Egyptologist Lara Weiss is curator at The National Museum of Antiquities and has been leading the VIDI research project 'Walking Dead' since 2017. The exhibition 'Saqqara: Living in a necropolis', which will be on display at the museum starting March 10 next year, is part of the project.

Museum Temporalities analyzes how museums relate to time. It explores the hidden temporal assumptions and practices that define museums. How might these assumptions help us to better understand and address museums’ often problematic and painful relationship to the colonial past?

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…

The 2011 disasters precipitated widespread concern among heritage scholars about the fate of Tohoku’s cultural properties, tangible and intangible. Damage to not only buildings and landscapes but also ‘formless’ heritage, some worried, could weaken social infrastructure and thus slow or undermine re…

This study seeks to identify suitable local environments conditions for the objects displayed at the Jordanian museums using the proper methods in order to contribute to the stabilization of these objects.

University lecturer of modern Dutch literature Rick Honings, associated with the Faculty of Humanities, has received a Vidi grant of 800,000 euros. This allows him to carry out research into a more nuanced image of our colonial past.

This project involves research into the oeuvre of the Sundanese sculptor Iko, who has worked for the Catholic mission in Java and has carved sculptures for a chapel and church in Ganjuran. The images were designed by the Catholic layman Jos Schmutzer and are characterized by a fusion in style and symbolism…

Research on the global field of museums, heritage, commemoration, consumption and material culture

Lecture

In memory of Andrea Evers, Professor of Health Psychology, the Prof. Andrea Evers Fund for Health, Behaviour and Society has been established. With this fund, we aim to honour her deepest wish: to continue research that contributes to health, well-being, and a resilient society.

The Leiden Human Evolution Collective (LHEC) is a network of researchers from Leiden University, LUMC, and Naturalis with an interest in human evolution. The collective brings together existing expertise in Leiden to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in research, teaching, and public outreach.

There is a growing demand throughout the world for ways to understand and preserve cultural heritage. Heritage has a crucial role to play because it strengthens societies and promotes understanding among cultures. Leiden expertise in the area of heritage spans the whole world.

Researcher: Hieke Huistra MSc. This PhD-project is directed at the historical and educational import of the Leiden University nineteenth-century pathological collections.

How can innovative collective action methods restore biodiversity in socio-ecological lifescapes across livestock-dominated regions?

Are you thinking about studying Arts and Culture: Art History and Museum Studies? Learn more and watch the introduction video.

Mariana de Campos Françoso and Amy Strecker published a new article in the International Journal of Cultural Property last week entitled 'Caribbean Collections in European Museums and the Question of Returns'.

Birmingham and Leiden, as cities and as seats of global universities, shaped and were shaped by, empire. Both institutions have started to reflect critically on this legacy.

In educational settings such as museums, universities and schools, white, male, able-bodied and rational subjects still dominate. Although there has been a lot of theoretical work on processes of in- and exclusion through racialization, sexualization, and disabilization, we still know very little about…

As museums face more scrutiny and are being demanded to decolonize, there are opportunities for Dominican museums to adopt a critical perspective and turn their collections and exhibitions into connections to our cultural past, present, and future.

This book explores the intellectual and cultural flows between Asia and Europe which occurred during – and were formative of – the political and social changes of the first half of the twentieth century.

Bringing Dominican indigenous collections back to the community

Chinese materia medica (CMM), comprising a diverse array of natural substances from plants, animals, and minerals, has been integral to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) throughout history. This study investigates the dynamic evolution of CMM, noting shifts in species for improved therapeutic effects…

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

On Thursday 11 January 2018, Xiang Li defended her doctoral thesis: “Collective Labour Rights and Collective Labour Relations of China”. The supervisors are Professor Guus Heerma van Voss and Professor Barend Barentsen.

The foundation of the ‘Leids Papyrologisch Instituut’ took place on 19 January 1935. Prior to then, the founders – J.C. van Oven (1881-1963, Roman Law), B.A. van Groningen (1894-1987, Greek) and M. David (1898-1986, Legal History) – had already been teaching Greek papyrology at Leiden University.

The living plant collections form the heart of the Hortus botanicus Leiden and serve as a vital resource for scientific research. By studying these collections, researchers can explore biodiversity in a unique way and conduct experiments on living material.

Leiden Professor of Museums, Collections and Society, Pieter ter Keurs, conducts research into the provenance of museum collections. This is important for the return of heritage. But Ter Keurs is interested in why people collect at all.

Welcome to the webpage of the Decolonising Collective of Leiden University, aka the Decolonising Collective Leiden. We are a bottom-up initiative of academic staff, support staff, and students who collaborate and share diverse knowledges for the aim of decolonising all aspects of knowledge production…

From museum collections to artificial intelligence: Leiden University has selected eight research programmes that will receive extra funding

We are a community of researchers from diverse backgrounds who explore becoming and being human, in relation to the world around us and other living beings.

This project, executed by Marieke Hendriksen MA MRes, aims at an analysis of how the early modern anatomical collections of Leiden University were rooted in ideals of perfection in different fields of knowledge and expertise.

In July 2022, Leiden hosted the ESOF conference.

Connecting worlds, enhancing research and teaching, and providing innovative solutions to complex social issues: that is the idea behind interdisciplinary research. In that respect, a huge amount happened at Leiden University in 2023.

On 23 October 2019, Yoram Stein defended his thesis 'Spinoza's Theory of Religion: The Importance of Religion in Spinoza's Thought and Its Implications for State and Society'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P.B. Cliteur and Prof. A.A.M. Kinneging.

The master’s specialisation Computer Science and Science Communication and Society at Leiden University bridges the gap between experts and the public by combining high quality research in computer science with extensive training in science communication.

Combining approaches from intellectual history, philology and the study of Arabic manuscripts, this study places the Bornu scholar Muḥammad al-Wālī within his intellectual environment on the one hand, and it portrays him as someone who responded to the concerns of ordinary Muslims around him on the…

In the civil war in Syria, the country's cultural heritage is also under threat. There have been further acts of vandalism in Palmyra and many of the city's museums have been looted. Leiden archaeologist Olivier Nieuwenhuijse's Focus Raqqa project aims to make a digital inventory of the plundered archaeology…

An overview of our exhibition catalogues and research monographs on the Middle Eastern collections.

Cristina Grasseni’s project

Research in Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science focuses on the dynamics and the interaction of political institutions, individual decision-making, and collective behaviour.

The Museum enjoys the highest reputation internationally

Building on its extensive holdings in Asian studies, including much material that can support the study of “unofficial” histories and cultures, Leiden University Libraries has established the Leiden Chinese Queer Collection (LCQC).

The Leiden Faculty of Archaeology is a world renowned academic centre for the study of the past. Our archaeologists and heritage experts are involved in innovative projects all over the world.

Studies on the Disappearance of the Amphora Phenomenon