The academic year of 2023/24 proved to be a fruitful year for the Security History Network. In this blogpost we share some highlights of the output the SHN has generated this year.

During the course of the academic year SHN organised multiple activities. In December we organised a film night showinge the biopic Napoleon, which was a great success. Firthermore, this years lecture series proved to be a success as well. SHN hosted consecutively Prof.em. Duco Hellema, Dr. Hubert Smeets, Prof. Dr. Davide Rodogno, Dr. Gert Huskens, Prof. Dr. Ayse Zarakol and Prof. Dr. Maurizio Isabella. The latter was also one of our guests in the SHN podcast, where Prof. Dr. Alexander Mikerabdize and Dr. Ilkay Yilmaz were also partakers earlier this year.

Besides all our activities, our members have also had some personal achievements to celibrate. Dr. Ozan Ozavci was granted a Consolidator Grant by the ERC for his project Fighting Pandemics from Below: Global North-South Public Health Cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa, 1792-1942. The Dutch government in turn awarded the Gravitatuon grant to Prof. Dr. Beatrice de Graaf’s team Adapt! which researches the adaptability of societies in times of crisis. Some of our members were also honoured this year for their academic work. Dr. Lorena De Vita received the Young Scientist Award and Dr. Gert Huskens was awarded with the Mattingly Award for his article “In the Shadow of Ancient Thebes. Belgian Consular Representation in Luxor and Local Elites, 1860 and 1937”. Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber collaborated on the German cinema film “Führer und Verführer” as an historical advisor.

In addition, a number of publications have also been published this year. To highlight a few here: recently Cambridge University Press released Dr. Erik de Lange’s book Menacing Tides: Security, Piracy and Empire in the Nineteenth-Century Mediterranean. Dr. Jorrit Steehouder wrote a chapter for The Cambridge History of the European Union: Volume 2: European Integration Inside-Out. Furthermore, one of our newest PhD’ers, Lars Janssen got his first article published and student-assistant Mathijs van der Loo wrote an article on the revolutionary year 1848 in the Netherlands.

Recently, Rosa Wevers received her PhD from Utrecht University with her research on surveillance technology in art. In addition, Annelotte Janse had completed her PhD research on transnational ties between American and West-German right-wing extremists. She will have her PhD defence in August this year.

SHN is pleased with the many contributions our members have made in many ways over the past year and we look forward to what the new academic year will bring!