When researching languages in historical context, our goal is to understand the nature of linguistic variation in the past, and explain the extent to which the socio-cultural context of bygone times contributed to shaping linguistic variation and change.

The Layered Heart : Essays on Persian Poetry is published in celebration of the poet and scholar Dick Davis, dubbed “our pre-eminent translator from Persian” by The Washington Post.

Join-in courses zijn MA-cursussen over middeleeuwse onderwerpen gegeven binnen vastgestelde MA-programma's van de zes deelnemende universiteiten van de Onderzoekschool. Op aanvraag zijn deze vakken toegankelijk voor studenten van andere (Nederlandse) universiteiten. De cursusbelasting en het aantal…

Leiden University provides ambitious students with the most recent and innovative areas of knowledge, and offers them the freedom to develop their own area of expertise.

The Caribbean before Columbus is a new synthesis of the region’s insular history. It combines the results of the authors’ 55 years of archaeological research on almost every island in the three archipelagoes with that of their numerous colleagues and collaborators.

The perception of the Middle East is riddled with stereotypes that have had dire consequences on its people. What is myth and what is reality? How did these stereotypes come about? What consequences have they had? All of these questions and more are answered within this reading list.

Conference

Early Christian Encounters with Town and Countryside - Essays on the Urban and Rural Worlds of Early Christianity.

The research project ‘The History of National Security, 1945-present', is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), the Campus The Hague/Leiden University and the Netherlands Institute for Military History (NIMH). The project will run until the summer of 2013, when we hope…

What role do the Islamic courts play in protecting women’s divorce rights? How do they perform with regard to spousal support, child support and marital property? Stijn van Huis defends his PhD thesis on September 8, 2015

Jan Erk, political scientist at Leiden University, has been selected as the 2016-2017 Smuts Memorial Fellow at the University of Cambridge. During his residency at the renowned British academy, he will work on his research project ‘The Enduring Impact of Africa’s extinct kingdoms and invisible chief…

Aisha Hassan came to the Netherlands when she was two months old. Her mother had fled Somalia and made a new home here. Aisha doesn't remember much about that time, but her mother’s stories about Somalia ignited a lifelong interest in developing countries. ‘Her stories have always fascinated me.’

Shining a light on the nefarious netherworlds of espionage, this is the first book to concentrate on the actual techniques and technologies used by early modern spies —from ciphers to counterfeiting, invisible inks to assassination

Counter-Discourse in Zimbabwean Literature is a study of specific aspects of counter-discursive Zimbabwean narratives in English. In discussing the selected texts, my thesis is based on Terdiman’s (1989) the postcolonial concept of counter-discourse.

Haunting the future through poetry

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has elected 16 new members, including two academics from Leiden: internist-infectiologist Meta Roestenberg and Arabist Petra Sijpesteijn.

In the introductory year the Arts, Media and Society programme will give you a strong foundation in modern and contemporary art and art history. You will also begin developing your academic skills. In the second and third year, you will explore the impact that art has on society and the role of the…

Doctoral research on the history of the critical visitor and their efforts at founding alternative archives including LGBT+-focused, feminist, disability and digitizing projects, resulting in a traveling exhibition on findings (with audio-guides), popular and scholarly article, and a dissertation.

The ninth issue of the Journal of the LUCAS Graduate Conference has been published. This time the theme is ‘Reinventing Boundaries in Times of Crisis.’

On 29 January, the Mayor of Leiden, Henri Lenferink, was awarded Leiden University’s Scaliger Medal. The longest-serving Mayor of Leiden was presented with the medal by the University’s longest-serving Rector Magnificus, Carel Stolker. Lenferink was awarded the medal in recognition of his achievements…

Dr Helmer Helmers (University of Amsterdam) and Dr Nadine Akkerman (Leiden, LUCAS) have been awarded an NWO grant to do historical research on the shipwreck BZN17, from which hundreds of early modern objects have recently been retrieved. Amongst the remarkable finds were a nearly intact, highly expensive…

On 25 September, lights throughout Leiden will be turned off for the Seeing Stars event. What makes the urban night so special? We asked university lecturer Sara Brandellero, who researches cities, night and migration.

