Amsterdam December 16-17

I traveled to Amsterdam to attend the PhD oral defense of Diane D’Souza, a colleague from the Henry Martyn Institute. Her thesis, entitled Partners of Zaynab was about the 12er Shi‘ite community in Hyderabad, focusing on women’s devotional practices. The published book version will be out in a few months.

I took an overnight train to Amsterdam with a supersaver fare that arrived at 11:15 on Wednesday December 16. I proceeded to the campus of the Free University of Amsterdam in good time for the defense at 1:45.

Diane had contacted me two days earlier about whether I could serve as her paranymph for the ceremony; the person she had lined up was unable to attend at the last minute. A paranymph was a new vocabulary word for me, designating a ceremonial assistant equivalent to best man or bridesmaid at a wedding. I was supposed to have a black suit with tails and a white bow tie, so when I arrived with only a black three-piece suit and tie, there was some extended discussion about whether I could serve as paranymph and join the procession in and out of the auditorium with the candidate. Since there was no one else available, the mistress of ceremonies eventually relented and allowed me to take part. Diane’s other paranymph was Yasmin Nourdin, a South African now living in Sweden, who had been with the conflict resolution program at the Henry Martyn Institute.

Me as paranymph, with Diane in the middle, Yasmin on the right and the upholder of sartorial standards in the background

The oral defense was far more ceremonial than my experience in American universities and consisted of a presentation by the candidate and some questions posed by a panel, followed by the graduation ceremony and awarding of the diploma on the spot. After the ceremony, there was a reception and then a dinner at the fancy Memories of India restaurant.

I stayed in a hotel in the city center near the Rembrandt Square park, which was okay until snow started to fall during the night, leading lots of party-revelers to whoop it up in the park. Another drawback was that the hotel proved not to have an internet connection.

The next day, the Free University of Amsterdam organized an afternoon seminar on Shi‘ites, taking advantage of so many specialists in the field who were around to participate in Diane’s defense the previous day. I was able to attend the first session, but then had to leave to catch my train back to Frankfurt, which was delayed due to snow. I stayed in a hotel near the train station. Their internet was not functioning, so after a couple of days without access I had to go to an internet place in the train station the following morning.