Learn about current approaches and ethical issues in heritage management and experience some of these in daily practice.

Mexico, between 500 B.C. and A.D. 900

Commonplace - Photographs from the Drummond-Fyvie Collection and the Ngilima Collection. By Tamsyn Adams and Sophie Feyder.

Between foraging and farming: an extended broad spectrum of papers presented to Leendert Louwe Kooijmans.

A retrospective impact assessment of human and environmental resource usage in Late Bronze Age Mycenaean Monumental Architecture, Greece

A look into the political history of collecting and the collections of Andean mummies in Western European museums from 1830-1930 through archaeology and paleoimaging.

What is my contribution to the world? This is what students and researchers at Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) ask themselves every day. They want to make a difference with their teaching and research in the four global challenges of ‘Peace and Justice,’ ‘Sustainability,’ ‘Diversity’ and ‘…

This research project is supported by an NWO Aspasia grant, DeepDish TV, crowd-sourced funding, and the Democracy and Media Foundation.

What are the rights of migrants in Morocco and how do this receiving state and migrants deal with them in practice?

The programs of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Educational Sciences, and Psychology offer the opportunity to take individual courses from the complete range of education. This 'contract teaching’ is intended for those interested in delving into a specific subject but do not wish to…

This special issue of the International Forestry Review talks about how logging really affects society.

The MA Religious Studies at Leiden University is a one-year programme designed to equip you with the academic tools to critically study religion as a global and multifaceted phenomenon. It combines theoretical depth with methodological training, preparing you for both academic and professional caree…

Although official law generally conceives of personal injury victims as individual rights holders, the actual experience of physical injury and its consequences is relational. Indeed, many researchers in the global North as well as the global South have contended that the very concept of the Self should…

These were the main speakers and session leaders at The Knowledge Orchard 2025:

Inequality and violence are the two biggest issues in South Africa. What is the underlying cause? Could they be linked to rivalling groups, economic factors, government policy or all of the above? To understand social issues, it is important to study them within their context. The extended case study…

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden University with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The MA Middle Eastern Studies at Leiden University is a one-year, full-time programme taught entirely in English. With over four centuries of expertise in Middle Eastern scholarship, this programme offers you cutting-edge insights into the region’s history, politics, religion, languages, and culture…

This Research project is funded by the 7th European Community Framework Programme, with additional funds from NWO Aspasia grant, and in collaboration with University of California, Berkeley.

A project aimed at understanding the complicated process of religious transformation in one of the centres of the early Muslim world.

How can we deal with today’s global challenges in sustainable, peaceful, fair, democratic, and effective ways? How can global events such as geopolitical shifts, ecological changes, technological innovations, and pandemics be better governed? Addressing these complex questions requires innovative, multidisciplinary…

Within the Global Ethnography specialisation, you can develop your own research project or make use of the research opportunities offered by our staff members listed below.

Leiden is a picturesque university city that’s brimming with history and boasts a student culture that’s tangible just about everywhere. The university has contributed to the city’s unique atmosphere for over 400 years, since its founding in 1575. Leiden’s historical centre is full of student associations,…

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors. Your nationality and previous Dutch higher education qualifications determine the amount of tuition fee you have to pay.

We are convinced that you’ll have a wonderful time at Leiden University, but you don’t have to take our word for it. If you’re looking for objective opinions of what it’s like to study here, listen to what current students and alumni have said about it!

Leiden’s Institute for History has an exceptionally strong expertise in premodern European history in its global context, with specialists whose interests cover virtually the whole continent. We have a strong track record in leading larger research teams and work together with colleagues across Europe…

During the autumn semester (September–December), NIMAR offers an English taught minor that focuses on the study of Morocco from both a social sciences and humanities perspective. The semester teaches ethnographic research skills in a Moroccan setting. In addition, the semester provides an in-depth…

The BA in Linguistics programme builds on Leiden University’s renowned expertise in linguistics. You will benefit from the widest range of linguistic subjects and languages offered by any institute in Europe. During the programme, you can study nearly extinct languages, take part in experimental research…

Do you want to know more about the Science for Sustainable Societies bachelor’s programme and experience what it’s like to study in Leiden? Leiden University offers you a variety of introductory activities to help you with your study choice.

