In the coming years, Asghar Seyed Gohrab receives an advanced European Research Council grant of two and a half million euros to spend on his research into non-conformism in Islam. ‘Hopefully I can use this to contribute something to society, to pass something on to future generations.’

Lecture

Education

Hundreds of millions of Chinese workers have moved from the countryside to the city. This social transformation has birthed a tradition of migrant worker poetry, professor Maghiel van Crevel states in Jacobin.

Maurits Berger's new English-language podcast, Matters of Humanities: History of Islam in Europe covers no fewer than thirteen centuries of history. In eight episodes, professor of Islam and the West Maurits Berger argues that the Islam and Muslims are an important part of European history: ‘That was…

‘Islam and Muslims are not something that happened to Europe; they are part of Europe. In fact, Islam is one the biggest constants in European history,’ argues Professor Maurits Berger in the new eight-part History of Islam in Europe podcast series of the Leiden University Faculty of Humanities.

When discussing the history of Islam, the focus is almost always on the history of the Sunni majority. University Lecturer in the history of Islam, Edmund Hayes wants this to change. His new ERC-funded project , focuses on the development of the early Shia community.

From the very beginning, the Islam has known an oral tradition. It was only two hundred years ago that Muslims starting writing about the history of Islam, on rocks or other hard materials. Arabic epigraphy (study of inscriptions) turns out to be an essential tool in historical genealogy research. Abdullah…

The city centre of Leiden is covered in them: wall poems. When roaming around, you come across poetry written in the Latin alphabet, but also in scripts that might be more difficult to understand for the average person living in Leiden. In a new series of videos, Tijmen Pronk talks more about this.

Translating poetry is notoriously difficult. Translating poetry in such a way that the humorous nature of a poem remains intact is even more difficult, even though it is precisely jokes that can encourage children to read more, notes PhD candidate Alice Morta.

The opening of Islamic primary schools has made an important contribution to the emancipation and integration of Muslims in the Netherlands. This is the conclusion of PhD candidate Bahaeddin Budak in his research into 25 years (1988-2013) of Islamic primary schools in the Netherlands. PhD defence on…

What are the origins of the Islamic Empire? And what was daily life like there? Two new Ted Ed animations answer these questions in simple language. Arabists Petra Sijpesteijn and Birte Kristiansen explain what the process of developing the videos was like.

Education

The South African poet and author Antjie Krog gave the 37th Albert Verwey Lecture in the Great Auditorium in the Academy Building on 18 November. Inspired by Verwey’s poem ‘De zegger van verzen’, Krog’s lecture was a polyphonic and multilingual love letter to poetry.

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

The secular West is struggling with the rise of AI, but so too is Muslim Southeast Asia. What can we learn from each other?

Explore the captivating world of women's football in Morocco through Trouw's insightful report, examining the intersection of Islam, popularity, money, and role models, as emphasized by cultural anthropologist Jasmijn Rana.

You’ve graduated. What’s your next step? Leiden University offers many options for students who have just finished their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

You’ve graduated. What’s your next step? Leiden University offers many options for students who have just finished their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

Professor of Islam and the West Maurits Berger wants to use citizen science to answer this question. On the futureofislam.eu website, he is inviting European Muslims to complete an anonymous survey about how they see their future and the role of Islam in this. He will present the first findings at the…

'When taking into account all finds in the Islamic world of this enigmatic vessel, it would perhaps be wise not to restrict this container to merely one function.'

Why are the majority of our national holidays based around Christian festivities? Arabist Maurits Berger talks about this in an article on Ruetir.