Dr. L.K. (Leonie) Schmidt
- Kloveniersburgwal 48
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Postbus 94550
1090 GN Amsterdam
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Profile
Short bio
Leonie is Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam, working at the intersection of media, popular culture, ecological care, history, cultural memory, religion, and cultural politics. Her research explores how popular, digital and visual cultures shape ethical life, environmental engagement, and the affective imaginaries through which communities understand the world. She authored It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong (Palgrave, 2024), Provocative Images in Contemporary Islam (Leiden University Press, 2023), and Islamic Modernities in Southeast Asia: Exploring Indonesian Popular and Visual Culture (Bloomsbury, 2017).
Leonie currently leads an ERC-funded project, supervising a team of researchers working on environmental activism, affective ecologies, popular culture, and institutional transformation. Her broader work spans environmental humanities, global media cultures, documentary film, archipelagic studies, and the politics of memory and diaspora, including work on Indo-Dutch cultural memory, history, and migration.
In addition to her research, Leonie contributes to curriculum development, teaching innovation, and mentoring early-career scholars across multiple degree programmes. She works to build supportive academic communities, guides PhD researchers and postdocs, and connects academic insights with cultural institutions, NGOs, and public stakeholders. To date, Leonie has supervised ten PhD researchers, both completed and ongoing.
Individual grants
ERC Consolidator Grant, 2024-2029
NWO VENI, 2016-2019
NWO Rubicon, 2016Education
Ph.D. in Media Studies, 2014, University of Amsterdam.
Research Master in Media Studies, cum laude, 2007-2009, University of Amsterdam.
Bachelor in Media & Culture, cum laude, 2004-2007, University of Amsterdam.Ph.D. Supervision
2017-2023 (defended), Arnoud Arps, 'Remembering Violence: Cultural Memory, Popular Culture and the Indonesian War of Independence'. ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2019-2025 (defended), Yvette Wong, ‘Wenyi and Its Discontents: A Study of Creative Practices and Politics in Hong Kong’, ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2022-present, Hannah Poon, ‘Surviving in Abeyance: Digital Networks and Resistance in Hong Kong after the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement’, ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2023-present, Timoteus Kusno,’Dismantling Nostalgia: Art Practices Dealing with Colonial Leftovers’, ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2023-present, Brian Trinanda, ‘Traditional Islamic Cosmology and the Making of Cosmological Music’, ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2024-present, Bogna Bochinska, 'Meanders of memory: The media archaeological study of environmental remembrance and transnationality along the river Oder', ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2024-present, Oscar Man, 'Noisy Commons: Identity, Community, and Locality in Hong Kong Indie Pop', ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2025-present, Lamia Putri Damayanti, ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2025-present, Arif Muchamad Zaenal Arifin, ASCA, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Publications
2026
- Schmidt, L. K. (in press). Green faith in the ring of fire: media, religion, and environmental storytelling in Indonesia. In J. de Kloet, J. Lin, & A. Fung (Eds.), Resilient Cultures in East and Southeast Asia Amsterdam University Press.
2025
- Schmidt, L. K. (2025). A Conditional Welcome: Early Dutch Television and the Affective Terms of Postcolonial Inclusion. TMG – Journal for Media History, 28(2). https://doi.org/10.18146/tmg.925
- Schmidt, L. K. (2025). Faith, Fury, and Feminism: Voice of Baceprot’s Musical Resistance. Manuscript in preparation. In R. Dalal, & H. Auji (Eds.), Islam and Visual Culture in Contemporary Asia Yale University Press.
- Schmidt, L. K. (2025). Sacred care and resistance: women, religion, and indigenous environmental activism in Southeast Asian cinema. Manuscript submitted for publication.
2024
Chow, Y. F., de Kloet, J., & Schmidt, L. (2024). It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong. (Contemporary East Asian Visual Cultures, Societies and Politics). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6710-0 [details]- Schmidt, L. K., de Kloet, B. J., & Chow, Y. F. (in press). ‘It’s My Party’ - Tatming and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong. Palgrave Macmillan.
