board based on the fields in which the theses have been written.