“Diversity makes tolerance necessary, and tolerance makes diversity possible.”
Research focus: Ethnic Identity, Cultural Diversity, Intergroup relations, Tolerance
Verkuyten is Professor in Interdisciplinary Social Science. He’s the former academic director of the European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER) and Executive Board member of the focus area Migration and Societal Change of Utrecht University.
Research on ethnic identity and cultural diversity
His main research interest is in ethnic identity and cultural diversity. He focuses on the nature of ethnic, religious and national identities, and their interrelationships. Verkuyten is interested in the conditions under which these identities become less or more important and strong, as well as the conditions under which they are experienced as compatible or rather contradictory. In addition, he examines various consequences of these identities, including well-being, group evaluations, and collective behaviour. Furthermore, his focus is on cultural diversity ideologies (e.g., multiculturalism, interculturalism and assimilationism) and the content of social identities in relation to positive and negative intergroup relations. Verkuyten most recent research project is on Intergroup Toleration for which he received an ERC advanced grant in 2017.
Chair
Relations between cultures and groups