Personal profile
Personal information
Merel Heusen studied Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. During her education she had an interdisciplinary focus and specialised in studying normalisation, migration and contemporary power structures.
Merel obtained her master’s degree (cum laude) in 2021. Her final research was a critical analysis of a dominant distinction within (Dutch) migration discourses. Merel’s research started as a mission to deconstruct the ‘expat’ figure in the Netherlands. During her fieldwork ‘expats’, who were equalized to ‘contributors’, were constantly defined in relation to ‘migrants’, who were frequently described as ‘takers’. This discovery altered her research and inspired her to shift her gaze to a wider dynamic in the Netherlands, which included both stigmatized- and privileged mobilities.
Currently Merel is broadening her knowledge and expertise within the Social Sciences by setting foot into the world of Communication Science.