The Institute for Philosophy further expands its knowledge: As of 1 September, Annemie Halsema holds the chair of Wijsgerige antropologie en de grondslagen van het humanisme (Philosophical anthropology and the principles of humanism, ed.). In the coming five years, she will study current societal issues…

Daniele Paolini recently joined the Institute for History as a postdoctoral researcher within the ERC and NWO-funded project 'International Coalitions for Peace in the Era of Decolonization, 1918-1970' under the supervision of Carolien Stolte. Below, he introduces himself.

In September, the LeidenGobal seminar series ‘Beyond Discipline and Place in the Social Science and Humanities’ will kick off. The series, targeted at PhD’s and Research MA students, engages with the question what it means to be an interdisciplinary researcher. “These seminars can help you define your…

Nu belastingsystemen over grenzen gaan, speelt de politiek een steeds grotere rol. Irma Mosquera Valderrama pleit voor een wereldwijd, inclusief systeem.

We take our worn, torn and unwanted clothes to the clothing bank, assuming they will get a second chance. But what exactly happens with all those textiles?

The history of the LGTBI+ collective, deeply marked by episodes of violence, repression, and discrimination, is also the history of the struggle for social change and the conquest of civil rights, advances without which contemporary Western democracies could not be explained. More recently, the implementation…

Taking responsibility concerning colonial heritage and restitution is a pressing issue for countries and museums worldwide. On 23 and 24 May, a Leiden University interdisciplinary symposium will explore new perspectives as a basis for policies. Organising professors Carsten Stahn and Pieter ter Keurs…

On 15-16 June, Jos Gommans, Marieke Bloembergen, and Carolien Stolte will organize an international conference entitled “India in the Making of the Global Esoteric: 1200-2000”. The conference asks: why is it always India that has been imagined as a wonder, and what did that wonder mean, intellectually…

South African poet Antjie Krog will be the writer in residence at Leiden University in autumn 2021. Krog is famous for her poetry collections and books, which are often inspired by the history of South Africa. In her role as writer in residence, she will give the annual Albert Verwey Lecture and a series…

On 8 and 9 July 2022, Leiden Law School hosted the second conference of the Research Group on Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI).

A delegation from the University of Edinburgh recently visited Leiden University to deepen their collaboration. What makes Edinburgh such an attractive partner?

Rik van Gijn was appointed professor of Ethnolinguistic Vitality and Diversity in the World from 1 December 2024. He is keen to use the position to set up research on language vitality. ‘People almost never give up their mother tongue entirely voluntarily.’

Ramsey Albers wins Political Science Master’s Thesis Prize 2022

Please join us for our next LUCDH lunchtime talk presented by Aron van de Pol (PhD candidate LUCDH & LIAS ) on Tuesday, 16 April 2024 at 12:00 – 13:00 (CET). During this lunch lecture, I will share a case study from my dissertation that is currently in development. This study focuses on the…

While James Van Der Zee is widely known and praised for his studio portraits from the Harlem Renaissance era, much of the diversity and expansive reach of his work has been overlooked. From the major role his studio played for decades photographing ordinary people and events in the Harlem community…

Alette Vonk and Vasco Silva invite you to their joyous book launch. It will be a festive get-together with confluence, short stories, music and drinks.

Dr Graça Machel will speak about her work and, together with researchers from Leiden University, the UN and the African Studies Centre, discuss and reflect on the theme of Intergenerational Justice and Human Rights in a time of planetary crises in Africa in a series of cross-disciplinary and reflective…

Dutch settlers in New Netherland and, later, New York regularly trafficked in tales, banal, fantastic, and occult. African and Native peoples were frequent presences in these stories—often establishing the American origins of such lore. This Masterclass will focus on how African slavery and Indigenous…

Most historians of medicine interested in the Dutch East Indies have focused on the role of two allegedly incompatible medical traditions: western and traditional medicine. They thereby overlook various other medical traditions that were present as well as the way medical traditions are selectively…

