Karwan Fatah-Black, a historian at Leiden University’s Faculty of Humanities and senior researcher at the KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, has been appointed as the UNESCO Chair holder in Comparative History of Slavery and the Transition to Citizenship.

On Tuesday, September 16, Professor Elisheva Baumgarten (Hebrew University) delivered the keynote speech entitled 'The Kindness of Others: Jews, Christians and Early Childhood Care in Medieval Europe' at the 'Care and the Jewish Experience' Conference at the Faculty Club in Leiden.

The map application includes information from old and new buildings archaeological projects. This makes it possible to investigate whether water facilities (wells, cisterns) and waste facilities (cesspits, sewers) were the privilege of Leiden’s wealthy elite in the late 16th and 17th centuries or whether…

Dr. Rosalien van der Poel succeeds Lonneke Regter as Institute Manager of the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA). Together with prof.dr. Henk Borgdorff, scientific director ACPA, she constitutes the board of ACPA since 15 November 2017.

Bachelor, Master

Do you have a question about our course offer? View the most frequently asked questions below.

Lecture, VVIK lecture

On January 28 and 29, 2021 the conference ‘Imperial Artefacts: History, Law and the Looting of Cultural Property’ took place online. This first of its kind event at Leiden University was an interdisciplinary online conference and brought together (post-)colonial historians, legal historians, curators,…

Last week, the sad news reached us that Dr Jan Schmidt passed away on 11 August 2025. We wish his partner, friends and family strength and comfort as they cope with this loss. Jan Schmidt will be remembered as one of the most prolific and learned scholars in the field of Ottoman codicology and histo…

A portrait can inspire, intimidate or reassure the viewer. Leiden University has many portraits of professors and students, from the foundation of the University to the present day. What purpose do these portraits serve? The 'Facing Inspiration' exhibition in the Oude UB is about this question.

The 2023 Digital Humanities Pilot Project Symposium and Digital Winter School took place, 30 Jan – 2 Feb 2023.

The Heritage Sector at a Crossroads: The way of Intersectionality. This project investigates how heritage institutions can achieve inclusion and accessibility within their organization, collection, and exhibition spaces that meets the breadth of demands placed by today’s “critical visitors.” Fifteen…

Contemporary Maya Calendars

Study of human cultures using computational approaches

Vol. V, Sections 1-2

Pushing the limits and trying things out. The academic year of the Honours Academy started on 10 October and all the speakers encouraged students to jump in at the deep end.

Our humanities graduates are doing well: 70% of our bachelor’s and master’s students find their first job within two months of graduation. And for 83% of our master’s students that first job is at a higher professional or academic level. These are some of the results of the Faculty of Humanities labour…

The family of the famous diplomat, sinologist and writer Robert van Gulik has donated his personal archive and part of his collection to Leiden University Libraries (UBL). The collection and archive provide insight into the life and work of Robert van Gulik, who became known to the general public for…

North Korea is generally thought to be an isolated country. But, according to PhD candidate Tycho van der Hoog from Leiden’s African Studies Centre, the opposite is in fact the case. North Korea actually has strong alliances with countries in southern Africa. Van der Hoog is trying to shed more light…

'Communal Dining in in the Roman West' explores why the practice of privately sponsored communal dining gained popularity in certain parts of the Western Roman Empire for almost 300 years.

The second and final volume of this co-authored study has just been published by J.B. Metzler. This second monograph explores the history of the concept of barbarism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

After a long period of isolation under pandemic, the PhD candidates of the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology seized the opportunity to organize an in-person, on-site event: the CADS PhD Conference for 2021. With the theme

From the energy transition in Namibia to sustainable jobs for young Nigerians, from African cookbooks to vodcasts on vintage Swahili booklets: during a recent visit by the Executive Board, staff from the African Studies Centre Leiden and the African Library presented their research, teaching and acquisition…

Distance, distance and distance again. That’s the motto of this week’s Orientation Week Leiden (OWL) for international students. And the OWL might be on a small scale, but fun is being had nonetheless.

Conference

Most of us know that Venice, Genoa, and Florence were major Mediterranean powers during the Renaissance. But did you know that in terms of trade and sea power, Barcelona was probably more powerful than two of these three?

Lecture, Leiden Yemeni Studies Lecture Series

Lecture, Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History

Diplomatic Studies (DIST) is a peer-reviewed book series that encourages original work on the theory and practice, processes and outcomes of diplomacy.

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy regularly publishes reviews of recent books within the field of diplomacy and global affairs, written in English, Spanish, French, or German.

Learn about the newest research from the researchers who are performing it.

This subproject examines the development of memory cultures, the meaning of memories of the Dutch Revolt, the multimedia aspect of the creation of a local memory culture, which artefacts were used to keep memories alive and the differences between local memory cultures in the Repubilc and the Southern…

On 26 and 27 January 2017, the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society will be hosting an international graduate conference entitled ‘Landscape: Interpretations, Relations, and Representations’. A selection of researchers and artists will be invited to participate in panels, in which their…

Floris Keehnen has been awarded the Volkskrant thesis prize 2012 for his MA thesis entitled:

Study of human cultures using computational approaches

Reading group

A Personal Report by Matthew Hobson on the First Meeting of Post-doctoral Researchers at the Institute for History.

At a time when statues of figures from history have an uncertain future Valika Smeulders has just become Head of History at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. What changes does she want to make? And how does she look back on her Languages and Cultures of Latin America degree programme in Leiden?

Three major research projects involving Leiden scientists have been awarded a grant from NWO’s Gravitation Programme. The projects are on innovation processes, organs-on-chips and quantum software.

Lecture, China Seminar

Hwæt! You've heard of the adventures of the mighty Beowulf. You've heard of the brave folk standing beside him, and the awe-inspiring foes standing against him. But where their legend still lives, their tale ended long ago... Let us begin a new saga, let us find new heroes, weave a new story - by the…

The LUCAS Institute has both a new Scientific Director and a new Education Director. Stijn Bussels and Esther Op de Beek both commenced their new roles at the start of the academic year.

Language is omnipresent: when you talk, app or meet in Teams. Understanding how we communicate with one another and what communication does to us is essential. In her inaugural lecture, Nivja de Jong will call to redress the balance between the sciences and the humanities.

To be eligible for the MA Beyond Borders: Global and European History at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

To be eligible for Governance of Migration and Diversity at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

To be eligible for History of Inequality and Power at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

It was not light, but its absence that caught Stephanie Noach's attention a few years ago. With her research on darkness in art, she aims to show how darkness can question and sometimes even undermine colonial imagery.