About the Cultural Geography Group

The Cultural Geography chair group is committed to social theory in all its spatial articulations. In particular, the work of the group is focused on mobility (including tourism, leisure and migration studies) and the cultural politics of landscape (including questions of place, community, and heritage) in relation to spatial theory. A third area of interest is the intersection between people, nature, culture and landscape, also in socio-phenomenological terms.

While the research culture of the group is clearly driven by a geographical perspective, interdisciplinary work is equally important, with the contribution of sociological, anthropological and socio-psychological perspectives. Our empirical work concerns Eastern and Southern Africa, the Maghreb and the Mediterranean, South-East Asia and, of course, the Netherlands. Our contribution to education clearly reflects our research expertise and our commitment to the critical analysis and the understanding of social issues of great cultural and political relevance. This translates into a strong commitment to teaching in areas like tourism studies, landscape studies and, more broadly, human geography.

The group is very international in terms of staff culture, student body, research focus and publication record and is part of the Landscape Centre, where it collaborates with architects, planners and scholars specialized in forestry and environmental governance.