joe1212

Languages and cultures; social sciences and humanities; alternative music genres (especially indie, punk, folk punk, and atmospheric black metal); nature and autumn scenery; the tiny house movement and sustainable living; LGBTQ+ history and culture; societal dimensions of technology; the work of Michel Foucault; global affairs; and anti-authoritarian and left-progressive politics

I am a 26-year-old PhD candidate in Social Sciences from the Amsterdam area in the Netherlands. I hold a BA(Hons) degree in History (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam and an MA(Res) degree in International Relations (cum laude) from the University of Groningen. My present research, at VU Amsterdam, focuses on societal factors affecting the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ youth of colour in the Netherlands. My research interests straddle the intersection of (new) media, technology, and society, with a Master's specialization in LGBTQ+ self-advocacy on social media, especially through linguistic and discursive innovations. I have a multicultural and multiethnic background, predominantly Dutch and diasporic South Asian (Indo-Surinamese or Surinamese Hindustani), as well as a smaller part Indonesian and mixed European. I am passionate about learning languages. On top of my native Dutch, I am proficient in English and conversational at advanced to fluent levels in German, Norwegian, Afrikaans, and French (in that order). I also enjoyed a classical secondary education, during which I gained a passive understanding of Latin and to a lesser extent Ancient Greek. Finally, through my diasporic South Asian ancestry, Sarnami Hindustani (a Bhojpuri/Awadhi-influenced variant of Hindi-Urdu) and Standard Hindi-Urdu are heritage languages to me. My activity on this website predominantly stems from my late teenage years.