NWO Open Competition XS grants for three Faculty of Arts researchers

Dr Marc Esteve Del Valle, Dr Rachel Johnston-White, and Dr Jelte Olthof from the Faculty of Arts have each been awarded a research grant from NWO. The grant is part of the SSH Open Competition XS program and is worth up to 50,000 euros. This program aims to support promising ideas and innovative initiatives within the social sciences and humanities disciplines.

Eco-anxiety, social media and young people in the Netherlands - Marc Esteve Del Valle

Most young people learn about climate change through social media. This can evoke a variety of emotional responses, such as stress, fear, anger, and worry, a psychological phenomenon referred to as eco-anxiety. This project will identify whether, and if so how, exposure to climate change information through social media relates to eco-anxiety in young people living in the Netherlands. The project will provide educators and policymakers crucial knowledge to build resilience against eco-anxiety. Furthermore, it will allow the applicant to start a new line of research that applies current media studies knowledge to the impacts of climate change.

Photographing torture: Cultures of violence and soldiers as witnesses during the Algerian War - Rachel Johnston-White

During the Algerian War (1954-1962), torture was an institutionalized weapon of war and the subject of drafted soldiers’ personal photography. To date, studies that address such photographs have focused on their original usage as evidence of war crimes. Yet we must consider these photographs as non-neutral sources that reflect both military cultures of violence and soldier-photographers’ personal views, aims, and social-cultural milieus. As photography gains contemporary importance as “verifiable” proof of war crimes, it is vital to investigate how the intentions of soldier-photographers as participants in, or opponents of, violence shape the content and potential uses of war atrocity photographs.

Youth Climate Court Rhetoric - Jelte Olthof

How can the rhetoric employed by minors in legal cases on climate change help overcome the reluctance of democratic governments to implement robust climate policy? This project will analyse the use of the rhetorical technique of presence in 35 court cases brought by young plaintiffs across the globe. It will produce an analytical tool and an expert meeting in which the future potential of this legal rhetoric will be shared and circulated among scholars and practitioners (youth activists, legal professionals, and judges).

About the Open Competition XS grant

With the NWO Open Competition, NWO Social Sciences and Humanities wants to offer researchers the opportunity to carry out research into a subject of their own choosing without any thematic constraints. The funding instrument aims to serve a broader group of researchers in different stages of their academic careers. The aim of the Open Competition is to facilitate excellent, non-programmed, curiosity-driven research that primarily addresses a social sciences or humanities research question and research problem.