There’s nothing like being high above a colony of water lilies floating across the Rapenburg on a bright summer’s day. The buildings that flank the canal cast languid shadows over the water and passers-by on foot and bicycles. After taking a picture of this scene on my phone, I told myself: I want to remember this moment for many years to come. By this point, I had finished writing the first draft of my second book manuscript and was rewarding myself with this centuries-old view that remains as stunning as the work of 17th century Dutch masters. I had arrived in Leiden the September before, deep in the continuing desolation of the pandemic in the Netherlands. When winter arrived, we were all huddled in our housing provided by the IIAS. My personal refuge was a beautiful one-bedroom apartment with tall windows in the historical terraces of Hogewoerd alongside fellow IIAS colleagues who became my neighbours. Every morning, I would start a ritual of coffee and cheese on toast. Luxuriating in ‘fellowship time’, I would read a few pages from Jane Austen’s Persuasion before writing a few hundred words into my monograph. Some hours later, I would walk over to the IIAS office to continue writing and chat with the other fellows and staff. Some of us arrived from far away, some for the first time in Europe. Because many of us came to the Netherlands on our own, each pursuing the monastic life of solitary reader and scribe, we were cheered by the company – any company – that awaited us at Rapenburg 59. Those closer in age and stage in career bonded quite quickly. Sharing a love of scholarly libations also helped.
Earlier this year, I signed a contract with a university press to publish the monograph I wrote in Leiden. And immediately, I am taken back to the view overlooking the Rapenburg on that sultry June day. Could I have finished writing it had I not gone to Leiden as an IIAS fellow for a year? Perhaps. But it would be without the generosity and community in an incomparable beauty of place that remains with me a lasting privilege and joy. I am grateful to the IIAS and Leiden University for supporting the work of international scholars and the efforts made to foster community through historical walking tours and an especially memorable visit to the paradisical psychedelia of Keukenhof in springtime. The value of global community-building matters even more now than ever. The IIAS is a sanctuary during these darkened times that threaten the spirit of openness to the world and for that reason deserves to be protected, supported, and celebrated.
Alicia Izharuddin 