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Kasper van Laarhoven 3

Kasper van Laarhoven

Journalist-in-residence

Project title

The Cornelius Haga Lyceum, orthodoxy in times of Islam criticism

Project description

In 2018 the Dutch government created an interdepartmental ‘Taskforce’ to try and redefine aspects of orthodoxy and Salafism as ‘problematic behavior’, to subsequently counter it. The first significant case it took up, was that of the Islamic secondary school The Haga Lyceum (est. 2017). Kasper van Laarhoven aims to integrate the intelligence, politics and events surrounding the school into a compelling narrative about the way our nation treats minorities despite rising tensions and suspicions.

Kasper worked at NIAS on his book ‘Het Cornelius Haga Lyceum, orthodoxie in tijden van islamkritiek’. In his report, you can read how Kasper experienced his time at NIAS (in Dutch).

The Journalist-in-Residence Fellowship is for journalists with a keen interest in scholarly research who need an extended period of time to focus on a longer piece of journalistic work. Previous fellows include Niels Mathijssen, Mark Lievisse Adriaanse, Lynn Berger, Fleur van der Bij, Saar Slegers, Anne-Lot Hoek, Jaap Tielbeke and Dirk van Delft. The programme is a collaboration between NIAS and the Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten.

Selected publications

Het lot van uitgezette Soedanezen, samen met Huib de Zeeuw (NRC – 2021)

Hoe de Onderwijsinspectie haar boekje te buiten ging bij het Cornelius Haga Lyceum, samen met Andreas Kouwenhoven (NRC, 15-12-2019)

Omstreden school met enthousiaste leerlingen (NRC, 6-4-2019)