The John Adams Institute

Welcoming the best and brightest of American thinking

Upcoming events

Curtis Chin: For Here or To Go?

Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese restaurant

Join us for an evening of conversation, community, and cuisine as we dive into Curtis Chin’s memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. Growing up in 1980s Detroit, Curtis Chin came of age in a city struggling with urban decay, segregation, and the exodus of wealth to the suburbs. Amidst this landscape …...

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Land of the free?

Four Talks on Freedom in collaboration with the KNAW

This event is free of charge. Registration is required. Use this link or click on the red button above. “We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt “Land of the free, home of the brave.” The …...

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Get acquainted with the John Adams by watching recordings of our lectures or listening to our podcast ‘Bright Minds’.

About The John Adams Institute

The John Adams Institute provides an independent podium for American culture in the Netherlands. For three decades, we have brought the best and the brightest of American thinking from the fields of literature, politics, history, and technology.

OUTREACH

Young Minds & Quincy Club

What else is going on?

American culture in the Netherlands

Choreographer Trajal Harrell at Holland Festival

American choreographer Trajal Harrell will be the associate artist for the 78th edition of the Holland Festival in June 2025. Harrell is one of the major contemporary choreographers internationally. His unique style combines elements from various dance traditions, fashion, music and visual arts. With universal human emotions and themes like interconnection, tragedy, tenderness and vulnerability, Harrell’s pieces often move audiences on a deeply personal level. Click here for more info.

The story of the 'stroopwafel' in the New York Times

Dutch-based illustrator, artist, and writer Rachelle Meyer from Texas published a comic in the New York Times that tells the story of the ‘stroopwafel’, the Dutch sweet that has found a global audience of loyal fans. In 2019, she created Faces on the Ferry, a blog series for the John Adams Institute that sketched her fellow commuters on the Amsterdam ferry.

 

‘Go on and improve in everything worthy.’

John Adams