Prof. Dr. Jan van der Putten

I have studied at the University in Leiden for my BA and MA degrees in Indonesian and Javanese Studies which I obtained in the 1980s. I stayed two years in Indonesia and returned to Leiden to take up a position as lecturer, which I also used to compile a PhD thesis in Malay philological studies. After defending my PhD in 2001, I was given the opportunity to work at the National University of Singapore, where I stayed nine years. Since 2013 I am in Hamburg. My research and teaching interests are ecclectic and multidisciplinary. They revolve around texts produced and circulating in Insular Southeast Asia, which translates into research and teaching about traditional Malay texts from the Riau islands, Islamic comic books from East Java, popular culture in pre-independence Malaya, and early literacies in the islands and several other topics, which are reflected in my publications and teaching experience. I love travelling and explore old cities as well as nature.