Photo by Suzanne Blanchard
Photo by Suzanne Blanchard - Machiel Keestra took up his post as Central Diversity officer (CDO) on 1 February. His task is to contribute to the realisation and implementation of policy on diversity, inclusion and equality at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). What knowledge and experience does he bring to the job and how does he aim to achieve these goals? Keestra is a philosopher and has worked as an assistant professor at the UvA's Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies since 2005. Additionally, he has been the Faculty Diversity Officer (FDO) at the Faculty of Science (FNWI) as of 2019. So why has he now taken up the role of Central Diversity Officer? It was actually a logical step for Keestra; it is a field he has been exploring for a long time, both within the university and outside it. Together with his wife, he set up the Keti Koti Table Foundation, which organises dialogues to examine the modern-day consequences of the Netherlands' history of slavery. During the occupation of the Maagdenhuis in 2015, he gave a workshop at the UvA about the lack of diversity and inclusion in the academic world.
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