“I tremendously look forward to starting as the ESHCC dean,” says Van Selm in a press release about her appointment. “You can find a wealth of expertise within the faculty when it comes to the media, culture and history and the interfaces between these three fields. ESHCC’s researchers, lecturers and students make a unique contribution to the university, the city of Rotterdam and the Humanities – both in the Netherlands and worldwide. I feel honoured that as dean, I will be allowed to give shape to the faculty’s future.”
Van Selm currently holds a professorship in Communication Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She will be succeeding Frank van der Duijn Schouten, who served as the faculty’s interim dean since June 2019.
The 2018/2019 academic year proved particularly trying for ESHCC. The possibility of a merger with another faculty caused a lot of anxiety and tension. Over the past few months things have quieted down, but the new dean still has a few challenges lined up. In a farewell interview with EM, History professor Maria Grever called the lack of structural professorships for women academics at the faculty “worrying and disappointing”.
Rector Magnificus Rutger Engels announced that he was delighted with Van Selm’s appointment and that he looks forward to working together with the new dean: “Martine van Selm not only has an excellent track record as a researcher; she also has experience and familiarity with larger processes at the university level – meaning that she is exceptionally well-equipped to head the ESHCC faculty.”