2023
- Kloos, D., Westmoreland, M. R., Schmidt, L., & Barendregt, B. (Eds.) (2023). Provocative Images in Contemporary Islam. (Debates on Islam & Society; Vol. 9). Leiden University Press. [details]
- Schmidt, L., & Westmoreland, M. R. (2023). Introduction: Provocative Images in Contemporary Islam. In D. Kloos, M. R. Westmoreland, L. Schmidt, & B. Barendregt (Eds.), Provocative Images in Contemporary Islam (pp. 9-23). (Debates on Islam & Society; Vol. 9). Leiden University Press. Advance online publication. [details]
2021
- Schmidt, L. (2021). Aesthetics of authority: ‘Islam Nusantara’ and Islamic ‘radicalism’ in Indonesian film and social media. Religion, 51(2), 237-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2020.1868387 [details]
- Schmidt, L. (2021). Battling it out with Memes: Contesting Islamic Radicalism on Indonesian Social Media. In E. Cauduro, K. Randell, & K. A. Ritzenhoff (Eds.), Mediated Terrorism in the 21st century (pp. 107-125). Palgrave Macmillan. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73511-1_6 [details]
2020
- Chow, Y. F., de Kloet, J., & Schmidt, L. (2020). Performing the Political: Reflections on Tatming Meeting George Orwell in 2017. In A. Fung, & A. Chik (Eds.), Made in Hong Kong: Studies in Popular Music (pp. 168-180). (Routledge Global Popular Music Series). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429276439-20 [details]
2018
- Schmidt, L. (2018). Unearthing the Past and Re-imagining the Present: Contemporary Art and Muslim Politics in a Post-9/11 world. In C. Hudson, & B. Barendregt (Eds.), Globalization and Modernity in Asia: Performative Moments (pp. 71-88). (Asian Visual Cultures; Vol. 3). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.5117/9789462981126_ch05 [details]
2017
- Schmidt, L. (2017). Islamic modernities in Southeast Asia: Exploring Indonesian Popular and Visual Culture. (Asian Cultural Studies: Transnational and Dialogic Approaches). London: Rowman & Littlefield. [details]
- Schmidt, L., & de Kloet, J. (2017). Bricolage: Role of Media. In P. Rössler (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects (Vol. 1). (The Wiley-Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication). Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0116 [details]
- Schmidt, L., Chow, Y. F., & de Kloet, J. (2017). From handover to leftover: Tatming, Umbrellas, and the Postcolonial Ruins of Hong Kong. Situations , 10(1), 119-145. http://situations.yonsei.ac.kr/product/data/item/1535540107/detail/695dad9644.pdf [details]
2016
- Schmidt, L. (2016). Modern Manuals and Islamic Inspiration: Negotiating Modernity in Malyasian Islamic-themed Cinema. In D. Black, O. Khoo, & K. Iwabuchi (Eds.), Contemporary Culture and Media in Asia (pp. 91-110). (Asian Cultural Studies: Transnational and Dialogic Approaches). London: Rowman & Littlefield. [details]
Prize / grant
- Schmidt, L. (2023). ERC Consolidator Grant.
Talk / presentation
- Schmidt, L. (speaker) (7-11-2025). Faith, Fury, and Feminism: Voice of Baceprot’s Musical Resistance, Islam and Visual Culture in Contemporary Asia , Doha. https://islamicart.qatar.vcu.edu/
Others
- Schmidt, L. (participant) (12-12-2025). Environment and Society, Amsterdam. Presentation (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
- Schmidt, L. (participant) (10-12-2025 - 11-12-2025). What’s Aesthetics Got to Do with It? Cultures of Care, Style, and Struggle, Leuven. PhD/postdoc workshop: How to present (at a conference)? (participating in a conference, workshop, ...).
- Schmidt, L. (participant) (10-12-2025 - 11-12-2025). What’s Aesthetics Got to Do with It? Cultures of Care, Style, and Struggle, Leuven. Organisation of conference (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
- Schmidt, L. (participant) (23-7-2025 - 25-7-2025). Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Nakhon Si Thammarat. Presentation at Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Thailand (participating in a conference, workshop, ...).
- Schmidt, L. (participant) (15-5-2025 - 17-5-2025). Rehearsing Futures - Pedagogies of Hope, Hong Kong (participating in a conference, workshop, ...).
- Schmidt, L. (organiser) (10-12-2024). The Politics of Pop: Tat Ming Pair, Amsterdam (organising a conference, workshop, ...). https://aihr.uva.nl/content/events/2024/12/its-my-party.html?origin=WwlfvMXFR%2F25v%2BlML%2FjsPA
- Schmidt, L. (participant) (2024). Resilient Cultures in East and Southeast Asia, Hong Kong (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
- Schmidt, L. (organiser) (2024). Sea Mediations, Amsterdam. Symposium at the University of Amsterdam | 30-31 May 2024 | Organizers: Patricia Pisters, Leonie Schmidt, Laszlo Muntéan, Jeroen Boom, Carolyn (…) (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
- Schmidt, L. (other) (2023). Eco-media in Indonesia: Investigating the potential of Islamic media and popular cultural practices in the battle against climate change (other).
- Schmidt, L. (other) (10-2021). NWO VIDI application: Eco-Islam in Indonesia: Investigating the potential of Islamic cultural practices in the battle against climate change (other).
- Schmidt, L. (other) (2021). ERC St. grant application: Eco-Islam and Creation Care in Indonesia: Countering Climate Change Through Islamic Cultural Practices (other).
- Yamomo, m. (organiser), Titus, B. (organiser), de Kloet, J. (participant), Margana, S. (participant), Aryandari, C. (participant), Barendregt, B. (participant), Buenconsejo, J. (participant), Birdsall, C. (participant), Schmidt, L. (participant), Chow, Y. (participant), Ajotikar, R. (participant), Spiller, H. (participant), de Jesus, R. (participant) & Kuitenbrouwer, V. (participant) (9-9-2019). Sonic Entanglements, Hilversum. This workshop gathers together scholars of history, anthropology, ethnomusicology, performance studies, media studies, and psychology working on/in (…) (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
- Nadkarni, D. (participant), Titus, B. (participant) & Schmidt, L. (participant) (10-6-2019). ASCA Award Committee (other). https://aihr.uva.nl/content/news/2019/06/asca-awards.html
2025
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Ancillary activities
No ancillary activities
Chow, Y. F., de Kloet, J., & Schmidt, L. (2024). It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong. (Contemporary East Asian Visual Cultures, Societies and Politics). Palgrave Macmillan.