# Gerben Zaagsma (@gerbenzaagsma.eurosky.social)

Profile: https://sifa.id/p/gerbenzaagsma.eurosky.social
Headline: Assistant Professor in Contemporary History

## About

Historian working on the history & politics of digital history and heritage, with a background in Jewish/Yiddish history and interests in genocide studies, public & music history.

For more information, please visit: https://gerbenzaagsma.org.

## Experience

- **Senior Researcher at University of Luxembourg** (2017 – 2018)
- **Research Fellow at the Lichtenberg Kolleg at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen** (2013 – 2016)
  I worked as a research fellow at the Lichtenberg Kolleg in the project The diaries of Anne Frank. Research—Translations—Critical Edition.
  
  This project is a collaboration between the Lichtenberg Kolleg at the Georg August Universität Göttingen and the Fritz Bauer Institute in Frankfurt. It involves a new historical-critical edition of the diaries in Dutch, English and German as well as an accompanying multi-author research monograph. I am responsible for the annotations of the new edition as well as involved in planning the monograph for which I will contribute a chapter on wartime Yiddish diaries.
  
  For more information on the project visit this page: http://annefrank-researchproject.eu/
- **Web developer/ researcher at Huygens ING (KNAW)** (2011 – 2013)
  I was the developer of the new version of the Dutch history portal Historici.nl. In addition I organised a workshop on digital history and edited a special issue of BMGN
  \- Low Countries Historical Review on digital history (to be published in december 2013). I also developed and taught a course on digital history for Huygens ING and NIOD employees (with my NIOD colleague Hinke Piersma).
- **Freelance (web) editor, copywriter, content management specialist & researcher at Freelance** (2010 – 2011)
- **Honorary Research Associate at Hebrew and Jewish Studies Department at University College London** (2008 – 2011)
  Research project "Migration and politics in Jewish history. A comparison of Jewish migrant responses to anti-Semitism in Paris and London in the late 1930s".
- **Content Management Specialist at European University Institute** (2008 – 2011)
  I built and maintain the internet portal European History Primary Sources at http://primary-sources.eui.eu/.
- **PhD researcher at European University Institute** (2003 – 2008)
  PhD thesis in the Department of History and Civilization of the EUI on Jewish volunteers who fought in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.
- **Customer Service Representative at Transcom** (2002 – 2003)
  Customer service and financial department of telephone company
- **Lecturer at Senior Academy** (1997 – 1997)
  Coördination, development and teaching of 2-month course about the Jewish community in Groningen at the Adult Education Academy of the University of Groningen.
- **Freelanc editor/ organiser at Stichting Historie Joods Groningen** (1996 – 1997)
  Freelance work for the Foundation for the History of Jews in Groningen: co-editor of book 'The Folkingestraat; history of the Jewish community in Groningen'; co-organiser of  exhibition of the same name.
- **Assistant Professor at Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH)** (2018 – present)
- **Researcher at History Research and Consultancy Center, University of Groningen** (1998 – 2000)
  Various projects involving archival research, editorial work, cataloguing, multimedia in museal presentations, general project management & coördination.
- **General affairs manager at Folkingestraat Synagogue Foundation** (1998 – 2000)
  Organisation of exhibitions, public relations, guided tours.

## Education

- **European University Institute** — Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) (2003 – 2008)
- **School of Oriental and African Studies, U. of London** — MA (2000 – 2001)
- **Rijksuniversiteit Groningen** — MA (1989 – 1996)
- **Willem Lodewijk Gymnasium** (1984 – 1989)

## Skills

- Public History
- Research
- Editing
- Yiddish
- Lecturing
- Teaching
- Publishing
- Writing
- Wordpress
- Website Development
- Web Design
- Web Editing
- CMS
- Copywriting
- Web Content Management
- Social Media
- English
- Public Speaking
- Content Management
- Drupal
- Analysis
- HTML
- Web Development
- CSS
- Dutch
- Translation
- Information Management
- German
- Microsoft Office
- French
- Word
- Publications
- Academic Writing
- Books
- European History
- Literature
- Politics
- WordPress
- Project Management
- Management
- Higher Education
- University Teaching
- Presentations
- Education
- Jewish History
- Digital History
- History
- Digital Humanities

## Projects

- **The Diaries of Anne Frank. Research – Translations – Critical Edition** — http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/418200.html
  The project aims to open up a range of additional and new perspectives, exploring the history of Anne Frank and her diaries within the framework of more comparative European, if not global cultural, intellectual, literary and political history.
- **European History Primary Sources** — http://primary-sources.eui.eu
  European History Primary Sources (EHPS) provides an easily searchable index of scholarly digital repositories that contain primary sources for the history of Europe. EHPS is a joint initiative of the Library and the Department of History and Civilization of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
- **Digital Web Centre for the History of Science** — http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/?lang=en
  Online reference for the history of science in the Netherlands and its (former) colonies. Contains news, a system of biographies, historical sources, etc.
- **Yiddish Sources** — http://yiddish-sources.com
  Yiddish Sources is a portal for anyone who is interested in Yiddish and Yiddish Studies.

## Publications

- Full publication list (https://gerbenzaagsma.github.io/publications/)
- See my publications here (https://gerbenzaagsma.github.io/publications/)

## Languages

- English (native)
- Dutch (native)
- German (professional_working)
- French (professional_working)
- Yiddish (professional_working)
- Italian (limited_working)