What is typically Dutch?
The word “Netherlands” means “Low Countries.” The flatness of the countryas well as the struggle against the ever threatening sea are strong metaphors in the definition of Dutch identity. Exemplary are the 17th century landscape paintings with a high sky to accentuate the flatness,and the major Dutch hydraulic works to protect the country against the seaby a network of dikes. Popular symbols… [more]
How Dutch is the United States?
Many American geographical names (Harlem, Flushing, Hoboken, Brooklyn), landmarks (Wall Street), families (Roosevelt, Van Buren), traditions (Santa Claus) and words (dollar, Yankee, dope, cookie, boss, coleslaw) originate from the early 17th century Dutch New Netherland settlement in present-day New York. Some five million Americans are of Dutch descent. The Dutch conceptions of religious tolerance… [more]
Belgium or Flanders?
Belgium (in Dutch: België) is a constitutional monarchy in Western Europe with some 10 million inhabitants. Flanders (in Dutch: Vlaanderen), originally meaning “land near the sea,” refers to a geographical area in the north of Belgium that is Dutch-speaking. In the south of Belgium (a region called Wallonia), the official languages are French and German. The only officially bilingual city in Belgium… [more]
Dutch or Flemish?
The word “Dutch” (in Dutch: Nederlands) has the same etymological origin as Deutsch (German), meaning “those who speak a popular language (and not Latin).” Despite grammatical similarities, Dutch cannot be considered a variant of German, but is rather a proper Germanic language spoken by some 23 million people in the Netherlands, Belgium (by the Flemish) and the Caribbean (in Surinam and the… [more]
Holland or the Netherlands?
The Netherlands (in Dutch: Nederland) is a constitutional monarchy in Western Europe with some 17 million inhabitants. The country is sometimes referred to as Holland, although Holland is only a region within the Netherlands, just like Zeeland, Friesland, Brabant, etc. Since the independence of the Netherlands in 1648, Holland has been the cultural, economic and political center of the Netherlands.… [more]
How liberal is the Netherlands?
In the 1960s, the Netherlands transformed itself from a former colonial empire with a predominantly provincial mentality into a small nation with a predominantly international mentality. Whereas the Netherlands had traditionally been considered as a profoundly religious country with rather conservative moral values, the country’s capital Amsterdam became a symbol of progressiveness and secularism.… [more]
Welcome to Dutch Studies!
Introduce yourself to the language, literature, culture and history of the Netherlands. Dutch Studies offers English-taught courses on Dutch cultural history, literature and linguistics as well Dutch language courses. Through a broad curriculum, you learn about important cultural developments from the medieval towns in Flanders over the Dutch “Golden Age” and the Netherlands’ colonial expansion up to the contemporary (multi)cultural, liberal and European identity of the Low Countries.