As we believe it is important that you choose a study programme that fits you well, the matching process is a mandatory part of your admission.

Religion is everywhere. Knowledge of religion is essential for anyone who wants to understand the world. Are you fascinated by the diversity of religions, their development throughout history and their meaning today?

What was the environmental impact of the industrial mining revolution that transformed southern Africa? Specifically, what was the impact of industrial mining when viewed from a more than human multi-species perspective?

Our institutes abroad are instrumental for Leiden’s internationalisation activities.

Our institutes abroad are instrumental for Leiden’s internationalisation activities.

In one year, you’ll complete five months of coursework, conduct an Embedded Research Project, and write your thesis.

Course

Symposium

It is with great sadness that we share the news that on Friday, May 3rd 2024, Carla Risseeuw, Professor emerita of CADS, passed away. Carla Irene Risseeuw retired as Professor of Intercultural Gender Studies from CADS in 2009 after a long and productive career.

Simay Çetin won the FSW Master’s Thesis Prize 2021 with her thesis “Interpreting Culture through Embodied Practice: An anthropological study of sexuality among Dutch Women with Turkish Migrant backgrounds”. She was supervised by Prof. dr. Peter Pels. According to the jury is Simay’s thesis not only…

Bachelor's students Larissa van Beckhoven, Eeke Brussee and Mirjam de Haan were granted the Speckmann award for their Fieldwork NL report ‘Een Tastbaar Mysterie’ (supervisor: Bregje ter Meer). Alumnus Markus Enk received the Master's Speckmann award for his innovative thesis called ‘Do spirits resist…

It's 6:30 PM, and the Faculty of Social Sciences is quiet. Classes are over, students and staff have gone home. But at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, music is playing. Live music. A small group of students has gathered in Wim van Zanten's office, sitting on thin cushions…

Writing a report for a teacher, getting a grade and then no one ever cares about your research again. Pity, isn't it? That is quite different in the course Personal and Professional Impact (PPI). During this third-year bachelor's course of Cultural Anthropology students apply their anthropological knowledge…

Alumnus Théo Pavlović received the Master's Speckmann award for his thesis: PAN RECORDS - A digital journey through the ethnic music niche that was supervised by Bart Barendregt. This price is awarded to the best fieldwork reports for ethnographic fieldwork. It includes a certificate and a prize of…

The United Nations has declared May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity. A moment of global reflection on everything on Earth and its indispensability. Anthropologist Marja Spierenburg stresses the importance of the interaction between natural and social sciences in addressing sustainability…

Together with colleagues from the UK (lead), Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda, Brazil, Sweden, Germany, and Marjo de Theije of the VU (Amsterdam), Luning has obtained a research grant for the project 'Sustainability Transformations in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: A Multi-Actor and Trans-Regional…

Peter Pels, affiliated with the Institute of Cultural Anthropology of Leiden University, is one of the researchers. Together with Birgit Meyer (UU), he will lead the work package 'Heritage and the Question of Conversion'.

The Duurzame Jonge 100 (Sustainable Young 100) is an annual election for young entrepreneurs, young professionals and students who show that a sustainable future is possible. The 100 most inspiring people in the field of sustainability are chosen from all participants and appear on the list. This year,…

‘Over leven in Aarlanderveen’ , the film that Master's student Marleen Oostenrijk made for her graduation project of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, will be screened 22-28 February at the local television station Studio Alphen. The film portrays the liveability of the village Aarlanderveen…

Francesco Ragazzi (Institute of Political Science), Julian Ross (Center for the Arts in Society) and Mark Westmoreland (Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology) set up the interdisciplinary research centre ReCNTR.

The article “Anticipating an unwanted future: euthanasia and dementia in the Netherlands” by Natashe Lemos Dekker is the winner of the first Interdem Academy Publication Award. Lemos Dekker is a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC project ‘Globalizing Palliative Care’ at Leiden Leiden of Cultural Anthropology…