معرفی
Dr. Markha Valenta is an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University's University College Utrecht and serves as Director of Education at the Utrecht Center for Global Challenges (UGlobe). They hold additional roles as Community Engagement Ambassador at University College Utrecht and previously served as Director of the BA American Studies program at Radboud University (2014-2019) and President of the Netherlands American Studies Association (NASA, 2020-2024). Their research focuses on the geopolitics of diversity, analyzing how global relations shape democracies through comparative studies across North America, Western Europe, and South Asia. Key areas include the interplay of geopolitics, democracy, and religion; migration policies; postcolonial legacies; and urban citizenship.
Current projects investigate US geopolitical influence in the Middle East tied to Native American genocide, diversity politics in postcolonial Netherlands, and Muslim migrant citizenship in democracies. They have held a 2021 Urban Fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies. Valenta’s work bridges disciplines (politics, anthropology, history, religious studies) and employs community-engaged methods, including field research with migrant rights organizations.
Research affiliations include the Institutions for Open Societies (IOS) research group at Utrecht University, focusing on societal change, governance, democracy, and global justice. Their teaching emphasizes global challenges, integrating community engagement and critical theory. Public engagement includes columns for openDemocracy and roles with NIDA Think Tank.
