Présentation

Devin Vartija est historien de la culture et des idées du siècle des Lumières. Il a obtenu une licence à l’Université de McMaster au Canada et son master et son doctorat à l’Université d’Utrecht aux Pays-Bas. Son livre, The Color of Equality : Race and Common Humanity in Enlightenment Thought, est à paraître à l’University of Pennsylvania Press. Pendant son post-doctorat à l’EHESS, dirigé par Silvia Sebastiani (GEHM), il axe ses recherches sur l’idée d’égalité à Paris et Londres au XVIIIe siècle et sur les nouvelles pratiques culturelles qui ont donné une dimension politique à l’égalité avant la Révolution.

Education             

• 2018 Ph.D., Utrecht University, History, cum laude
  Dissertation: ‘The Colour of Equality: Racial Classification and Natural Equality in Enlightenment Encyclopaedias’

• 2017 Visiting Student Research Collaborator, Princeton University
  One-month research stay with Professor David A. Bell

• 2014 Visiting Graduate Researcher, University of California, Los Angeles
  Three-month research stay with Professor Margaret C. Jacob

• 2010-12 M.A., History, Utrecht University, cum laude

• 2006-10 B.A.Sc. (honours), Arts and Science Program, McMaster University, summa cum laude

Publications

• The Colour of Equality: Race and Common Humanity in Enlightenment Thought, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Intellectual History of the Modern Age Series, 250 p. (Under contract)

• Revised & submitted  ‘Revisiting Enlightenment Racial Classification: Time and the Question of Human Diversity,’ Intellectual History Review (Peer Reviewed), 23 p.

• ‘Review: Anne C. Vila. “Suffering Scholars: Pathologies of the Intellectual in Enlightenment France,” (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018),’ Isis110, no. 3 (September, 2019): 603-4.

• ‘Review: Frederick Cooper, “Citizenship, Inequality, and Difference: Historical Perspectives” (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018),’ International Journal for History, Culture, and Modernity7 (2019): 765-9.

• ‘Racism and Modernity,’ International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity 7 (2019): 1-15. (Peer Reviewed)

• ‘Empathy, Equality, and the Radical Enlightenment,’ in Reassessing the Radical Enlightenment, ed. Steffen Ducheyne (London: Routledge,    2017), 274-91. (Peer Reviewed)

• ‘Review: Justin E. H. Smith, “Nature, Human Nature and Human Difference: Race in Early Modern Philosophy,” (Princeton University Press, 2015),’ Isis 107, 4 (2016): 832-3.

• ‘Review: Richard Squibbs, “Urban Enlightenment and the Eighteenth Century Periodical Essay: Transatlantic Retrospects,” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014),’ Journal for the Study of Periodical Media 36 (2014): 155-57.

Teaching Experience

• 2018-19  Lecturer, Department of History, Utrecht University
  Taught a variety of bachelor and master courses in the history program
  Summer, 2018  ‘Dutch Culture and Language’
  Level 3 Bachelor’s Course, Utrecht University Summer School

• 2015-2016  ‘Common Humanity, Equality, and Cultural Difference in the
  Enlightenment’ with Prof. Dr. Siep Stuurman, Utrecht University
  Level 3 Bachelor’s Course, Utrecht University

• 2015-2016  Dr. Wijnand Mijnhardt, Utrecht University Course in the History and Philosophy of Science Master’s Program

• 2014-2015 &  ‘History, Role, and Impact of the Humanities, 1500-2000’ with Prof.

• 2013-2017  Guest lectures:
  ‘Introduction to Sociology’ - Level 3 Bachelor Course at Radboud
  University Nijmegen; lectured on the origins of sociology in Enlightenment thought.
  ‘European Values?’ - Master’s Course at Utrecht University; lectured on what was ‘European’ about the Enlightenment
  ‘A Coloured World: A Brief History of Racism’ - Level 1 Bachelor Course; lectured on the invention of racial classification in early modern Europe

• 2012-14  Freelance Business English Teacher, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  Taught Business English courses to clients in a variety of sectors
  Developed course material and lesson plans.

