Hans Hägerdal

In today's world, research institutes that bring together scholars on a global scale are needed more than ever. Academics with backgrounds in history, political science, anthropology, literature, human geography, economics, linguistics and so on, need each other's input to deal with the global challenges that lie ahead of us, not least with reference to Asia. IIAS has enjoyed this role for more than thirty years, and I am happy to have been witness to its dynamics.

The institute had a profound impact on my career over the years, as a PhD student, post-doctoral researcher, and tenured scholar. In fact, my first acquaintance with the institute happened due to the close cooperation that IIAS had with the now-defunct NIAS, the Nordic Institute for Asian Studies. Not long after the opening of the IIAS in 1994, I secured funding via NIAS to spend a month in Leiden to collect materials for my thesis – a study of the professionalization of sinology in the 19th and 20th centuries.

In terms of Asia resources, Leiden stood out like a Mecca whose libraries seemed to possess every relevant book or periodical on Asia, in any language. For a doctoral student from Sweden, IIAS was a superb door-opener, enhanced by the friendly encouragement of its director Wim Stokhof.

When my thesis had been successfully defended, IIAS was therefore an obvious place to apply for an affiliated fellowship. During the year 1996-1997, I thus found myself fraternizing with Asia scholars from all over the world in the old picturesque Nonnensteeg building with a view over the Hortus Botanicus and within walking distance to a number of relevant libraries and archives.

The contact network that I acquired during that year would be of great use for my later career, and discussions with co-fellows and senior scholars provided a steady stream of useful input. The atmosphere at the Nonnensteeg building was relaxed and cordial, and the staff was friendly and helpful – to the extent that the fellows were invited to one of the secretaries' wedding reception.

Likewise, the fantastic archival collections from the Dutch colonial past provided avenues to new research strands about colonial encounters in Asian waters. My IIAS postdoc stands out as one of the most rewarding periods in my academic life – in fact, the output of publications coming from it greatly helped me obtain a permanent position as Senior Lecturer at a Swedish university a few years later.

This was not my last engagement with the remarkable institute. Apart from a few later stints at the IIAS, I have attended the ICAS conferences over the years – from Noordwijkerhout to Daejeon to Honolulu. Among thousands of participants, you catch up with many an old acquaintance, and the huge variety of sessions only presents you with the delicate problem of choosing.

Let us hope for a stable future for the IIAS and all the important things it stands for.

Hans Hägerdal
Professor in History. Department of Humanities. Linnaeus University, Sweden