Interested in Area Studies? Then Leiden is the place to be! Join our Online Area Studies Week from 2-5 June to find out more. From Africa to Brasil and from Korea to Russia, Leiden covers all areas and fields, both in language, literature, history, politics and socio-economics. Join our live Q&As!

With Muslim Futures, our ambition is to create spaces where imagination leads. In an increasingly destabilizing global context, where climate, economic, and social crises expose the limits of current systems, people across disciplines are beginning to ask: 'What kind of society do we want to live in?'…

Report on the Excavations of the University of Amsterdam (1988) and the National Museum of Antiquities Leiden (1991-1993) in Syria.

In this book, Peter Akkermans provides a systematic overview of the Halaf culture of the 6 th millennium BC in the Syrian portion of the valley of the Balikh River, a tributary of the Euphrates.

Report on the Excavations of the National Museum of Antiquities Leiden in the Balikh Valley, Syria.

Lexicographical description of Greek; production of Greek-Dutch dictionary

LUCIS’ research on Islam and society is guided by three overarching themes, which are fundamental to our research programmes.

Balikh Valley Archaeological Project Monograph 1 - BAR International Series 468

This volume investigates how loanwords can prove past contact events, taking into consideration ten different regions located in the Philippines, Eastern Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and New Guinea.

In the wake of controversial disclosures of classified government information by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, questions about the democratic status of secret uses of political power are rarely far from the headlines. Despite an increase in initiatives aimed at enhancing government transparency – such…

This project investigates the influence that Arabic (esp. dialectal Arabic) has had on the Berber languages of Northern Africa.

Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment, vol.16. Edited by Noriyuki Shirai.

If you have a question, there are various ways to get in touch with us.

Documenting and describing languages of the world.

On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, Professor Elisheva Baumgarten (Hebrew University) delivered a Keynote Lecture at the Leiden Jewish Studies Network Conference “Care and the Jewish Experience".

Mariken Teeuwen started at the Institute for History as a professor by special appointment of Script Culture of the Middle Ages on 1 March. ‘I’m looking forward to doing research together with students.’

Online Book Launch

If you’re considering the Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives bachelor’s programme and would like to experience what it’s like to study in Leiden University, introductory activities that include an Open Day, Experience Day, Online Experience and Student for a Day, will help you make up your…

The skin has recently gained attention within body studies for its many specific cultural and social associations, in addition to its biology. This project aims to examine the different layers of meaning and the functions invested in the skin in ancient Greece: how did ancient Greek literary and medical…

LUCAS members are experts in the fields of literary history and theory, film and media studies, and art, architectural, and book history.

Links to various Digital Humanities organizations and resources, mainly in English.

To what end and how does Plautus constantly underline the Helleni(sti)c provenance of his art? How does this aspect relate the author’s originality?

The multidisciplinary one-year master’s programme in North American Studies provides students with comprehensive knowledge of North American history, literature, film, and culture and their connection to contemporary social, political, literary and cultural developments in an international perspecti…

Leiden University offers a rich environment in which ambitious students can reach their potential.

Leiden University offers students a rich environment in which to reach their potential.

Leiden University offers students a rich environment in which to reach their potential.

Do you want to know more about the Bachelor of Linguistics, and experience what it’s like to study in Leiden? Leiden University offers you a variety of introductory activities to help you with your choice of study:

If you’re considering the Arts, Media and Society bachelor’s programme and would like to experience what it’s like to study at Leiden University, introductory activities such as an Open Day, Experience Day, Online Experience and Student for a Day, will help you make up your mind.

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

Leiden University is awarding an honorary doctorate to virologist Marc van Ranst. Van Ranst has been one of the main advisers of the Belgian government during the Covid pandemic. German Arabist Beatrice Gründler will also receive an honorary doctorate for her work in the field of Oriental Manuscript…

This project investigates how the first generation of Dutch printed books (the incunabula, 1473-1501) affected late medieval spirituality, religious practice and visual culture in the Low Countries.

Studying one another’s languages and cultures fosters understanding between groups of people, which leads to more equality, along with increased economic, administrative, and cultural cooperation.

Sarah Cramsey was appointed professor by special appointment of Central European Studies at the Institute of History on 14 September. 'I am keen to incorporate different scholarly approaches into my work and raise the profile of Central European Studies in Leiden.'

Early Christian Encounters with Town and Countryside - Essays on the Urban and Rural Worlds of Early Christianity.

How are contemporary art practices from Southeast Asia negotiating notions of art and tradition?

This series of publications brings together new material on wellconsidered themes within the wide area of Early Modern Studies.

From Crisis to Critique

In Humanity’s End As A New Beginning, Emeritus Professor Mineke Schipper reflects on myths about ‘the end’.

The World of the Fullo takes a detailed look at the fullers, craftsmen who dealt with high-quality garments, of Roman Italy. Analyzing the social and economic worlds in which the fullers lived and worked, it tells the story of their economic circumstances, the way they organized their workshops, the…

Sanne Dokter-Mersch defended her thesis on Thursday 15 April 2021.

Clara ten Hacken defended her thesis on 16 December 2015

Building a lively Humanities Campus with renewed and sustainable buildings surrounded by a green outdoor space.

An interdisciplinary cultural analysis of how the Hindustani double migration informs contemporary processes of identification and problematises the juxtaposition of tradition and modernity.

If Dutch cinema is examined in academic studies, the focus is usually on pre-war films or on documentaries, but the post-war fiction film has been sporadically addressed.

Kartika Setyawati defended her thesis on 12 November 2015

At LUCL, researchers aim to understand, describe, and preserve the linguistic diversity of the indigenous Americas.