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✊ What does it mean to stand up when it might be easier to stay silent?🧭 That was one of the questions at the heart of o...
07/10/2026

✊ What does it mean to stand up when it might be easier to stay silent?

🧭 That was one of the questions at the heart of our conversation with Gal Beckerman, author of “How to Be a Dissident”, moderated by Ikenna Azuike.

🔍 Drawing on figures from Socrates and Hannah Arendt to more contemporary voices challenging power, Beckerman explored what drives people to question the world around them. At its heart is a deeply personal question: “can I live with myself?”

🪨 We also explored why dissent matters beyond the individual. It creates space for new ideas, challenges what has become normalized, and can become the starting point for broader change.

🇺🇸 250 years after the American Revolution, that feels particularly relevant. Democracy is sustained not only by institutions, but by citizens willing to think critically, challenge assumptions, and take responsibility for the society they shape.

🌱 An evening that left us with a simple thought: meaningful change does not always begin with certainty or power. Sometimes, it begins with the courage to ask a different question.

📸 Lotte Dale

History is not only written — sometimes, it is danced.Meet the two voices joining us for“Room in Our House: Dance & Dial...
29/09/2026

History is not only written — sometimes, it is danced.

Meet the two voices joining us for
“Room in Our House: Dance & Dialogue”.

📍 OBA Theater, Oosterdok
📅 19 October 2026
🕖 19:00

What does it mean to carry a tradition forward?

Montana grew up with the cultural traditions and teachings of his grandmother, an Oneida Nation Clan Mother. He first encountered dance through Longhouse traditions in his community, later training in Indigenous and contemporary dance.

He has worked extensively with Kaha Dance Theatre and collaborated with choreographer Santee Smith, including on “I Lost My Talk”.

Whose histories shape the present?

Dr. Markha Valenta is an Assistant Professor at University College Utrecht, whose research explores geopolitics, diversity and democracy across North America, Western Europe and South Asia.

Her work examines the United States and the history of Indigenous peoples, creating a conversation that connects North American history with the Netherlands.

First the dance, then the conversation.

What can movement reveal about history? What connects Indigenous histories in North America to the Netherlands?

Join Montana Summers and Markha Valenta for an evening of dance, dialogue, and questions that reach across time and borders.

📍 OBA Theater, Oosterdok
📅 19 October 2026
🕖 19:00

History is not only written. Sometimes, it is danced.Meet the two voices joining us for“Room in Our House” — Dance & Dia...
29/09/2026

History is not only written.
Sometimes, it is danced.

Meet the two voices joining us for
“Room in Our House” — Dance & Dialogue.

📍 OBA Theater, Oosterdok
📅 19 October 2026
🕖 19:00

What does it mean to carry a tradition forward?

Montana Summer grew up with the cultural traditions and teachings of his grandmother, an Oneida Nation Clan Mother. He first encountered dance through Longhouse traditions in his community, later training in Indigenous and contemporary dance.

He has worked extensively with Kaha Dance Theatre and collaborated with choreographer Santee Smith, including on “I Lost My Talk.”

Whose histories shape the present?

Dr. Markha Valenta is an Assistant Professor at University College Utrecht, whose research explores geopolitics, diversity and democracy across North America, Western Europe and South Asia.

Her work examines the United States and the history of Indigenous peoples, creating a conversation that connects North American history with the Netherlands.

FIRST, THE DANCE.
THEN, THE CONVERSATION.

What can movement reveal about history?
What connects Indigenous histories in North America to the Netherlands?

Join Montana Summers and Markha Valenta for an evening of dance, dialogue and questions that reach across time and borders.

📍 OBA Theater, Oosterdok
📅 19 October 2026
🕖 19:00

🇺🇸 What happens when private letters become a love story — and, two centuries later, are sung on stage?✍️ In “All That’s...
24/09/2026

🇺🇸 What happens when private letters become a love story — and, two centuries later, are sung on stage?

✍️ In “All That’s Sung in Love and War”, Terry Quinn reflects on transforming the correspondence of John and Abigail Adams into “A Distant Love”, a chamber opera composed by Gary Fagin.

📜 Their letters were intimate, political, frustrated, funny, and deeply personal. Quinn found the emotional core in their words and transformed it into a libretto, giving their relationship new life through music.

🎼 What happens when history moves from the archive to the stage? We’ll explore that question from another angle with “Room in Our House” on 19 October, bringing Dutch and Haudenosaunee histories together through dance and storytelling.

🔗 Read the full conversation with Terry Quinn on our Medium (link in bio).

💡 Want to publish with the John Adams Institute? Reach out to [email protected]

⚡️ Can the transatlantic alliance survive without trust?🤝 That was a central question of our conversation with former NA...
16/09/2026

⚡️ Can the transatlantic alliance survive without trust?

🤝 That was a central question of our conversation with former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security David Cattler () and Anna van Zoest (Anna Van Zoest) of the Atlantische Commissie, moderated by Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal (Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal).

🌍 We explored what holds the transatlantic alliance together when the assumptions that sustained it for generations are under strain. What allows democracies to act together when certainty disappears? And how do they exercise power without losing the principles that make it legitimate?

🇺🇸 This year, two anniversaries put those questions into sharp focus. As the United States marks 250 years of its democratic experiment, we also mark 25 years since 9/11, when NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time: an attack on one was an attack on all. Two moments separated by more than two centuries, connected by a common idea: that someone else’s security, freedom, and future can become our responsibility too.

