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…

For decades, the trade in pocketbooks prescribing how to be a good Muslim flourished in East Africa, but in recent years the number of books in circulation has been declining. University lecturer Annachiara Raia is the recipient of an Impact Explorer grant to revive this tradition, in cooperation with…

The construction work on the South Cluster is going ahead throughout the summer. See the photo's and the video below!

Niels Schoubben is a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC project “The Silk Road Language Web” (PI: Prof. dr. Michaël Peyrot). As a linguist-cum-philologist, he studies the written remains of extinct Central Asian languages in order to uncover words and grammatical patterns borrowed from one ancient language…

Eefke de Haan is a dual PhD candidate at Leiden University Dual PhD Centre. Working title:

Jonathan Stökl is assistant professor at the Institute for Area Studies.

I am a specialist in Spanish history of the 19th and 20th centuries. I also conducted extensive research into the construction of regional identities in France, Spain and Germany between 1890 and 1940. At present, I mainly publish about nationalization processes in a comparative perspective. I focus…

Alicia Schrikker doesn't usually get involved in urban history. As a senior lecturer, her research field is generally the colonial history of Asia and partly South Africa. So, the fact that she is going to carry out an urban history research project together with colleagues, is something that even she…

Sarah Cramsey was appointed professor by special appointment of Central European Studies at the Institute of History on 14 September. 'I am keen to incorporate different scholarly approaches into my work and raise the profile of Central European Studies in Leiden.'

Indira Huliselan is a PhD candidate in the research project 'Roman Fake News? Documentary Fictions in the Roman Empire'.

A newly opened museum in China appears to be devoted to the origins of the Austronesian-speaking peoples, who some 5000 years ago spread from East Asia across the Pacific, seeding it with a distinctive culture and some 1200 languages. But those displays are also a statement in the long-running dispute…

Giliam de Valk is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs. He is specialized in methodology of intelligence analysis. He wrote his PhD on the Quality of Intelligence Analysis [2005] and is currently focusing on the methodology on how not to miss threats.

Alp Yenen is a University Lecturer at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies. He works primarily on the political history of modern Turkey and the Middle East. He is specialized on the turn of the 20th century, First World War, Interwar period, and the Cold War period. He also comments and…

Lecture

Attention to the colonial past may be increasing, but many aspects of it are still underexposed. Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, in collaboration with, among others, Leiden researchers Anne-Marieke van der Wal-Rémy and Alicia Schrikker, therefore created a 'Canon of the Dutch Underexposed Past', which…

Judith Bosnak is a lecturer and researcher in the field of Indonesian Languages and Cultures at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society.

Henk te Velde is Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Professor of Dutch History. As professor he focuses on Dutch (and Western European) History from the late 18th century to the present, in particular political history and its spillover into contemporary politics. His books cover the history of liberalism…

Different groups can have different memories of the same historical event. This can lead to conflict but does not have to. How is this, and how can countries and people reconcile with the past?

Jeroen Oosterbaan is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Archaeology.

The Master's programme in History at Leiden University is set to change. From September 2026, three of the five specialisations will be replaced by new subjects that are more closely aligned with the field of research and students’ interests. One of these new specialisations will also be taught entirely…

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life. On March 13, 2026, he is on a knowledge mission to South America.

Walter Gam Nkwi is Assistant Professor at the Institute for History.

The South Cluster - the former Van Wijkplaats/Van Eyckhof on Witte Singel - is currently undergoing an impressive transformation. On 25 October, more than 100 enthusiastic colleagues witnessed the progress of the renovation during a series of tours of the building.

Envoys jumping out of windows, fights, and illegal diplomacy: history student Tessa de Boer encountered them all while writing her master's thesis on Amsterdam as a diplomatic city during the 17th and 18th centuries. For her thesis, she was awarded the Uitgeverij Verloren/Johan de Witt thesis prize…

Marlisa den Hartog is a PhD candidate at the Institute for History since January 2017. She is working on a thesis about perceptions of sexual desire and sexual identity in Italy between 1450 and 1550.

Amza Adam is a PhD candidate at the Institute for History.

Cynthia Vialle is a PhD candidate at the Institute for History.