Karin Nijenhuis

Karin Nijenhuis is a senior lecturer at the ASCL. She guides students, ranging from Bachelor to PhD level, through interactive teaching and skills training. She has been conducting her Comenius Senior Fellowship for the project 'Feel connected! The integration of dialogue as a teaching method in higher education to improve student well-being'. She also trains lecturers from the Faculty of Humanities in the dialogue method.

Karin is currently involved in the following courses: Embedded Research Project (MA African Studies) in junction with Framing Africa: Approaches and Methods (MA African Studies); and Preventing Polarization: Facilitating Dialogue in a Crazy World (Honours Class).

Dr Karin Nijenhuis studied human geography (MA, University of Amsterdam) and environmental law and sociology (LLM, University of Groningen) and holds a PhD from Wageningen University. Her PhD research was on land conflict in Mali in relation to farmers’ rural mobility due to climate change among other factors (available open access).

Karin has extensive management, teaching, and research experience with a geographical focus on West and East Africa. She coordinated the Assumptions programme (New roles for Civil Society Organisations for Inclusive Development) for the INCLUDE knowledge platform, managed large NUFFIC-funded training institute projects for legal professionals in Uganda and Rwanda, and worked as a project manager at Oxfam Novib. She taught at the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University, and was study advisor for the Research Master African Studies, and gave workshops at Beninese and Malian universities. Karin is also a professional coach, communication skills trainer, and an experienced moderator.