Three researchers from Radboud University's Faculty of Arts will receive an NWO SGW-XS grant this year. This grant of up to €50,000 enables reseachers to set up a short-term project within the Social Sciences and Humanities (SGW) disciplines. The awarded projects at Radboud University focus on language use and social perception, historical migration and changing ideas about partner choice.
Three NWO Open competition XS grants for researchers from the Faculty of Arts
Migration and border control in the Dutch Republic
David de Boer (RICH) focuses on a striking change of course in Dutch history in the project From Blessing to Threat: Shifting Immigration Attitudes and the Invention of Border Control in the Dutch Republic (1700–1789). Whereas the Republic was known for its open borders in the 17th century, it introduced a strict and centralised migration policy in the 18th century. The project investigates why migration was no longer seen as a strength, but increasingly as a threat.
Language use and perception
In the project How language shapes speaker perception: Effects of non-standard language use on speaker evaluations, Ferdy Hubers (CLS) investigates how people judge speakers who use non-standard language, such as “groter als” instead of “groter dan”. Such constructions often elicit strong reactions. The project examines whether this negative attitude is also attributed to the speaker themselves and how conscious judgements are related to unconscious emotional responses to language variation.
Partner preferences through time
In Changing Hearts: A Century and a Half of Partner Preferences in Matrimonial and Contact Ads, Paul Puschmann (RICH) analyses how people described their ideal partner in marriage and contact ads in Dutch newspapers between 1845 and 1995. Based on 10,000 digitised advertisements and computer-assisted text analysis, the study shows how ideas about love, relationships and social norms changed according to gender, religion, class and sexual orientation.
About the SGW-XS scheme
The SGW-XS grant is intended for small-scale, innovative research projects with a maximum duration of one year. The scheme offers researchers the opportunity to explore new ideas, enter into new collaborations or test innovative methods within the Social Sciences and Humanities.
The Faculty of Arts congratulates the researchers on these grants.