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Stephanie Welvaart

Junior Researcher

Stephanie Welvaart works as a junior researcher at the International Institute of Social History on the project Colonial and Slavery Past of the Zaan Region (Koloniale en Slavernijverleden van de Zaanstreek), where she focuses on the enduring impact of this history, with a central emphasis on oral history. Her research is conducted under the supervision of Matthias van Rossum and Ulbe Bosma.

Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology from Radboud University Nijmegen and a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Amsterdam. Before joining the IISH, she worked at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, contributing to the research program Independence, Decolonization, Violence and War in Indonesia, 1945–1950, and compiled an inventory of Oral History Collections for Programma Indisch Erfgoed Digitaal (PIED).

In her work at the NIOD and as an independent researcher, she has engaged with alternative sources to dominant colonial archives, such as ego documents -including letters, diaries, and travel accounts- and oral history. She has contributed to making these sources more accessible to both researchers and the communities they concern. Her research has been centered on the late- and postcolonial period in the Indonesian archipelago and Indonesia, postcolonial diasporas in the Netherlands, and the lived experiences of war, violence, and migration. She is particularly interested in the intergenerational transmission of memory and in how colonial structures and power relations continue to shape everyday life, paying close attention to individual agency and decision-making within these broader systems.

Commitees and activities

Selection committee ‘Programma Indisch Erfgoed Digitaal’ (PIED) (Koninklijke Bibliotheek) (2023 – 2025)

Scientific advisory committee ‘(Post)koloniaal verleden Tilburg’ (Het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde) (2022 – 2023)

Advisory member for the exhibition ‘De voormalige Nederlandse koloniën: van Tweede Wereldoorlog naar onafhankelijkheid’, Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam. (2022-2024)

Publications

Welvaart, S. (2023). Oorlog en vrijheid in drie generaties: herinneringen aan de Tweede Wereldoorlog in Indonesië (Iris van Huis & Erik Schumacher, Interviewers). Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei. https://www.4en5mei.nl/onderzoek/oorlog-en-vrijheid-in-drie-generaties/deelstudie-2-indie-indonesie

Welvaart, S. (2023). Inventarisatie Oral History - Programma Indisch Erfgoed Digitaal. NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies. https://www.niod.nl/publicaties/inventarisatie-oral-history

Buchheim, E., Dwicahyo, S., Steijlen, F., & Welvaart, S. (2022). Sporen vol betekenis / Meniti Arti: In gesprek met “Getuigen & Tijdgenoten” over de Indonesische onafhankelijkheidsoorlog / Bertukar Makna bersama “Saksi & Rekan Sezaman” tentang Perang Kemerdekaan Indonesia. Amsterdam University Press.

Buchheim, E., Steijlen, F., & Welvaart, S. (2022). De menselijke maat: Op zoek naar verhalen over de Indonesische onafhankelijkheidsoorlog. In G. Oostindie, B. Schoenmaker, & F. Van Vree (Eds.), Over de grens. Nederlands extreem geweld in de Indonesische onafhankelijkheidsoorlog, 1945-1949. Amsterdam University Press.

Welvaart, S. (2020). Cultural Violence in the Archives. Representation of women in Dutch Testimonies on the Indonesian War of Independence. In Gendered empire. Intersectional perspective on Dutch post/colonial narratives. (Yearbook of Women’s History/Jaarboek voor Vrouwengeschiedenis 39). Uitgeverij Verloren.

Stephanie Welvaart