Biography
Samira van Bohemen is an Associate Professor at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences and a cultural sociologist specialising in identity, sexuality, and social inequality. She serves on the board of the Netherlands Sociological Association (NSV) and leads the interdisciplinary Erasmus Love Lab (ELL). Her research is unique for its emphasis on pleasure - examining how different social groups perceive and experience pleasurable activities and how this relates to questions of identity, inequality and power.
Samira’s work has gained substantial recognition, including multiple scholarships and awards. Among them is the prestigious Vidi grant from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), supporting her current project on pornographic stereotypes, their social origins, and their impact on young people. She was also co-applicant of a major Consortium Grant within the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA) to lead efforts in minimizing sexually transgressive behaviour and sexual violence.
Beyond her academic research, Samira is dedicated to making societal impact that reduces socio-sexual inequality and promotes young people's healthy sexual development. Through her leadership at the Erasmus Love Lab, she collaborates with various organizations to raise awareness about youth sexuality and public health. She frequently contributes to social-scientific periodicals, Dutch television, radio, and other media, demonstrating her commitment to accessible and impactful research.
She is widely recognised for the creative ways she conducts and shares her research—ranging from gamified research tools to theatrical science communication and documentary-based teaching. In 2024, she brought her work to a wide public through a large-scale Lowlands Science project, which earned coverage in Nature.
For a deeper dive into Samira's current research interests, you can listen to one of her podcasts on De Universiteit van Nederland (in Dutch) and the Sociologie Show (in Dutch) or watch her lecture night 'Let's Talk About Porn' (in English). All these links provide further insights into her current work on pornography and stereotypes.
More information on Samira's Vidi project can be found here.
More information about the Erasmus Love Lab can be found here.
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
- vanbohemen@essb.eur.nl
More information
Work
- Samira van Bohemen, L (Luna) den Hertog & Liesbet van Zoonen (2017) - Music as a resource for the sexual self: An exploration of how young people in the Netherlands use music for good sex - Poetics. Journal of Empirical Research on Culture, the Media and the Arts(online), 66, 19-29 - doi: 10.1016/j.poetic.2017.12.001 - [link]
- Emma Fritz & Samira van Bohemen (2024) - The (re)production of ‘normal’ sexuality: a study of sexuality education for students with psychological and behavioural challenges in the Netherlands - Sex Education - doi: 10.1080/14681811.2024.2401813 - [link]
- Samira van Bohemen & Sophie de Graaf (2022) - The Civil Savage: How Young People Living Rurally ‘Do’ Distinction at Regional Festivals in the Netherlands - Sociology, 56 (5), 998-1014 - doi: 10.1177/00380385211069506 - [link]
- Samira van Bohemen & A Roeling (2020) - Techno's sexual counter-space: Ecstasy and electronics as technologies of white sex - Cultural Sociology (print), 14 (1), 42-60 - doi: 10.1177/1749975519892771 - [link]
- SRJM (Samira) van Bohemen (2021) - Goede seks als flow ervaring.: Universele psychosociale patronen in de seksualiteitsbeleving van jongvolwassenen - Tijdschrift voor Seksuologie, 45 (3), 121-127 - [link]
- Samira Bohemen (1 January 2012) - 'Studieadviseur, een spiegel voor studenten.' Een interview met Ilja Fase
- Samira Bohemen (1 January 2011) - 'In een tijd van mondialisering?' Een interview met Jeroen van der Waal
- Samira Bohemen (1 January 2011) - 'Oosten als antwoord op levensvragen in Westen.' Een interview met Colin Campbell
- Samira van Bohemen (2025) - Tussen Preuts en Porno (Participant)
Activity: Organising and contributing to an event › Popular - Samira van Bohemen (2025) - The Heart(Break) Quiz (Organiser)
Activity: Organising and contributing to an event › Popular - Samira van Bohemen (2024) - Let's Talk About Porn (Organiser)
Activity: Organising and contributing to an event › Academic - Samira van Bohemen (2024) - Lowlands Science 2024 (Participant)
Activity: Organising and contributing to an event › Academic - Samira van Bohemen (2024) - The Heart(Break) Quiz (Organiser)
Activity: Organising and contributing to an event › Popular - Samira van Bohemen (2024) - Tiger College: "How to Have Sex" (Speaker)
Activity: Invited talk › Popular - Linda Dekker, Samira van Bohemen & Mirthe Verbeek (2024) - IFFR x Erasmus: How to Have Sex with consent. (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Popular - Samira van Bohemen (2023) - Invited lecture "Stereotypische Porno" (Speaker)
Activity: Invited talk › Popular - Samira van Bohemen (2023) - Invited lecture "Typische Porno" (Speaker)
Activity: Invited talk › Professional - Samira van Bohemen (2023) - Invited lecture "Goede muziek voor goede seks" (Speaker)
Activity: Invited talk › Popular
- Linda Dekker, Daphne van de Bongardt, Samira van Bohemen, Laura Baams, Jenneke van Ditzhuijzen, Iva Bicanic, John B.F. de Wit, Mischa Dekker, Willy van Berlo, Javier Koole & Remy Vink (2025) - T@ckle - NWA SGOG – naar een effectieve en preventieve aanpak (€2.858.000)
- Samira van Bohemen (2024) - Open Competition XS Grant
- Samira van Bohemen (2024) - Erasmus Trust Fund Grant, awarded by the Public Sociology Fund
- Samira van Bohemen (2024) - Aspasia Grant
- Samira van Bohemen (2023) - Vidi Grant
- Samira van Bohemen (2022) - Small-Scale Initiative Digital Approaches to the Social Sciences
- Samira van Bohemen (2020) - Support Programme National and International Projects Grant
- Samira van Bohemen (2018) - EUR Fellowship
- Samira van Bohemen (2017) - SOS Grant (awarded by the Netherlands Association for Sexologists) for the research 'Sexuality and the self(ie)'
- Samira van Bohemen (2016) - Graduate School Award for PhD Excellence for best PHD thesis
- Willem Schinkel, Samira van Bohemen, L. Van Zoonen, I. Van Oorschot & T. Krijnen (2015) - FWOS Grant (awarded by the Dutch Fund for Sexuality Research) for the research project 'Good sex: How young people perceive and practice good sex'
- Samira van Bohemen (2013) - Young Talent Award (Cultuurfondsbeurs) Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
1.1 Introduction to Sociology
- Year
- 2025
- Course Code
- ESSB-S1010
2.1 Sociologische vraagstukken 3
- Year
- 2025
- Course Code
- ESSB-S2010
1.1C Introduction to Sociology
- Year
- 2025
- Course Code
- FSWS-1010