Erik de Maaker discusses stereotypical narratives of 'isolated communities' like the North Sentinels in De Telegraaf. He calls for a nuanced view by addressing the cultural, ethical, geopolitical and health dimensions behind their isolation.

Dr. Sarah Cramsey, University Lecturer Judaism & Diaspora Studies, has been awarded an Early Career Partnership by the KNAW.

On 3 July, lecturer Alexander Strelkov gave a lecture on the rule of law and EU accession to a group of diplomats from the Balkan region.

On 27 september historian Adam Zamoyski held a captivating lecture on his new book Napoleon: the Man behind the Myth. During this lecture, which was an initiative by Polen in Beeld and the Central and Eastern European Studies Center, Zamoyski answered the question: ‘what were the Napoleonic Wars really…

On June 16th, dr. Bart Custers, associate professor and head of research of eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital technologies, delivered a keynote address at the International Conference on Advanced Cyberlaw and Electronic Security.

Dr. Van Eijk will teach an advertising technology Masterclass for the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) next week. It is the fourth session of the FPF & Brussels Privacy Hub's Digital Data Flows series. Van Eijk will be teaching alongside Adam Towvim (Brandeis International Business School) and moderated…

On Friday June 7, 2024, Sarah Cramsey delivered her inaugural lecture entitled

Aleydis Nissen, one of our colleagues from Belgium, created a feature article with photos for Knack magazine (Roularta Media Group). The Pascal Decroos Fund sponsored this article.

Friday 25 September, 2015 marks the official launch of Leiden University's Central and East European Studies (CEES) Center.

Landen proberen steeds strengere maatregelen te nemen om minder aantrekkelijk te worden voor asielzoekers. Mark Klaassen, universitair docent vreemdelingenrecht, noemt het Europese asielbeleid in de Volkskrant ‘een race naar beneden.’

Joanita Vroom has been appointed as president of the Society ‘Byzantine Studies Netherlands / Byzantijnse Studies Nederland’, the Dutch branch of the ‘International Association of Byzantine Studies / Association Internationale des Études Byzantines’ (AIEB).

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 faculty's research on the ancient rock art found in Jordan's Black Desert has recently been covered by several news and science websites.

On Friday morning, 18 October, Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl and Professor Remco Breuker welcomed Korea Foundation President Gheewan Kim.

In a closed room in the Van Steenis building, hundreds of boxes are waiting under fluorescent lights for someone to come and see them. The jumble of handwritten and printed labels unveils how often the collection has been reorganized, moved and rearranged. Boxes full of potsherds and pottery, human…

Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS) and the Leiden University Institute for History (LUIH) are looking for a PhD in the History and Culture of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity.

In view of its aim to aim to promote and strengthen teaching and research in European Studies, the Jean Monnet chair ‘Europe and the World' organises a series of seminars. Several interesting speakers will present their research, and both students and staff members will have ample opportunities to engage…

The faculty of Humanities scores well in the anual QS World Universities Ranking By Subject list. This year we have placed sixth in the category Classics and Ancient History.

On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, Ambassador Bert Theuerman (Austrian Ambassador to The Netherlands) hosted a Coffeehouse Discussion exploring the position and impact of women in science and arts at his residence in The Hague.

On Tuesday, December 9 2025, Prof. Koen Ottenheyn delivered the last Austria Centre lunch talk of 2025. Prof. Ottenheyn serves as a professor of architectural history at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and is a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and the Academic Curatorium which advises…

The nineteenth-century writer Nicolaas Beets and his son Dirk were thoroughly colonial, Nicholas without ever having been to the Dutch Indies, or any other colony for that matter. But they didn’t realise it. The new Scaliger Professor, Rick Honings, shows that writers’ archives are a treasure trove…

Author Gustaaf Peek, who has been nominated for the Libris Literature Award, studied English Language and Literature in Leiden. ‘I completely submersed myself in literature during my studies, and the effects are still with me today.'

Jonathan Powell came to Leiden from England to conduct research into the role of women in early modern court cases. In addition to all kinds of exciting documents, he also discovered the biscuits from the Water & Bloem bakery and the wild flowers at the Groenesteeg cemetery.