• 2009-10  Teaching Assistant for ‘Modern Western Civilization’ McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

Awards and Scholarships

• 2019-2021: Postdoctoral Fellowship at the École des hautes études en sciences Sociales; funding from the Rubicon program of the Dutch Research Council

• 2019: Provinciaal Utrechts Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (The Utrecht Society of Arts and Sciences) - Dissertation Prize

• 2016-2018  Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) - Doctoral Fellowship

• 2013-2017: PhDs in the Humanities - The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research Winner of funding to conduct doctoral research from the program ‘Promoties in de geesteswetenschappen’ - Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek(NWO)

• 2014: Utrecht University PhD Short Stay Fellowship, Awarded to fund my stay at UCLA

• 2010-2012:  Huygens Scholarship, Award from the Dutch government to provide full funding for talented international students to pursue a master’s degree in the Netherlands

• 2010: Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship - Declined Offered by SSHRC to fully fund a master’s degree at a Canadian university

• 2010: The Humanities Medal for Special Achievement, Awarded for outstanding achievement in scholarship and contributions to the cultural and intellectual life of McMaster University

• 2010: The Marion Bates Book Prize, Awarded for exceptional achievement in Canadian history courses

• 2006-2010: McMaster University President’s Award, Awarded for obtaining an admission average above 95%

• 2008: The McMaster University Senate Scholarship, Awarded for academic excellence

• 2008: The Noel Sandusky Memorial Book Prize, Awarded for achieving high academic standing in nine units of History courses

• 2007   The Edwin Marwin Dalley Memorial Scholarship, Awarded for academic excellence at McMaster University

• 2006: Bronze Medal of the Governor General of Canada, Awarded for obtaining the highest grade point average upon graduating from secondary school

Service to the Profession

• 2020-present   Editorial Manager, International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity

Other Work Experience

• 2011-12  Research Intern at Teylers Museum Haarlem, Conducted comparative historical research on the history of Teylers Museum in the eighteenth century and French provincial museums of the early modern period.

• 2008   Support Worker for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities, Community Living Association for South Simcoe, Alliston, Canada Supported individuals with developmental disabilities in lawn care work.

Presentations, Conferences, Workshops, and Media Appearances

2020   Invited lecture - History of Political Ideas, Early Career Seminar, University of London

2019: Participant in the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference, University of Edinburgh

2018: Interviewed about my doctoral research by De Volkskrant and the history programme ‘OVT’ on Dutch public radio (Radio 1)

2017: Participant in the Dartmouth History Institute, Theme: Modern European Intellectual History Dartmouth College, Hannover, New Hampshire

2017: Keynote Speaker at the Research Master’s Student Conference, Utrecht University - ‘Why History Matters’

2016: Participant in the Fifth London Summer School in Intellectual History, Queen Mary University of London

2016: Invited Lecture - ‘Revisiting Enlightenment Racial Classification’, Ir/Relevance of Race in Science and Society Seminar, University of Amsterdam

2012-2017:  I have presented my research at the following conferences over the past five years: Early Modern History Workshop, Princeton University

How to Do Things with Millions of Words:

• Digital Humanities Workshop
• University of British Columbia Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference
• Queen’s University
• Kingston International Society for Intellectual History Conference, University of Crete
• Society for French Historical Studies, Conference, Vanderbilt University
• International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference, Erasmus University
• British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Annual Conference, University of Oxford
• Radical Enlightenment: The Big Picture and Its Details, Free University, Brussels

Community Service and Volunteer Experience

2007-2010:  Chair, Educational Programming Committee
Student Health Education Centre, McMaster University
Organized various events and implemented teaching aids to raise awareness among students on relevant health topics.

2008-2009:  English Tutor for Frontier College Sir John A. MacDonald Secondary School, Hamilton, Canada
Assisted Grade 9 ‘English as a Second Language’ (ESL) students with writing and oral assignments.

Languages

• English: Native
• French: B2-C1
• Dutch: Fluent

Extracurricular Activities

2016-2017:  Co-organizer of the Utrecht Cultural History Seminar

2016: Co-organizer of the Utrecht Centre for Early Modern Studies Public

Outreach Day

2014-2015:  Member of the Organizing Committee of the International Society for

Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS) 2015 Conference in Rotterdam

2014-2017: Member of the PhD Council for the Faculty of Humanities, UU

2014-2015: Member of the PhD Network (PrOUt), UU

2011-2012: Rower at Algemene Utrechtse Studenten Roeivereniging (ORCA)

2006-2007: Principal Tenor Saxophone Player, McMaster University Concert Band

2006: Grade 6 Tenor Saxophone from the Royal Conservatory of Music with First Class Honours