About us

Prof. dr. John Lievens

Department of Sociology- Research group CuDOS - Ghent University
John.Lievens@UGent.be 

John Lievens is full professor in the Department of Sociology at Ghent University, where he teaches several statistics courses and demography. He is affiliated with the research group CuDOS. His research interests concern cultural and arts participation, cultural experiences, lifestyles, cultural and arts education, social scientific methodology, sexual health and family formation in ethnic-cultural minorities. Since 2001, he has been involved as a coordinator in successive centers for policy relevant research on culture.

Prof. dr. Jessy Siongers

Department of Sociology- Research group CuDOS - Ghent University
Department of Sociology- Research group BRISPO - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Department of Educational Sciences - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Jessy.Siongers@UGent.be

Jessy Siongers has been coordinator of the Centre for Culture Research since October 1, 2012. She also teaches cultural management at the VUB. She studied Sociology and Cultural Studies at KU Leuven and obtained a PhD in Sociology at the VUB. Her research portfolio encompasses studies into a broad range of cultural topics, including barriers to cultural participation, youth engagement in cultural activities, the interplay between cultural preferences and attitudes, amateur art practice, arts and cultural education, and the professional trajectories of creative professionals.

Prof. dr. Bram Spruyt

Department of Sociology - Research Group BRISPO - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Bram.Spruyt@vub.be

Bram Spruyt is a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and a member of the TOR Research Group within with the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies (BRISPO). His primary research interests lie in the fields of cultural participation, educational sociology, and social inequality in general. Within the current support center, he conducts research on the participation of marginalized groups.

Prof. dr. Ignace Glorieux

Department of Sociology - Research Group BRISPO - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Ignace.Glorieux@vub.be

Ignace Glorieux is an emeritus professor affiliated with the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies (BRISPO) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His research primarily focuses on the areas of time use and organization, school trajectories, the transition from school to work, and cultural participation. He teaches the course Sociology of Time and Time Organization.

Prof. dr. Theun Pieter van Tienoven

Department of Sociology - Research Group BRISPO - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
theun-pieter.van.tienoven@vub.be 

Theun Pieter van Tienoven is a part time research professor and postdoctoral research fellow affiliated to the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies (BRISPO) - Cluster TOR of the Sociology Department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His main research themes relate to the temporal organisation of societies and the resulting (gender) inequalities in daily life, including inequalities in work-life balance, leisure, and cultural participation. His research also includes data collection methodologies. He was involved in cultural research as a researcher between 2008 and 2014 and between 2022-2023 and now as a promoter.

Elke Van Dam

Department of Sociology - Research Group CuDOS - Ghent University
Elke.Vandam@UGent.be  

Elke Van Dam started working as a researcher at the Centre for Culture Research in 2023. She obtained a degree in secondary education at HoGent and later a master’s degree in Sociology at Ghent University, with a major in Political Sociology. During these studies she developed an interest in social inequality, the groups affected by it and the barriers associated with it. Within the Centre for Culture Research she focuses on cultural participation in Flanders, conducting further research on the current participation survey and audience research.

Jens Verhoeven

Department of Sociology - Research Group BRISPO - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
jens.verhoeven@vub.be 

Jens Verhoeven has been affiliated with ‘Kenniscentrum Cultuuronderzoek’ as a researcher since 2023. He earned his Master's degree in Sociology from the University of Antwerp, specializing in cultural sociology. During his academic journey, he focused on the development of normative beliefs within an information society and examined the influence of modern communication structures on this process. Within the research group, he leverages his expertise to explore the values of culture and comprehend its role in our society.