From Amsterdam to Tokyo: on or around 26 November Cleveringa meetings will be taking place at more than 40 locations throughout the world. The meetings are organised by the Leiden University Fund (LUF) to commemorate the protest speech given by Professor Cleveringa and to foster relations with alumni…

NVIC is pleased to welcome Christine Kamel as our new receptionist. Christine will briefly introduce herself: "My name is Christine Kamel. I live in Cairo, Egypt. I studied Pharmacy at an Egyptian University (Ain Shams), class 2010. I worked as a Research & Development Pharmacist in a Pharmaceutical…

Pre-Islamic Arabia was barren, barbaric, and isolated. At least, that's what many Arabic writers and historics argued. Ahmad Al-Jallad debunks this myth. For this, he received the Gratama Science Prize during the opening of the academic year.

Dear friends of the NVIC,

The Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Development and Benghazi Centre for Law and Society Studies, Benghazi University have released their final report, in English and Arabic, on Assessing Legislation for Libya’s Reconstruction.

Professor Petra Sijpesteijn has been elected as an International Fellow of the British Academy, a prestigious recognition that highlights her exceptional contributions to the study of early Islamic history.

The NVIC and al-Azhar University signed a protocol for cooperation on the 23rd of September 2018. The protocol formalizes cooperation between al-Azhar as the oldest Islamic university and the Dutch and Flemish universities in the scope of humanities and Islamic and Arabic studies. The NVIC will act…

We are delighted to welcome Elisabeth Faber as our new intern for the Fall semester 2022.

Commenting live on the Italian TV RaiNews 24, Marina Calculli (LIAS) suggested to view the recent escalation between the United States and Iran as the result of domestic and regional constraints on both countries.

NASA is offering to buy lunar samples collected by companies for a token sum primarily to set a precedent for space resource rights on the moon. However, there is not international consensus on the U.S. position on the rights to extracted resources.

Lecture, Leiden Yemeni Studies Lecture Series

What is the effect of a certain regime on a country’s migration policy? Political scientist Katharina Natter compared the migration policy of autocratic Morocco with that of democratising Tunisia. Her findings challenge some of the core assumptions.

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On this page you will find more information about the selected projects of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund for 2023.

After the advent of Islam in the 7th century C.E., the strategic geographical position of Tarsus (its proximity to the sea and to the mountain pass leading to inland Anatolia) made this town the de facto capital of the thughur, a historical and geographical term created by Muslim geographers qualifying…

Leiden Asia Departments

The Leiden Political Economy Group (L-PEG) is a multi-disciplinary network of scholars with a research interest in (comparative / global) political economy based at Leiden University. Our members belong to various institutes and faculties across Leiden University, and from other universities across…

Greek papyrology is the science that is concerned with deciphering and studying all texts written in Greek on papyrus. Papyrus was the writing material of antiquity and was made from strips of the papyrus plant stuck together.

Leiden University is a centre of migration research, bringing together historians, economists, lawyers, political scientists and anthropologists. They conduct research on who migrates and why, and the impact on societies. They analyse government policy, the role of media and how societies respond to…

Issues such as climate change, the depletion of natural resources or social inequality are too complex to be addressed from a single scientific discipline or by a single country. Leiden University has the expertise to bring the resolution of these enormous problems a small step closer.

Dr. Bakhtiyar Babadjanov is the first Erasmus Fellow within the Erasmus Mobility Plus Project between Leiden University and the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies, in particular the Al-Biruni Centre of Oriental Manuscripts. The two-year project (2016-2018) envisages exchange of teaching staff…

Like every year, our institute organized the Cleveringa lecture to commemorate the courageous speech held by professor Rudolph Cleveringa on the 26th of November in 1940.

From October 1-3, 2017, the 24th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium was held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA. The Symposium was attended by 100 participants, from 50 different countries, while interpretation at the venue was available in 11 languages (Arabic, French, Italian,…

Dear friends of the institute,

Starting in September 2017, two new English-taught bachelor’s programmes will be offered by Leiden University’s Faculty of Humanities: Arts, Media and Society and Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives. People looking to get a taste of the programmes can partake in the ‘online experience’:…

Quincy Promes has been arrested in Dubai at the request of the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service. The Dutch judicial authorities now want Dubai to extradite Promes. But how does that work? Professor Jannemieke Ouwerkerk explains on ‘RTL Nieuws’.

The new CML minor Sustainable Development started on Monday 7 September 2009 with an official opening by the Vice-Rector Prof. Rietje van Dam.

With the What's Next? series we hope to inspire current Media Technology MSc students, show the variety of paths taken after the studies, and bring together alumni. Editions of the series are generally organized around a particular theme by Media Technology MSc students themselves, and followed by social…

Leiden University won the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition – English edition. The final round was held at 7 June 2019, in the ICC in The Hague.

Sarah is the latest addition to our team...

Over 200 people paid their first visit to the new Middle Eastern Library on a special open evening. As well as exploring the library, they got to see exhibitions, speed lectures and premieres about Leiden University’s Middle Eastern collections.

Katharina Natter of the Institute of Political Science has been awarded the 2025 IMR Book Review Award for her book on migration politics in Morocco and Tunisia.

On 20 June 2024, Jamal El Ouahi successfully defended his PhD thesis at Leiden University.

This summer, the Universe is closer than ever. With the online astronomy summer programme Space in Your Living Room!, the Leiden Observatory brings astronauts and Leiden astronomers to the homes of children all across Europe.

Leiden University won three prizes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition – English edition. The final round was held on 27 June 2022 in Courtroom I of the ICC in The Hague (the Netherlands). Due to current COVID-19 related restrictions, it was a hybrid hearing with judges…

On 19 April, several mosque organisations criticized the way in which the Dutch intelligence service wrote the annual report about increasing 'anti-democratic' tendencies in after-school lessons in Islam and Arabic. Constant Hijzen, assistant professor of Intelligence Studies at the Institute of Security…

A fresh semester means a fresh faculty calendar. There is plenty to do at the faculty again in the coming months. Five interesting activities are listed below.

Prior to arriving to Leiden, Dr. Abazon completed her Ph.D. at Yale University's Department of Comparative Literature, where she also taught courses ranging from Introduction to Zionism to World Cinema.