“I was on the team that designed PPLE’s curriculum. What I find immensely attractive about PPLE is its interdisciplinary approach, focusing on some of the main challenges facing society today, including solidarity, security, human rights and sustainability.

Besides working at PPLE, I am the chair of the department of jurisprudence at the Law Faculty of the University of Amsterdam. For the future, I intend to write a book on the history of emergency powers and constitutional change.

I studied Law and History at the University of Amsterdam. I spent part of my studies at the Sorbonne University in Paris and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. My research interests are legal history and legal philosophy, and more specifically, the history and theory of constitutional law, the rule of law and human rights.

I am currently working on two large projects. The first being a history of emergency powers (the powers governments have to derogate from rights and rule of law requirements in emergencies) and their impact on constitutional transformations (for instance, the transition of democracies to authoritarian regimes). The second is a history of the right to asylum and freedom of religion and, more particularly, the rights of religious refugees in the 17th century.

By teaching at PPLE, I hope to make students aware of the relevance of legal history and legal theory for understanding some of the main characteristics and dilemmas of law today, including challenges related to human rights, the rule of law, and democracy. Furthermore, I hope to show students how fascinating the past can be, especially when it shows us ways of thinking that are very different from contemporary modes of thought.”