Jos Schaeken, Professor of Slavic and Baltic Languages and Cultural History, to be new interim Vice-Dean
Prof. J. (Jos) Schaeken, Professor of Slavic and Baltic Languages and Cultural History, will be the interim Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Humanities from 1 March 2025. He will succeed the present Vice-Dean, Mirjam de Baar, who will complete her second term on that date.
As Professor of Slavic and Baltic Languages and Cultural History, Jos Schaeken’s area of specific interest is the East Slavic language area. For fifteen years, he chaired the bachelor’s programme in Russian Studies and the master’s programme in Russian and Eurasian Studies. He has published on subjects including Medieval Russian sociolinguistics, early Russian-Dutch cultural relations and the history of Slavic languages.
Following his PhD in Slavic linguistics at Leiden University, Jos Schaeken held several academic positions, including at UCLA, Groningen University and Universität Basel. In 2003 he returned to Leiden University to become head of the then-existing Slavic Languages and Cultures and Russian Studies; these programmes were merged into the regional study Russian and Eurasian Studies in 2010. Since then he has also fulfilled various administrative roles, including Academic Director of LUCL, Dean of Leiden University College The Hague and Dean of Leiden University Honours Academy. Currently, Jos is also a member of the Faculty Council. He intends to resign his membership.
Speaking about his appointment, Jos said: ‘I’m looking forward to working with the new interim Dean and the current members of the Faculty Board, and especially also with the representatives of our institutes and study programmes. I will be concentrating mainly on the master’s education, where integration with research is a central focus, but societal interests too should certainly not be forgotten. The years ahead are going to be difficult for us all. We will have to make the best of that!’
The Faculty Board is pleased with Jos Schaeken’s appointment. ‘We welcome Jos to the Faculty Board with great confidence. Jos is a highly valued colleague, with profound knowledge of the faculty and extensive administrative experience. Combined with his knowledge of the language and culture sector, Jos will contribute to setting the course in these challenging times as part of the Faculty Board,’ Vice-Dean Jeroen Touwen commented on behalf of the Faculty Board.