I am very grateful that I was selected to join the IAS for a fruitful month of writing, speaking, and collaborating at the end of 2024. I found out about the IAS Residential Fellowship through social media, where a post was shared by Professor Emily Keightley. Her formative work on media and memory was already familiar to me and the opportunity to come to Loughborough University to meet and discuss the common ground in our research was the main reason I applied for the fellowship. Hence, I jumped at the opportunity to apply.

In addition to Professor Keightley, it was instructive to meet and have lunch with Loughborough University colleagues from Communication and Media and in particular those from the Media, Memory and History research expertise. The fellowship allowed me to meet people with whom I share a common network, such as Dr. Jilly Kay. Connecting over a cup of coffee and speaking to scholars whose work I had already engaged with was exciting and valuable. The fellowship really facilitated these kinds of informal meetups.

A key prerequisite for doing research is the conducive environment in which it is done. It was therefore my pleasure to have stayed in the IAS Flat which really had everything that was needed to do my work. It was the perfect base from which to join IAS events, leave for the abovementioned coffee meetings, and walk to the Pilkington Library to access books. Besides that, it was quite an experience to live in the heart of Loughborough University’s campus. The flat is just around the corner from the IAS, which was a similarly pleasant place. In large part because the IAS team consisting of Kieran, Connor, Laura, Ksenia, and Yajie made sure I felt very welcome and helped wherever it was needed. I also came to understand that the IAS takes pride in the quality of their lunch and I can attest to this.

The month went by quickly, mostly because there were many events to attend. While I was in Loughborough, colleagues from the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture held an inspirational roundtable and double book presentation with The New School’s Julia Sonnevend. My stay in Loughborough coincided with a Memory Studies Association Research Centres Meeting in Nottingham. It was a real pleasure to be able to travel there with my new Loughborough University colleagues and to represent both my home research institute the Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture as well as the IAS and Loughborough University’s Media, Memory and History group.

The location of the town of Loughborough is so central that, in my capacity as IAS Residential Fellow, I could reconnect with former colleagues at the University of Oxford and give a guest lecture at the University of Sheffield. At the IAS itself I presented twice. I gave a research seminar on work-in-progress as well as an academic career workshop for Loughborough University’s postgraduate research seminar. The former was even graced by the attendance of Indonesian students who came over from Nottingham.

In all, my time at the IAS was highly productive and enjoyable. The groundwork has already been laid for future collaborations and I hope to welcome my former Loughborough University colleagues at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, I hope to be able to return to the IAS in the future as well.

Dr Arnoud Arps