JEDI Fund 2025

On this page you will find more information about the selected projects of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund for 2025.

The New Scholar: Diversity and Inclusivity in a student journal

The New Scholar is a highly successful student journal at our University. One of the most important points in its vision is its diversity approach. Thanks to the JEDI program equity and inclusion will be added to its value. With this project The New Scholar aims to create an issue completely dedicated to the main ideas behind the JEDI philosophy, so that they are imprinted into the mission statement of the journal indefinitely.

This project is coordinated by Paz Gonzalez (LUCL).

Multilingual African Linguistics Podcast and YouTube channel @UL

Multilingual African Linguistics podcast and YouTube channel @ UL (MALUL) is a decolonising resource for the delivery of teaching involving voices from African researchers based in Africa but also working in partnership with scholars around the globe. The podcast and YouTube channel discusses current research being conducted in Africa based on local agendas with the aim of re-centering marginalised or less heard perspectives to diversify the voices we hear from and in what languages we hear them. The podcast and YouTube channel provides authentic materials for students to engage with in the multilingual form in which interaction in Africa occurs.

The project team consists of Prof. Nancy C. Kula, Nicolas Lotman (BA Linguistics), Jeroen van Ravenshorst (ResMA African Studies), Priscilla M.Y. Lam (PhD Linguistics) and Djibrila Tetereoru (PhD Linguistics).

Crip Open Mic

Crip Open Mic is a community-driven, accessible event that provides a safer space for disabled and neurodivergent individuals, with a focus on queer and disability intersectionality. This event fosters artistic expression in an environment that celebrates the diverse experiences of people with disabilities. Participants will share poetry, music, storytelling, and performance art, amplifying voices often marginalized. Crip Open Mic is committed to inclusivity, offering a platform where neurodivergent and disabled people can creatively express themselves without fear of judgment, and where their unique perspectives are embraced and empowered.

This project is coordinated by Queer Leiden University, a decolonial an intersectional queer-led collective that aims to connect and support LGBTQIA+ people. Other involved networks are Feminists Against Ableism, Access and Support Platform and LUC ADC.

LUALA Beats Area Studies Podcast Series

LUALA Beats Area Studies Podcast Series (Leiden University Africa Latin America) is a cooperation between the two Area Studies sections of Leiden University’s Institute for History. The lecture and podcast series are intended: (1) as platforms for critical discussions amongst practitioners, scholars and students on issues typical of Area Studies’ epistemologies: diversity, inequality, power and cultural interactions; (2) as avenues to connect Leiden University with society. The lecture and podcast series are co-managed by teachers and students. Lectures and discussions (45 minutes) take place with guests from within and outside Leiden University on issues pertaining to Africa and Latin American history, language, culture and politics.

The project team consists of Prof. Mirjam de Bruijn, Dr Sara de Wit, Dr Walter Nkwi, Dr Stefano Bellucci, Jasper Krijns, Prof. Ed Amman and Dr Soledad Valdivia Rivera, Dr Randall Sheppard and Angela Soriano. Students will be involved as well.

Italian Queers

Italy consistently ranks among Europe’s least LGBTQ+-friendly countries, reflecting societal taboos and a lack of institutional support for queer individuals despite its rich history of queer artists. These aspects are often silenced, with Italian school curricula rarely addressing LGBTQ+ themes in literature. The queerness of key figures like Giacomo Leopardi, Sandro Penna, Michela Murgia, and Pier Paolo Pasolini remain underexplored, limiting understanding of their work. The Italian Queers podcast at Leiden University aims to break this silence by highlighting homosexuality's role in Italian literature and Italian music, offering new interpretative frameworks and celebrating overlooked voices in Italian culture.

The project teams consists of Carmen Van den Bergh (LUCAS) and Dinko Fabris (ACPA).

Futures of Native American Studies in the Netherlands

An increase in student interest and emergent lines of inquiry and research at Leiden University have demonstrated that additional expertise in Native American experiences of colonization in North America is currently required. In 2024, the North American Studies program used the JEDI fund to expand its capacity for teaching and learning around Native North America through the development of a lecture series entitled “The Futures of Native American Studies.” This year, we would like to support this effort in two ways: 1) the continuation of our student workshop and lecture series and 2) by solidifying this community and audience through the development of an online community for scholarship in the Netherlands on Native American culture and history.

The project teams consists of Jessie Morgan-Owens (LUCAS) and members of the American Studies Student Association (LUNAS).

The ‘Unheard Voices’ Event Series

With this event series, we wish to move beyond simple Orientalism and Eurocentric fascination with that which is not common for us. Inviting the unheard to our campus, we want to provide a space for discussion, diversity, openness, curiosity, and inclusion. From indigenous issues such as heritage, language, feminism, disability, and sovereignty to climate change, identity in totalitarian regimes, and unrepresented cultural expressions such as art and music, we hope to bring the diversity of the world to our campus. With a podcast series paralleling our events, we will make sure to document and promote our quest for diversity and inclusion.

This project is coordinated by BASIS, the study association for the BA International Studies. Organised together with Dr. Casper Wits, University Lecturer in the Institute for Area Studies.