This project, executed by Marieke Hendriksen MA MRes, aims at an analysis of how the early modern anatomical collections of Leiden University were rooted in ideals of perfection in different fields of knowledge and expertise.

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…

The first of the two volumes of this co-authored study has just been published by Metzler. The study explores the history of the concept ‘barbarism’ from the 18th century to the present and illuminates its foundational role in modern European and Western identity.

Timo Kos has been appointed Vice President of Leiden University’s Executive Board and will take up the role on 1 March 2025. He succeeds Martijn Ridderbos, who will join the board of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) on 1 January 2025.

Connecting generations, reducing loneliness and slowing mental decline: these are goals of the Oud Geleerd Jong Gedaan foundation’s lectures, which are given by students. What is it like to be a student giving these lectures? And what do the seniors think of them?

Lecture, China Seminar

As a Faculty of Humanities graduate you are part of a valuable network. Discover how you can remain in contact with other alumni and the University!

1) The in-use construction material stocks of the BRI projects and their temporal and spatial distribution. 2) Environmental impacts (e.g. carbon emission and biodiversity loss) of constructing BRI projects. 3) Socio-cultural impacts of the BRI projects.

LUCAS members are experts in the fields of literary history and theory, film and media studies, and art, architectural, and book history.

Book discussion

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy regularly updates its digital bookshelf with recommendations of recent books on diplomacy, global affairs, and international studies.

Mariana de Campos Françoso and Amy Strecker published a new article in the International Journal of Cultural Property last week entitled 'Caribbean Collections in European Museums and the Question of Returns'.

On January 17th 2023, Caterina Ghini, Ambassador of Greece to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, visited the Faculty of Archaeology. Her Excellency reached out to Leiden University with the purpose to collaborate and engage with us.

This subproject examines how memories of flight and persecution shaped new social and religious identities in the Netherlands.

What roles does music play within our society? How does current society influence music? And vice versa: how does music influence, for instance, politics, media and technology? The minor Music Studies offers you a different way of thinking about music. Music is more than just a form of art, more than…

Everything is different this year because of the corona measures; introduction weeks, student life and education. In order to give new students a proper and warm welcome, a lot of work has been done to create the frameworks for a mentor programme. The working group 'Tutoring and Cohorting' has prepared…

How are people of color represented in art collections? And do young people of color feel that museum collections reflect their norms and values? Developmental psychologist Carolien Rieffe is invited to serve on the Expert Group ‘Musea bekennen kleur’ because of her knowledge of children and young p…

Sander Kok (35) was a hit as a model for Armani and he is now making a name for himself as a writer. His philosophically tinted first novel 'Smeltende vrouw' was acclaimed as a literary sensation. How do Literature Studies and Art History benefit him today?

On 2 September 2022, 300 students received their Bachelor Diploma of International Studies. The students were awarded their diplomas in the historic Pieterskerk in Leiden, in front of a large audience of family and friends. With about 1000 people present, including the graduates, the International Studies…

Three young lecturers are to receive a Comenius Teaching Fellow grant of 50,000 euros. The grant will allow each of them to implement an innovation project in their teaching.

Fancy listening to a podcast over the long Whitsun weekend? Over the past few months, some excellent work has once again been produced at the faculty.

A portrait of the complex historical process of over 500 years of European colonialism in the New World.

LUCAS members are experts in the fields of literary history and theory, film and media studies, and art, architectural, and book history. Members of LUCAS teach in a wide variety of Bachelor's, Master’s, and Research Master’s Programmes.

Global Interactions sponsors a number of research projects of Leiden University researchers.

Study all aspects of human life in the past and take on a broad, historic perspective.