This year on June 8-12, the Annual Convention of the Austrian and Central European Centres was organised in Leiden. At this convention, directors and (PhD) students from all over the world come together to meet, have presentations by the students on their topics of expertise, and to get the know the…

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…

Why and how do people collect things? Why does a museum display one object and not another? These questions are at the heart of the interdisciplinary research programme Museums, Collections and Society. The programme is holding a conference for scholars and the general public on 5 and 6 July.

Morena Skalamera is Assistant Professor of Russian and International Studies. She is a familiar face at Leiden University since August 2018. Morena introduces herself below.

Maud Rijks recently joined the Institute for History as a PhD candidate within the starting grant project "You say security, I say crisis – Challenging Disciplinary Boundaries in Security Cooperation and Crisis Governance" under the supervision of Dario Fazzi. Below she introduces herself.

Take a walk through any city, and you are likely to come across a brightly coloured mural. Although these paintings often seem to serve solely as a backdrop for Instagram snapshots, art history professor Minna Valjakka says there are rich traditions and intricate histories that uncover more critical…

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.

Lecture, LUCIS Keynotes

Symposium

Lecture, Book Launch Leiden University Nationalism Network

Debate, Symposium

Conference

'Consider languages in their shared context.' That is the message of Professor and Arabist Beatrice Gründler, who will receive an honorary doctorate from Leiden University on 8 February. ‘I would like people to learn that Arabic history has a close connection with Europe.’

Rafal Matuszewski is an assistant professor at the Institute for History since 1 August 2023. Below he introduces himself.

From research on stellar winds to sign language: an impressive seven researchers from Leiden University will receive a prestigious Vici grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

In the coming years, Hilde De Weerdt gets to spend over three million euros. She received grants from both the European Research Council (ERC) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for research on Chinese infrastructure. ‘It is great that it is also possible to develop large projects in the social sciences…

‘A Muslim and a Jew in the house of God.’ This is how historian Nadia Bouras introduced her recent conversation with colleague Sara Polak in Leiden’s Hooglandse Kerk. They discussed the rising tensions since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. ‘Dare to ask each other questions.’

In the nationalist nineteenth century, people developed an interest in medieval language and literature. The study of medieval material in one’s own vernacular was thought to reveal a great national past. But why, then, was Old English studied by Germans, Danes, Italians and many other nationalities…

UNESCO has recognized an international set of fifteen manuscripts about Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the globe and the three Hikayat Aceh manuscripts as World Heritage. The manuscripts are inscribed in the global UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This list contains documentary heritage…

Florian Herrendorf has won the Fruin Prize 2023. His thesis was chosen out of 11 nominees as the best master's thesis in history studies.

Opting more often for mocktails or soft drinks rather than beer or wine, talking to others about their drinking and pointing out the ban on drugs. Leiden University’s new covenant on alcohol and drugs for study associations encourages providing more alcohol-free alternatives.

What do you do when you’re suddenly given access to a whole lot of data but don’t know how to organise and analyse it? Maritime historians in the Faculty of Humanities joined forces with vocational college (MBO) students to build a database. ‘We’re so compatible with each other.’

PhD defence

PhD defence

Lecture, Event

Lecture, Sociolinguistics & Discourse Studies Series

Debate, Leiden Asia Academy

Lecture, Seminar

The opening of the new academic year highlighted students' and lecturers' personal motivators. Incoming students were encouraged to be bold, forge their own paths and grow by trial and error.

Workshop

The Graduate School of the Faculty of Humanities conducted a survey of its PhD candidates and their supervisors in spring 2023. What is going well? And what could be improved? The results are now known.

Transdisciplinary education, in which students work with external parties, is getting more popular. How do you start such a programme as a teacher? The Honours Academy and the Leiden Learning Innovation Centre have written a guide for all Leiden colleagues.

Walter Gam Nkwi is lecturer at the Institute for History, University of Leiden since 1 September 2019. He also lectures at the Den Haag campus. Walter introduces himself below.

It was not until 1878 that the first female students enrolled at Leiden University, but the discussion on whether women were suited to study was by no means over. 8 March is International Women's Day. BBC correspondente Kim Ghattas will deliver a lecture on 6 March on the struggle by Arabic women for…

Hiring academics is more than just tallying up publications, says academic director and history professor Jeroen Duindam. He and his colleagues have come up with tips and guidelines for interview committees that align with the new system of recognition and rewards.

In the booklet ‘Research with Windows Wide Open’, eight professors in the social sciences and humanities advise colleagues who want to make an impact with their research. They include Leiden professors Andrea Evers and Leo Lucassen. The booklet, published by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and…

Professor Henk te Velde started as interim dean of the Faculty of Humanities on 1 March. Mark Rutgers' successor is faced with the task of getting the faculty back to financial health.

That Tessa Schiethart finished her bachelor's degree in International Studies with a thesis on Indonesian women's reasons for veiling was a coincidence. Or so she thought. Six years later, her book Seeing and Being Seen, in which she writes about her life with a wine stain and vision loss, is in the…

In collaboration with: Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, the Netherlands & Mar Chrysostom Chair, Mahatma Gandhi University, India

The field of artificial intelligence has developed rapidly in recent years. We spoke with Stephan Raaijmakers, professor by special appointment in Communicative AI, about the impact of artificial intelligence and why everyone should pay more attention to developments in this field.

Aya Ezawa bade farewell as Diversity Officer of Leiden University at a celebration in the Academy Building on 11 June. Since her appointment in 2019, she has been a tireless advocate for culture change and a champion for diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities for all.

The English taught interdisciplinary minor Violence Studies looks into various facets of interpersonal violence. Is this minor for all Leiden students? These two 'colleagues' are certain of it.

As a woman, working in Japan and Korea can be pretty tough, Yorum Beekman discovered. It prompted her to pursue a PhD on the subject: ‘I thought: hey, that’s interesting!’

Lawyer, economist, politician and women’s rights activist Lizzy van Dorp is the 100th entry in our Top 450. Who or what is your favourite?

Leiden University was present for the second time at the second Leiden Pride on Saturday.

Lecture | LUCIS What's New?!

Lecture, Research Seminar Europe 1000-1800

Lecture, Leiden University Nationalism Network

Lecture