This project investigates the full ecosystem of Middle Dutch prayerbooks in order to answer questions about their role in – and impact on – religion, culture, and society in the late medieval Low Countries.

The project ‘Founding an Inclusive Space’ investigates the histories of various LGBT+ archives in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom.

PhD candidate Lilo Nein investigates relations between texts and performances from the perspective of visual art.

On November 6th PhDArts Co-Director Dr. Janneke Wesseling has given a keynote presentation, entitled “On Methodology”, at the Symposium Conversations on Artistic Research in Porto (PRT).

How can artist PhD candidates research their own work? They need to be good at switching from maker to critical observer and their research has to have a solid theoretical basis. This is the premise of Professor Janneke Wesseling. The aesthetic value of their work also has to be up for discussion. Inaugural…

Can photography embody the emotional and interpersonal aspects of home as well as participate in the social, political, and cultural debates on homemaking?

In the History of the Roman Emperors, what does Herodian’s method of composition consist of and how does it relate to his writing intention, particularly in terms of political and moral idea(l)s?

Rembrandt painted the portraits of more Leiden alumni than we can show in the route. Discover who else posed for Rembrandt.

The Faculty of Humanities is housed in various buildings situated in the historical centre of Leiden and in the modern Wijnhaven Building in The Hague.

This research examines the social, political, and cultural forces that structure people’s responses towards accented speech, and further uses the accent as a focal point to theorize the interrelation between language and body.

Contact details for the Leiden University Graduate School of Humanities. The Humanities PhD Admissions Office is situated at the Student Information Desk in the Lipsius building.

Who doesn't know him: the world-famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. But did you also know that Rembrandt was a Leiden student? In 2019, Leiden University celebrated its 444th anniversary. In that lustrum year, which was also a Rembrandt year, we made the connection between Rembrandt and Leiden…

Archives were a common target during the Second World War, and hundreds suffered damages. Among these archival losses, the losses to medieval manuscript collections stand out.

Nadine Akkerman's book Invisible Agents is the very first study to analyse the role of early modern women spies. The book foregrounds the agency of early-modern women, offering a corrective to the gender bias implicit in modern historiography.

Whether implicitly or explicitly, we all have ideas about how the law is supposed to function, whose interests it should represent, and what role it should play in society. This project explores the ways in which these questions are addressed in the works of the Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus…

Understanding the temporal modes of digital mapping.

On the28th of September Didi van Trijp successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The complexities of modernization in Brazil and Graciliano Ramos significance for our understanding of Brazil today.

The Museums, Collections and Society (MCS) research group of the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS) and Faculty of Archaeology has grants available for collection-based research.

How are the narrative concerns of Nigerian female writers constructed in relation to the structure to their society?

We are experts in the fields of languages, cultures, history, arts, societies and philosophy. Together we cover almost all continents and time periods. Knowledge of these disciplines contributes to a humane, safe and sustainable world.

The most famous monument of the Dutch Golden Age is undoubtedly the Amsterdam Town Hall by architect Jacob van Campen inaugurated in 1655.

How was FDR's image constructed—by himself and others—as such a powerful icon in American memory?

This subproject of 'From Homo Economicus to Political Animal' analyzes Greek economic thinking of the Hellenistic period.

Combining cutting-edge quantitative approaches with more traditional book history approaches, this new book offers the first history of medieval manuscript destruction in England from the medieval period to the present.

Get the most out of your studies at Leiden University by taking part in our extracurricular activities.

Pieter Jakob Cosijn (1840-1899) was Leiden University’s first Professor of Germanic and AngloSaxon Philology. A recognised expert in the field of Old English grammar and textual criticism, Cosijn corresponded with various prominent philologists and experts in his field, including Julius Zupitza, Arthur…

The project contends that in Late Antiquity (c. 300-500 AD) both the figure of Christ and those of Pythagoras and Socrates underwent a parallel process of metamorphosis facilitated not least through an intellectual exchange between Christian theologians and Neoplatonic philosophers. From Iamblichus…

It is often claimed—in both scholarly and popular sources—that guide dogs for the blind are a modern innovation. But as this project demonstrates clearly, guide dogs also existed during the medieval period.

Both play and politics have the potential to create worlds in which new rules apply, meanings are created, and possibilities emerge for collaboration, strategy and creative solutions. In this sense, play and politics have always been very much alike. But what happens to this kinship in a post-digital…

A defining fixture of our contemporary world, video games offer a rich spectrum of engagements with the past.

On the 26th of May Pao-Yi Yang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Explore the MSc in Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict and Development at Leiden University: study governance and diversity, choose elective seminars, complete a thesis and optionally an internship.

The changing status of anatomical collections from the early modern period to date.

Victorian Fairy Tales

The Modern Devotion: pone of the most influential religious initiatives in the late medieval Low Countries.

Conference, Symposium

Late Antiquity is characterized by migration movements, political unrest and religious strife. The way we assess these religious conflicts is often coloured by a post-Reformation understanding of ‘religion’. In my research, I show that late ancient authors understood religion in a way that differs much…

A source of inspiration for readers who are curious to understand how people move and convince each other

Having open conversations about diversity and inclusion is an important first step towards change. Yet, such conversation can be emotional and vulnerable, and at times uncomfortable to initiate and sustain. The 'What’s Your Story?' Card Game aims to enable participants to exchange and respond to stories…

Nausea, neurologic pain and hair loss: some of the severe side effects of chemotherapy. Not necessary, biochemist Liyan Zhang showed. Together with Leiden biologists and others, she achieved great results with a drug that is only active in combination with light. Zhang will defend her PhD on 4 July.

‘Over the last few years we have focused much more on our environmental policy and have got better at telling the world what we do,’ says Jan van der Boon, Director of Administration at the Leiden University Administration and Central Services Department. This is how he explains Leiden’s impressive…