Charley Boerman, a former Radboud University (RICH) PhD student and currently working as a lecturer in comparative literature at Utrecht University, has received both the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation Dissertation Prize 2026 and the Keetje Hodshon Dissertation Prize 2026 for her project Framing famines: Memory, museums and visual culture. She will receive the prizes on 12 June in Utrecht and 29 June 2026 in Haarlem respectively.
In the project, she investigates the visual and material memory cultures surrounding nineteenth century Finnish famines, the Ukrainian Holodomor and the Greek famine during the Axis occupation in the Second World War. The project is part of the overarching project Heritages of Hunger: Societal reflections on past European famines in education, commemoration and musealisation.
My research shows that the memory of famines as a result of political failure, war and genocidal practices plays a role in present-day formations of (national) identity, (inter)national conflict, (trans)national solidarity and resistance movements. – Charley Boerman
"I'm proud and honoured that my research has been awarded these prizes," says Charley. "My research shows that the memory of famines as a result of political failure, war and genocidal practices plays a role in present-day formations of (national) identity, (inter)national conflict, (trans)national solidarity and resistance movements. The use of famine as part of a genocide and warfare in, for instance, Gaza, Sudan and South-Sudan, demonstrates that the deliberate starvation of citizens is not only a historical, but also contemporary phenomenon. It is therefore urgent to gain more insight into the cultural representation of famine and how this can either improve or hinder the understanding and recognition of famine as a political and criminal phenomenon. Supported by these prizes, I hope to research this further in the upcoming years."
About the prizes
The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation Dissertation Prize and the Keetje Hodshon Dissertation Prize, awarded annually by the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation and the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) respectively, both recognise outstanding research in the humanities. The winner of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation Dissertation Prize is awarded a certificate and €3,000 and the Keetje Hodshon Dissertation Prize awards the winner a sum of €10,000.
We warmly congratulate Charley on winning these prizes.