Dutch Is Beautiful: Fifty Years of Dutch and Flemish Studies at the University of Michigan

Dutch is Beautiful tells the story of the fifty years of Dutch and Flemish Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. It is an account of the efforts to promote Dutch and Flemish culture and language, as well as a description of how the teaching of Dutch language, literature, history and culture can be a tool to look at a world of diverse identities. It also offers a comprehensive overview of the beginnings of a successful program that included Dutch writers-in-residence, visiting Netherlands professors, cultural and educational events, arts, music, films, conferences and publications. Several alumni of the program look back at their college years with appreciation. Articles and essays on history, Anne Frank, and conversations on colonialism discuss critical and educational views on Dutch and Flemish Studies in past, present and future, when diversity, equity and inclusion are important goals and objectives, and public scholarship and academic activism will be a larger part of the curriculum. This book will inform, entertain, stimulate and impress everyone who is interested in the culture of the Low Countries. The title says it all

Ton Broos was born in The Netherlands, studied and taught Dutch language and literature in Sheffield, UK, and at the University of Michigan for more than thirty years. He is retired and lives in Ann Arbor.

Annemarie Toebosch is the current director of Dutch and Flemish Studies at the University of Michigan. She studied linguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands and at the University of Michigan, and worked as a linguist before shifting her focus to Dutch Studies and decolonial theory.

Karla Vandersypen is a retired research librarian at the Special Collections Library, University of Michigan. One of the projects she completed was the cataloging of some 4,200 Dutch historical pamphlets (the ＂Knuttel Collection＂), one of the jewels of the Library’s Dutch holdings.