The Middle East has a rich literary tradition, which is steadily gaining a foothold in the West. Modern literary works deal with contemporary issues, such as the legacy of colonialism, the struggles between traditionalism and modernity, the place of women in society and the war in Israel/Palestine.

Frans Willem Korsten is a Professor Literature, Culture and Law at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society.

Jelena Prokic is an Assistant Professor in Computational Linguistics at the Leiden University Centre for Digital Humanities (LUCDH) and Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL). Since September 2024, Jelena Prokic has also been the Head of the Digital Humanities and AI Lab at the Faculty of H…

Yiorgos Evgenios Douliakas is a lecturer at the Centre for the Arts in Society

Leiden University is awarding an honorary doctorate to virologist Marc van Ranst. Van Ranst has been one of the main advisers of the Belgian government during the Covid pandemic. German Arabist Beatrice Gründler will also receive an honorary doctorate for her work in the field of Oriental Manuscript…

On 19 December 2024, Dr Constanta Rosca’s monograph, ‘Digital Arms for Digital Consumer Harms: Mapping Legal and Technical Solutions for Dark Patterns in EU Consumer Law’, was published as an open access book by the institutional, library-led publisher of Maastricht University, Maastricht University…

Middle East Studies Lecture

If you missed the annual LUCDH Winter School Week of Digital Humanities workshops and Pilot Project Symposium (27 – 31 January 2025) this time around, you’ll have a chance to take part next year. Save the dates for the last week of January 2026!

In her teaching, University Lecturer of Ancient History Liesbeth Claes uses various digital tools. Using that experience and interest she started an innovation project in order to research which digital skills history alumni need on the labour market and how these skills can be implemented in the cu…

A better integration of Digital Humanities into study programmes, so that students develop their digital skills as well as possible. That is what Hossam Ahmed wants to achieve in the coming years. He received a senior Comenius Fellowship to develop a digital programme for students.

Governments worldwide invest huge sums in their digital services and data strategies. Efficiency and effectiveness are key. But these are not achieved for some people at least, says Professor of Public Policy Sarah Giest. This makes the intended digital inclusion far from inclusive, as she will explain…

In January, Dr Karsten Lambers was appointed as Professor of Digital and Computational Archaeology at Leiden University's Faculty of Archaeology. With his extensive background in both archaeological research and computational sciences, the installation of Professor Lambers further strengthens this discipline…

Marga Sikkema-de Jong is Professor of Digital Education and Child Development at Leiden University. Marga combines academic expertise in education and child development with practical experience in (special) primary education. She earned her master’s degree in Education and Child Studies at Leiden University…

Who doesn't love to turn on a horror film on a rainy evening? Fortunately, it is only fiction - or is it? According to university lecturer Evert Jan van Leeuwen, modern horror says more about our society than we think. He has been nominated for the Klokhuis Science Prize for his research into addiction…

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

Alies Jansen is a PhD candidate in Global Transformations and Governance Challenges at the Institute for History at Leiden University. In 2025, she is a visiting researcher in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jan Sleutels is a Senior University Lecturer at the Institute for Philosophy.

Organisation

Cristina Grasseni is Professor Cultural Anthropology at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University.

Read where to go with your questions.

Rieneke Sonnevelt is a PhD candidate at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies.

The film Blade Runner as part of the law curriculum? It’s not that weird to Maartje van der Woude, Professor of Law and Society, and Frans-Willem Korsten, Professor of Literature, Culture and Law. ‘The film raises a fundamental question: what’s a human and what’s not?’ From the next academic year onwards,…

Education

In all matters regarding education, Leiden University faculties are supported by the Expertise Centre for Student and Educational Affairs and the Faculty Educational Office.

The Winter Week of Digital Skills will take place in the PJ Veth building from 29 January to 2 February. There will be different workshops where you can improve your digital skills, from dealing with AI and ChatGPT to setting up your own podcast. University lecturer Jelena Prokic explains more.

Professor Peter Bisschop has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant. He will invest the 2.5 million euros in his research into puranas: ancient texts, commonly written in Sanskrit, that are up to fifteen hundred years old.

Education, ICT

The 2023 Digital Humanities Pilot Project Symposium and Digital Winter School took place, 30 Jan – 2 Feb 2023.

LAK Courses is part of Leiden University and offers creative courses for all. You can take part in a range of classes in drama, dance, drawing, painting, singing, photography and literature.

Professor B.H.M. (Bart) Custers PhD MSc LLM is full Professor of Law and Data Science and head of eLaw, Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University.