Sonja Boas developed new techniques to study vascular growth computationally. The results of her research provide a better understanding into mechanisms behind vascular growth, which is relevant to the development of medical therapies. She defends her thesis 'Computational modeling of angiogenesis'…

Timo Schmidt and Florian Volz, both International Studies students, have travelled the route many refugees took to reach Europe by bike in the summer of 2016. Through crowdfunding, they want to finance their documentary about this journey. With three days to go, they are at 90% of their target amount…

The Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) record throughout Europe is characterized by major changes in human behaviour.

This book is a celebration of the work of Professor Frans Theuws and was published in conjunction with the symposium held at the University of Leiden on June 29, 2018.

This dissertation examines how Benedictine monks at the Abbey of Fécamp designed, produced, and read books over the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

Lecture, Sociolinguistics & Discourse Studies Series

You are invited to sign in for the Tabula Gratulatoria for a volume that has been composed for the occasion of Prof. Dr Marc Boone’s retirement.

On May 15, Prof. dr. Saskia Jaszoltowski, the Visiting Professor for Central European Studies this semester at Leiden University, led a seminar on the 'Lullabies' for the ERC Starting Grant 'CareCentury' project led by Prof. dr. Sarah Cramsey.

This month, the NISIS publication “Islamic Studies in the Twenty-first Century: Transformations and Continuities” was published by Amsterdam University Press. This volume brings together contributions of various speakers at past NISIS Autumn Schools, providing an overview of important issues in the…

“Europe must look […] southward, where the global majority resides. The BRICS countries alone represent almost 50% of the world economy and a quarter of the world trade, it is where the youngest populations lives, with an enormous amount of creative energy, something that is often lacking in the northern…

On January 5, Rosa Winter will obtain her doctorate in arithmetic geometry. She researched solutions of equations that define so-called ‘del Pezzo surfaces’. ‘I like geometry because I can imagine and draw the shapes and objects,’ says Winter. ‘That makes abstract mathematics feel more tangible.’

Ewa Snaar-Jagalska, Shuning He and colleagues from IBL, LION and LACDR reported on a new zebrafish study to understand micrometastasis of human cancer cells. They discovered a novel role for neutrophils in assisting metastasis formation, which provides critical insights for anti-cancer therapies.

As a critical commemoration of its centenary, this book presents a mosaic of one hundred carefully curated fragments by expert authors, shedding light on politics, economy, society, culture, gender, and arts in a hundred years of Turkey.

Eighteen students who obtained excellent results in the minor Intelligence Studies received the annual Kluitersprijs.

Bringing Dutch and international students together. One way to do that is by playing Archery Attack, archaeology student Timothy Stikkelorum suggested. On 13 November, he and his team, a committee from the Terra study association, won the Van Bergen Prize with their idea.

Launched in early March, GlobalSCAPE is an EU-funded project seeking to understand the current state of science communication globally, especially in non-western countries. Through the Department of Science Communication & Society, Leiden University is one of the main partners of the project, which…

How to related figures of savages to conceptions of history?

The goal of the ANASTASIS project is the analysis and publication of early medieval (Merovingian) cemeteries in the Netherlands (c. 500 – 750 AD).

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.

One of the three long-term research interests of our group concerns the Transformation of the Roman World (c AD 450-900).

The project focuses on an intriguing aspect of André Chénier’s poetry, which has not received much attention in scholarship: Chénier’s indebtedness – in the form of translation, adaptation, borrowing, reference – to Hellenistic poetry; it interprets the role of this indebtedness in his poetical and…

More than a hundred people took part in the conference on Studying with a Disability on 20 April. Dozens of students shared their experiences. 'I would rather you ask me the same question a hundred times than that you decide on my behalf.'

Laura van der Aar talks about the role of self-image in making decisions for future education. In her research, Laura investigated the importance of paying attention to the development of self-image, and how this can better support teenagers in their study choice.

Within the Comparative Religion Network staff and graduate students from LIAS-LUCSoR (and beyond) discuss ongoing work and cooperate on key issues in the comparative and systematic study of religion.

Middle Eastern Studies, African Studies or International Relations: all examples of studies that are part of Area Studies at the Faculty of Humanities in Leiden. Within Area Studies you study a region and immerse yourself in (complex) subjects of that region, such as cultural uniqueness, conflicts,…

'The World Upside Down. The Geographical Revolution in Humanist Commentaries on Pliny's Natural History and Mela's De situ orbis (140-1700)', in: Enenkel, K.A.E. & Nellen, H. (Eds.), Neo-Latin Commentaries and the Management of Knowledge in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period (1400-1700).Humanistica…

This study interrogates contemporary and historical uses of barbarism, arguing that barbarism also has a disruptive, insurgent potential.

The Leiden bachelor’s programmes in Linguistics, Religious Studies and Ancient Near Eastern Studies have received the accolade of ‘top study programme’ in the Keuzegids (Study Guide) 2019 for Universities.

The “harpe organisée”, 1720-1840: Rediscovering the lost pedal techniques on harps with a single-action pedal mechanism, is the title of Maria Christina Cleary's PhD thesis. This is the first monographic study on harp pedal techniques, tracing the historical way to pedal on the early pedal harps with…

The sites of Norman Estata, Anse des Pères and Hope Estate with a contribution to the 'La Hueca problem'

De lichtheid van literatuur: Engagement in de multiculturele samenleving (The Lightness of Literature: Engagement in the Multicultural Society) is a plea for the social relevance of literature. The book delves into an age-old debate about literature and social engagement, which has recently been reinvigorated…

Representing Japanese Colonial 'Heritage' in Taiwan

ASLU 11

Alternatives to current practice

Social Aspects of Space in the Configurational Architecture of Frankish Castles in the Holy Land, 1099-1291

What’s it like to study a certain programme within the Faculty of Humanities at Leiden University? These prospective students found out during the Experience Day on Friday 6 April. They had a taste of the faculty’s atmosphere and discovered what study programmes are actually about.

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.

This study presents a re-evaluation of Malay adventure stories.

Doctoral Thesis

How did the medieval manuscript develop as a physical object during the Twelfth Century Renaissance and what do these changes tell us about the intellectual culture of the period?

In the book 'Slave in a Palanquin: Colonial Servitude and Resistance in Sri Lanka' Nira Wickramasinghe, professor of Modern South Asian Studies, uncovers the traces of slavery in the history and memory of the Indian Ocean world. She was interviewed about the book in the New Books in South East Asian…

On 14 and 15 November, the LUCIS Annual Conference takes place in Leiden. Scholars from diverse backgrounds will come together to share their research on all branches of Shiʿi Islam.

The bachelor program Religious Studies has, besides also Linguistics and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, been awarded by the 'Keuzevakkengids Universiteiten 2019' with the predicate top program.

Professor Eric De Brabandere has been appointed as the new Director/Head of Department of the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, succeeding to Professor Nico Schrijver who has led the Centre for more than 12 years. Eric De Brabandere holds the chair of international dispute settlement law…

Together with LOVA (Association for Feminist Anthropology), Jasmijn Rana organized the seminar ‘Gender Moves on May 10, 2019. This seminar explored how gender is enacted and reproduced in movement and how gendered movement contributes to dismantling and/or reinforcing ideas and norms about gender the…

On Saturday 11 May 2019, the BA South and Southeast Asian Studies programme held an Alumni Event for former students. All current students and staff were also invited. Several alumni were invited to talk about their study and career during two panel sessions. An inspiring afternoon!

Leiden’s Religious Studies ranks 40th place in the QS World University Rankings by Subject.

Histories, Philosophies, and Communities