The 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to French writer Annie Ernaux (1940). In an explanation, the Swedish Academy praises Ernaux 'for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory'.

LECTIO, the KU Leuven Institute for the Study and Transmission of Texts, Ideas and Images in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, invites applications for its Visiting Program 2022-23. Deadline: 10 June 2022. For more information: lectio@kuleuven.be.

On 25 and 26 November 2021 the 18th International Meeting of the Middle Ages in Nájera will take place online. It is devoted to: "The Use of Social Space in the Late Medieval European Town". For more information, please consult: www.neim.unican.es.

LECTIO, the KU Leuven Institute for the Study and Transmission of Texts, Ideas and Images in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, invites applications for its Visiting Program 2023-2024. Deadline for submissions: May 31.

The Index of Middle English Prose, of which twenty-three volumes have been published since 1984, now has an online presence at imep.lib.cam.ac.uk. Thanks to the kind co-operation of Cambridge University Library and of the publishers, Boydell & Brewer, the indexes to all the volumes are now available…

On 27-29 October 2021, the ERC Project PASSIM (Patristic Sermons in the Middle Ages, Radboud University Nijmegen) will organize the International Workshop On the Way to the Future of Digital Manuscript Studies. Deadline for submission: 10 May 2021.

Jessica Barr and Barbara Zimbalist invite essays that examine any aspect of race and religion in medieval culture and society for a special issue on race and religion in the Middle Ages. Deadline for submission: 1 February 2021.

The programme of the International Conference “City, Citizen & Citizenship. New Perspectives on the Middle Ages, AD 400-1600”, to be held on a digital platform on 16-18 June, 2021, is now available.

Princeton University has announced that planning for its annual Medieval Studies Graduate Conference is underway. The conference will be held on March 6, 2021 (via Zoom) with the following theme: “Reclaiming Losses: Recovery, Reconquest, and Restoration in the Middle Ages.”

Researchers from the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Archaeology, with the support of the communication departments of these Faculties and the VALUE Foundation, has been awarded one of the first NWA-Science Communication and Outreach grant for their plan to produce live-streams via online platform…

A collection of interviews from the oral history project

Religions involve belief in the unbelievable: in evil spirits causing disease, in souls surviving death, and in gods punishing wrongdoers and blessing the just. Cognitive studies suggest that humans are predisposed to speculate about fate and divine agency, but support from so-called ‘plausibility structures’…

Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade has received a special award: the Order of St. Mellitus, in recognition of her services to the history of the Bishops of London.

Arie Verhagen said farewell as the chair of Dutch Linguistics and is appointed as the new chair of Language, Culture and Cognition.

Associate Professor Dr. Ulrike Tanzer from the German Department, University of Salzburg (Austria) is working for a few months at Leiden University. In this short interview she will introduce herself.

Book historian Erik Kwakkel found an intriguing snippet of text earlier this week, that bears unexpected evidence of some of the problems encoutered by early printers: censorship and the affiliated fuss of seeking and printing Church approval.

Which teacher has the talent to really motivate their students or is able to combine current research in their lectures? These are important qualifications for winning the yearly university wide Teaching Prize. Dr. Karène Sanchez, lecturer French language and culture, is one of the nominees.

Professor Roberta D'Alessandro, from the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, has been appointed a member of the Global Young Academy (GYA) from 20 January 2014. The GYA, consisting of 155 members, provides a rallying point for outstanding young scientists from around the world.

This year marks a special occasion because it was just ten years ago that the Georgian language was taught for the first time at Leiden University. It is even more exciting that its first professor, Ramaz Kurdadze, will return to Leiden this year to teach students interested in the language. Kurdadze…

Since 1 January Leiden has a new graduate school. The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis (NICA), previously based at the University of Amsterdam, has moved to the Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS).

Since the end of May, the Faculty of Humanities 'Humanities Matter' art route has been on display. Due to the many positive responses, we have decided to postpone the end date of the exhibition from July 8 to August 28. So if you haven't walked the route yet, this is your chance!

The editorial board of the Leiden Elective Academic Periodical (LEAP) is proud to announce the release of the third edition , titled “Sense(s)”!

Four of Leiden University’s master’s programmes score above average across the board according to the Keuzegids Masters 2026 guide.

Lecture, Lunch Research Seminar