Experience and internships
2021-present | PhD researcher
Erasmus University Rotterdam
- I research historical engagements with Desiderius Erasmus in Rotterdam through case studies such as the statue of Erasmus, the Erasmus University and the Erasmus Collection.
2021 | Annotator
KNAW Humanities Cluster
- Annotating early modern texts for smell references as part of the Odeuropa research project (Horizon 2020). My annotations will be used as artificial intelligence input. I am supervised by prof. dr. Inger Leemans and dr. Marieke van Erp.
2020-2021 | Research intern
NL-Lab, Amsterdam
- Independent: “The Ottoman in the Dutch Revolt: Emergence and decline of the informal favour of the Turk (1566-1610)”, supervised by dr. Joris Oddens.
- Preliminary research for dr. Joris Oddens: researching the iconography of the Petition of the Nobles (1566) from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century.
- Preliminary research for dr. Marieke Hendriksen: compiling a database of early modern artworks in which taste relates to identity.
2019 | Intern print room
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
- Revising and digitizing the catalogue Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: Artists Born between 1580 and 1600 (Amsterdam 1998), supervised by Ilona van Tuinen, MA.
- Material and archival provenance research to improve the catalogue.
2017 | Intern educational department
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
- Assisting in educational programs for highly diverse audiences.
- Creating an educational program for NT2 students.
Education
2019-2021 | Research Master Art History of the Low Countries
Utrecht University
- Thesis: “Illustrated Orienlightenment: early Dutch Orientalism and Enlightenment in Mahomets Alkoran (1696)”, supervised by prof. dr. Thijs Weststeijn.
- Focus on (materiality of) early modern Dutch paper art.
- Focus on art in its global context.
2016-2019 | Bachelor Art History (cum laude)
University of Amsterdam
- Thesis: “Translated and Transformed Illustrations to Jāmī’s Yūsuf va Zulaykhā“, supervised by dr. Machtelt Brüggen Israels.
- Focus on intercultural exchanges and art on paper from the Dutch Republic.
- Honours programme Research Track (30 extra ECTS, whereof 6 for a research project and 6 for an extended thesis).
Output
2024
Steen, S. (2024) “Erasmus Batavus: The Auris Batava (1508) between ancient heritage and Italian disdain” in Dutch Crossing.
Steen, S. (2024) “Orangist Appropriation of Erasmus: From Orangism to Erasmianism” in Early Modern Low Countries 8, no. 1, p. 108-128.
Steen, S. (15 June 2024) “Moestuinieren zoals vroeger.” Public tour through the historical vegetable garden of Jagtlust, ‘s Graveland.
Steen, S. (14 June 2024) “A work of art in a public space: mapping the iconographies of the Erasmus statue in Rotterdam.” Conference presentation at Art of History, Nottingham.
2023
Erasmus: The man, the myth, the legend, the university. Exhibition at the Erasmus University Library and online. 24 October 2023 – 24 January 2024.
Sanne Steen, “Identifying with “a brazen statue in the marketplace”: Rotterdammers interacting with the Erasmus Statue.” at Métamorphoses et usages d’un même passé & formation des identités en Europe du XIVe siècle jusqu’aux années 1980 (Lille, 15 September 2023)
Sanne Steen, “Kaas verbeeld” in Marieke Hendriksen, Leonie Cornips and Geertje Mak (eds.) Kaas = NL? Melk, koe, ras, kolonie, taal, kunst, mest en meer. Gorredijk: Sterck & De Vreese, 2023, pp. 53-64.
2022
Sanne Steen, “Joining Forces in the Canon Debate: Interdisciplinary cooperation in an overarching objective” at Young ESEMP (Copenhagen, 13 September 2022)
Sanne Steen, “Early Dutch Orientalism and Radical Enlightenment in Mahomets Alkoran (1696)” at Historians of Netherlandish Art (Amsterdam and The Hague, 2-4 June 2022).
2021
Sanne Steen, “Annotating the Smell of Lightning.” Odeuropa, 30 October 2021. https://odeuropa.eu/2021/10/annotating-the-smell-of-lightning/.
Sanne Steen, “Information and sensation in an illustrated Qur’an from the Dutch Republic.” Medieval and Early Modern Orients, 14 November 2021. https://memorients.com/articles/information-and-sensation-in-an-illustrated-quran-from-the-dutch-republic.
Sanne Steen, “The Ottoman in the Dutch Revolt: Interpreting the background and afterlife of the slogan Rather Turkish than Papist (1566-1610)” at Enemies in the Early Modern World 1453-1789: Conflict, Culture and Control (Online, 26-29 March 2021).
2019
Sanne Steen, “Het tekenen van tuinen: De mysteries rondom Jan Lievens’ tekeningen op Japans papier”, Amsterdam Museum, 26 February 2019.
2018
Various informative texts on the figures of the artwork Justice and Injustice by Barbara Broekman (2017) in the Law faculty of the University of Amsterdam. https://recht-en-onrecht.nl/etages/etage-5/.
Extracurricular activities
2024-present | Member PhD council Erasmus University Rotterdam
2023-present |Member faculty council Erasmus School of Philosophy
2019-2021 | Copy Editor at Junctions Journal (link)
2019-2020 | Programme Team Humanities Graduate Research Symposium 2020 (link)
2017-2018 | Member programme committee BA Art History University of Amsterdam
2016 | Junior Fellowship Rijksmuseum