SPARK Session: Noah Littel "Archives of Passion: An Affective History of Dutch Gay, Lesbian and Women’s Archival and Information Activism since the 1970s"

This SPARK session is postponed until September, date to be announced later.

Our speaker is Noah Littel (who will be defending their PhD research on June 29!)

Archives of Passion: An Affective History of Dutch Gay, Lesbian and Women’s Archival and Information Activism since the 1970s

Inclusion, diversity and intersectionality are not recently introduced topics on the agendas of heritage institutions – nor are interventions from ‘critical visitors’ to improve representation within heritage institutions new. However, institutional histories and critical interventions in the past tend to become forgotten. Through archival and oral history research, in their dissertation Noah Littel addresses the longevity of discussions around diversity and intersectionality – which were considered since the founding of community archival initiatives in the late 1970s and early 1980s, albeit in different terms and configurations.

Dutch lesbian, gay and women’s archival initiatives stimulated intersectional solidarity across liberation struggles but also grappled with new normativities, exclusions and silences. While institutional histories become forgotten, the affective dimensions of these histories – such as the pride and joy of creating representations or the frustration and anger to be excluded or forgotten – linger into our present. By inviting open and vulnerable reflection on the affective and political work of Dutch lesbian, gay and women’s archiving, Littel aims to work toward a sustainable commitment to systematic changemaking.

About the speaker:

Noah Littel (they/them) is a historian and PhD-candidate at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University. On 29 June 2026, they will defend their thesis with the title Archives of Passion: An Affective History of Dutch Gay, Lesbian and Women’s Archival and Information Activism since the 1970s. Previously, Littel curated an exhibition based on this research, ‘The Archive in Progress’ (Amsterdam, 2021-2022). Their scholarship features in peer-reviewed journals, including Women’s History Review and Historica, as well as in the Bloomsbury anthologies Transnational LGBTQ+ Networks in Europe and the Americas (forthcoming 2026); and Writing the History of Disabilities (forthcoming 2026). Littel co-edited the book (Re)Claiming (2024) in the Archival Textures publication series.

We hope you can join us for Noah’s presentation. Please email us at macch@maastrichtuniversity.nl to confirm that you will be attending. We look forward to seeing you there!

All our best,

Claartje Rasterhoff and Maria Andreou 

on behalf of the MACCH team

https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/maastricht-centre-arts-and-culture-conservation-and-heritage