As part of Mariana Françozo’s BRASILAE project, a group of representatives of the Ka’apor people was invited to visit Leiden. The Ka’apor, an indigenous people from Brazil, are some of the present-day relatives of the Tupi-speaking peoples who used to live in the northeastern region of Brazil, claimed…

Every year, an NWO PhD in the Humanities grant is awarded to a prospective PhD candidate at the Faculty of Archaeology. This year, the grant went to Maia Casna, enabling her to study respiratory disease in the past. ‘My hypothesis is that the rapid formation of cities in the medieval Netherlands, must…

In 2017, I critiqued scholars’ amorphous classification of African customary law into ‘official’ and ‘living’ versions. With emphasis on legal pluralism, I had redefined living customary law as “the law that emerges from people’s adaptation of customs to socio-economic changes.” My view of customary…

Book Launch

The early seventh century wars between the Sasanian Empire of Iran and the Byzantine Roman Empire have received the sobriquet of ‘the Last Great War of Antiquity.’ This suggests that we must see them in the context of Ancient History and divorce it from the subsequent events that usher in the Islamic…

Despite an eventful afternoon – with Students for Palestine occupying the Academy Building – political scientist Hélène Landemore gave her Cleveringa Lecture as planned on 26 November. She reflected on the protest and the importance of open debate, within the university and within a democracy.

Prof.dr. M E. de Bruijn dr. J. Both Summary The history of the Central African Republic is a succession of violent episodes that persist, despite internal and external attempts to break the almost cyclical pattern of conflict in this territory. Several factors are cited as determining or amplifying…

Cotton is the most widely used natural fibre for clothes. But how polluting are our jeans and shirts actually? Environmental scientist Laura Scherer coordinated an international research project on the impacts of cotton. ‘The purchases of consumers in Europe can contribute to water scarcity in China…

Last November, it was announced that the European Commission has awarded a Jean Monnet Chair to Professor of Tax Law Irma Mosquera Valderrama. She will use the grant to shape the EUTAXGOV project over the next three years.

Abstract My ERC project China Fashion Power investigates how, in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s global power is manifested, negotiated, and resisted in people’s daily life in a South-South setting using fashion as an exemplary case. Fashion is recognised as a significant economic…

This event will be held physically in Leiden. For registrees who cannot travel to Leiden a link to an online platform will be sent one day before the start of the event. Legitimacy has long been perceived through a Westernised lens as a fixed, binary state. In this lecture, Kathy Dodworth offers an…

Panel discussion

Lecture

An extra-long cortège, three honorary doctorates, a quiz about 450 years of university history, a Dies Natalis rap and a call to defend academic freedom: these all featured in Leiden University’s 450th Dies Natalis celebration and the official start of its jubilee year.

Shipping plays a crucial role in global circulation and geopolitical imaginaries of mobility. Approximately 90% of the world’s imports and exports travel by sea on some 93,000 merchant vessels, operated by 1.25 million seafarers, carrying almost six billion tons of cargo. Based on fieldwork conducted…

Direct Aid (formerly Africa Muslims Agency), Kuwait’s largest charity focused on Africa, carefully mediates between Gulf donor wishes, aid recipient needs, Kuwaiti and African government regulations, and various development priorities. Since the 1980s, Direct Aid has been centralizing religious and…

This workshop brings together linguists, historians and document specialists to examine how rhetorical strategies in letters of request differed across different linguistic historical cultures. Presentations cover cases from classical to early modern Europe and Middle East. For much of the pre-modern…

Please note: contrary to regular ASCL seminars, this seminar will take place in the Lipsius Building in Leiden, room 0.19. For registrees who cannot travel to Leiden a link to an online platform will be sent one day in advance. Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò is by now well known for his book Against Decolonization,…

Lecture, CHEI Seminar

On Monday, 26 February, a special open evening will be held at the Leiden University Library for anyone interested in the eighteen recently acquired photographs of Africa, that were created by Alexine Tinne in 1862. The unique prints will be available for public viewing for one time only, in the presence…