Aesthetic formations and cultural repertoires give meaning to our reality in ways that are never neutral. Focusing on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and its global interlocutors, this project brings together a team of scholars from Leiden University who bring in inter-disciplinary, inter-area…

The physical features of twelfth-century manuscripts from the Flemish abbey of Ter Duinen – such as script, page layout, and reading aids – show how their readers organized, interpreted, and transmitted knowledge.

Justin Bennett teaches in the Institute of Sonology of the Royal Conservatoire (KC) in the Hague. He is also a member of Jubilee, a platform for artistic research and production in Brussels.

Impressions by Wouter Baas and Caroline Schep

Understanding the history of Islam and Muslim societies sheds a clear light on the complex and changing social structures of the Middle East, including the current trouble spots whose effect spreads all the way to Western Europe.

The new Middle Eastern Library (MEL) will bring together the UBL's own Middle Eastern collections and the collections of the library of The Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO), which has been part of the Leiden University Libraries since 1st January 2018.

Leiden University offers its students a wide range of bachelor's, master's and minors that explore sustainability or climate. Here, you find an overview of those programmes in the academic year 2020-2021.

This two-year master’s programme in Philosophy of the Arts combines in-depth philosophical training in continental philosophy and aesthetics with the academic study of one or more arts, such as visual, musical, literary, and performing arts. Of the 120 EC of the programme, 40 EC will be taken in a discipline…

How did people across Central and Eastern Europe imagine the future during the transitions of the 1980s and 1990s? The umbrella term ‘post-communism’ does not provide an answer to this question. This project explores how writers and cultural theorists saw the potential future of their societies during…

Which fungi live in Leiden University’s historic buildings and collections, and how can their impact on heritage and human health be understood and managed?

How can pre-Islamic poetry be used as a source to reconstruct the history of central Arabia at the dawn of Islam?

Your time at Leiden is about more than just studying. Some of your best experiences will stem from being a part of our lively and diverse student community, as well as from life in the beautiful city of Leiden.

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 specialisation in Translation at Leiden University offers a unique combination of translation theory, research and practice. This prepares you for either a further academic career as a researcher or a professional career in the language industry.

Ancient historians have long been aware that patterns of coin circulation can shed light on levels of economic integration in the Roman Empire. More than forty years ago, Hopkins argued that large amounts of tax money were spent in the frontier provinces and that the non-military provinces recouped…

This programme explores Graeco-Roman political, social, and cultural dynamics, focusing on empire development and its societal impact. It shows how imperial rule shaped cultures, religions, and identities, using inscriptions, papyri, coins, and archaeology to highlight perspectives beyond elite sour…

Italian Language and Linguistics at Leiden University draws on diachronic and synchronic perspectives to bring you an advanced qualification in Italian linguistics.

The LUCDH foster the development of new digital research by awarding a number of Small Grants each year. These are our past awardees.

This interview features Drs. Peter Bisschop (Leiden University) and Yuko Yokochi (Kyoto University) and their work on the monumental Skandapurāṇa project.

Tolerance and democracy are not our European values

Skandapurāṇa IV presents a critical edition of Adhyāyas 70-95 from the Skandapurāṇa , with an introduction and annotated English synopsis.

Fiction is more effective than autobiographical non-fiction when it comes to conveying the sensation of enforced solitary confinement. That is the conclusion of writer and lawyer Maarten Asscher in his study 'Het uur der waarheid. Over de gevangenschap als literaire ervaring' (The Moment of Truth: Imprisonment…

Asia, Asia, Asia. That was what the working visit of VVD Member of Parliament Judith Tielen - at her request - was all about. In a two hour long programme, she and her personal assistant were immersed in education, research, social impact and they took a look at some of the masterpieces from the University…

In the Humans of Humanities series, we will do a portrait of one of our researchers, staff members or students, every other week.

The NWO-funded research project ‘The Multilingual Dynamics of the Literary Culture of Medieval Flanders, c. 1200- c. 1500’ invites proposals for informal papers for a series of six e-workshops on the topic of ‘Multilingual Literary Cultures in the Middle Ages’. The e-workshops will take place in April…

The concepts of good and evil are expressed, from a lexical point of view, in different ways in different Germanic languages and at the same time they are declined in different forms depending on linguistic and literary traditions. Moving from theoretical backgrounds, we encourage…

Professor Henk Schulte Nordholt was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion on Friday 6 September 2019 for his services to the study of Indonesia. Mayor of Leiden, Henri Lenferink, presented him with his medal. This was at the end of a valedictory symposium for and a valedictory speech by…

Frans Stoelinga defended his thesis on 19 November 2020.

The FutureMED Postgraduate Programme, a collaboration between Leiden University's MA in International Relations (Faculty of Humanities) and the Alwaleed Centre at the University of Edinburgh's MSc in the Globalised Muslim World, offers a postgraduate student exchange experience focused on the Mediterranean…

Opportunities to join the initiative as a guest researcher and spend time in residence with GTGC in The Hague are available. If you are interested, we welcome you to contact us. Below you can find our current and former guest researchers.