Jetske van der Wilt

Jetske has always had a broad array of interests, but interest in the different cultures from Asian countries was always a recurring theme throughout her life. Through family and friends she got introduced to South-Asian and Indonesian culture. Out of her own interest she studied Japanese and Korean history. Her widespread interest made her choose the BA Taal- en cultuurstudies (Language and culture studies) in Utrecht, which gave her the option to create her own study programme. In this programme she put together courses on world history, Asian international relations, communication, postcolonial studies and gender studies. She wrote a thesis on the documentation of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) in Dutch newspapers. At the end of her bachelor’s degree, Jetske spent a year in Scotland at the University of Aberdeen. Here she actively engaged in activities surrounding the analysis, cataloguing and preservation of Scottish heritage, which gave her an interest in heritage studies. In the MA Asian Studies she hopes to combine her older and newer interests by following courses on Critical Heritage Studies, museum studies and gender studies. At the moment she is finishing a thesis on changes in gender norms and expression in Meiji-era Japan. Simultaneously, she is the communications intern at Leiden Asia Centre. She hopes to put her theoretical and practical knowledge in communication to use by assisting with social media strategies and other promotional activities.