🧱 That was the spirit of the evening: an alliance, like a wall, only holds when each part is strong enough to support the others. Trust is built piece by piece, stretch by stretch.

🪶 What does it mean to share a past—and how might that shared history shape a different future? What can two societies l...
09/09/2026

🪶 What does it mean to share a past—and how might that shared history shape a different future? What can two societies learn from centuries of diplomacy, conflict, memory, and exchange?

🤝 Room in Our House brings together Dutch and Haudenosaunee perspectives in an intimate dance performance exploring history, cultural memory, trauma, and the possibilities of healing and peace.

💃 Through movement, storytelling, and a cinematic soundtrack, Nicole Beutler Projects and Rematriation revisit the centuries-old relationship between the Dutch and the Haudenosaunee, asking what it means to live together across different histories and worldviews.

🌿 At the heart of the performance is a groundbreaking collaboration between Indigenous Haudenosaunee, North American, and Dutch/European artists. Rather than simply telling a story about cultural encounter, Room in Our House is itself an act of co-creation across cultures.

🗣️ Following the performance, Dr. Markha Valenta and Indigenous artist Montana Adams will explore the history of Dutch–Haudenosaunee relations and ask what we might learn today from Haudenosaunee approaches to diplomacy, democracy, cooperation, and living together.

🇺🇸 As the United States marks 250 years since the American Revolution, reflecting on the histories and perspectives that existed long before the founding of the United States is essential. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy offers a powerful perspective on democracy, collective decision-making, and the possibilities of coexistence.

📅 19 October 2026
🕢 7:00–8:45 PM
📍 OBA Theater, Oosterdokskade 143, Amsterdam
🎟️ Tickets via the link in our bio.

⚡ What does it mean to stand up when standing up comes at a cost? And how do we find the courage to dissent when fear, p...
07/09/2026

⚡ What does it mean to stand up when standing up comes at a cost? And how do we find the courage to dissent when fear, pressure, and polarization tell us to stay silent?

🗣️ Dissent is often imagined as an act of rebellion. But what if it begins somewhere much quieter: with the decision to question, to speak, and to refuse to simply go along?

🔎 Join us for an evening with acclaimed writer and The Atlantic staff writer Gal Beckerman, who draws on the lives of dissidents across time and continents—from Socrates and Hannah Arendt to Ai Weiwei—to ask what makes someone willing to challenge the status quo.

🧠 What is the mindset of a dissident? Where does the courage to dissent come from? And how can we cultivate the capacity to stand up—not only in moments of crisis, but in the everyday choices that shape our societies?

🇺🇸 As the United States marks 250 years since the American Revolution, these questions carry particular weight. The American story began with dissent: a challenge to political authority grounded in the belief that people have the right to question the systems that govern them. Two and a half centuries later, what does that tradition of dissent ask of us?

🤝 Moderated by Ikenna Azuike, this conversation will explore dissent not as a rare act of heroism, but as a deeply human capacity—and a vital part of democratic life.

📖 Gal Beckerman is the author of “How to Be a Dissident”, a powerful exploration of the people and ideas that have shaped the art of standing up.

📅 5 October 2026
🕢 7:30–9:00 PM
📍 Podium Mozaïek, Bos en Lommerweg 191, Amsterdam
🎟️ Tickets via the link in our bio.

🇺🇸 What happens when the ideas that once held a nation together begin to fracture?✍️ In “A Shattered Liberal Fragment”, ...
03/09/2026

🇺🇸 What happens when the ideas that once held a nation together begin to fracture?

✍️ In “A Shattered Liberal Fragment”, Maarten Muns revisits political theorist Louis Hartz’s influential idea that America was founded as a “liberal fragment” of Europe — a nation shaped by shared ideals of freedom, individual rights, and limited government.

📜 250 years after independence, that liberal consensus is under growing strain. As national pride declines and competing visions of American identity emerge, America is confronting questions it has long managed to postpone: What does it mean to be American? What holds the country together? And what happens when those founding ideals are no longer universally shared?

🪖 Muns also examines the changing role of the US military, historically seen not simply as a defender of the nation, but as a defender of American ideals. As the country’s political identity shifts, what will the military be expected to defend — liberal rights, democracy and pluralism, or something narrower?

🌎 On the 250th anniversary of the United States, Muns asks whether America’s “liberal fragment” has finally shattered — and what might emerge in its place.

🔗 Read the full article on our Medium (link in bio).

💡 Want to publish with the John Adams Institute? Reach out to [email protected]

🍂 What does it mean to belong to, participate in, and shape American life today? This autumn, three conversations approa...
01/09/2026

🍂 What does it mean to belong to, participate in, and shape American life today? This autumn, three conversations approach that question from different perspectives:

🗣️Gal Beckerman examines dissent, citizenship, and the responsibilities of democratic life, with his new book, “How to be a Dissident”.

🪶In collaboration with Nicole Beutler Projects, “Room in Our House” brings the Indigenous perspective in an evening that will be part dance performance and part honest dialogue.

🗳️“Midterm Madness” organized together with BKB | Het Campagnebureau and Atlantische Commissie, Mark Leibovich reflects on the aftermath of the midterm elections and what it reveals about American politics.

🧭 Together, these conversations explore how Americans understand their place in a changing country—and the stories, cultures, and civic responsibilities that shape its future.

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