The Faculty of Humanities has 8 institutes:

Do you have a question about studying at Leiden University or student life in Leiden? Do you want more information about the Governance of Migration and Diversity master's specialisation? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

Seven canvases on seven buildings tell the story of Rembrandt and Leiden University. From self-portraits to the History Painting: each work highlights the relationship between the Dutch master and the university of his home town.

In the past we have held lecture series on themes within Islamic thought and history, such as our lecture series on apocalypticism and eschatology in early Islam in 2021. We endeavour to hold at least one thematic lecture series per academic year.

This section provides an overview of online tools for the study of the medieval Low Countries. The websites linked down below are often times both available in Dutch and English.

How does a Leiden alumnus end up working at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met)? In the case of Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, it was partly down to chance, luck, fate. But that was preceded by a unique degree in decorative arts in Leiden.

In 2022, many of our staff and students won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants.

My NVICairo Experience - Marie Costers (MA student, University of Antwerp, NVIC student Spring 2025)

The Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law is active in many areas.

People with a mild intellectual disability (MID) experience more loneliness than people without MID. In the COLLELO project, researchers from social and humanities disciplines collaborate with people with MID and their (in)formal networks to create an (online) learning community that aims to understand…

Stella Morgana defended her thesis on 31 March 2021

Many members of the Royal Family have studied at Leiden University and several have been awarded an honorary doctorate.

Classics and Ancient Civilizations covers one year and can be studied in four programmes, one of them is the Hebrew and Aramaic Studies specialisation. When you choose to study this programme you will both be guided through the broadness relevant sub-disciplines, as well as gradually led to develop…

What is it like to study Urban Studies in The Hague? Sonia Dobkowska, second year student, describes what a typical day looks like for her.

The Caribbean before Columbus is a new synthesis of the region’s insular history. It combines the results of the authors’ 55 years of archaeological research on almost every island in the three archipelagoes with that of their numerous colleagues and collaborators.

Mobility, Globalisation, and Interculturality is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

The research aims to understand how did Cuban and Dominican landscape encapsulate historical conceptual transformations about human –nature spiritual interaction after the Spanish conquest? More specifically, what are the present day cultural associations with Cuban and Dominican natural landscape?…

Once you have decided on your field of research, you should start looking for a supervisor as early as possible.

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of the Faculty of Humanities with the Anton de Kom University in Paramaribo.

Recently, Europe was again shaken by some attacks. This ‘Elementair Deeltje’ places terrorism in a historical perspective and gives an up-to-date overview of this form of political violence.

On December 12th, Andreas Krogull succesfully defended his doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Andreas on this great result.

This collaborative research group (CRG) facilitates the synergies of researchers engaged with African languages and documentation of texts conducted in East Africa, paying particular attention to ‘endangered archives’ and ‘endangered languages’.

Our mission is to advance the understanding of mental health of individuals with a history of stress and/or trauma through rigorous interdisciplinary research, integrating insights from clinical psychology, neurobiology, and social sciences. We are committed to translating our findings into innovative…

Many members of the Dutch Royal Family have studied at Leiden University and several have been awarded an honorary doctorate. In 1987, current King Willem-Alexander followed in the academic footsteps of his mother Beatrix, his aunt Margriet and his grandmother Juliana, and started his History studies…

We are experts in the fields of languages, cultures, history, arts, societies and philosophy. Together we cover almost all continents and time periods. Knowledge of these disciplines contributes to a humane, safe and sustainable world.

On Thursday 1 December 2016 at 13.45 hrs, Francisco Sepulveda Ramirez will defend his doctoral thesis ‘Residence in Tax Treaties' at the Academy Building of Leiden University. Supervisor is Professor F.A. Engelen.

On the 14th of June, Yliana Rodriquez successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Yliana on this achievement!

All research at Leiden University is organised into institutes. To do justice to the wide spectrum of research (and consequently teaching) that comes from these, you will find descriptions of all the Leiden institutes on these pages.

This book presents an in-depth grammatical description of Kumzari, a mixed language spoken in remote villages on the Musandam Peninsula in northern Oman.

How was anti-communism organized in the West? New volume edited by Giles Scott-Smith, Luc van Dongen and Stephanie Roulin on the aims, arguments and associations of a range of transnational anti-communist activists during the Cold War.

Promotores: Prof.dr. F. van Lunteren, Prof.dr. F.S. Gaastra

The key questions posed in this dissertation centre on the interaction between spectator and artwork. What happens between a spectator and an artwork? How do we experience ‘meaning’ in an artwork? How may the process of interpretation be understood and articulated?

It is often claimed—in both scholarly and popular sources—that guide dogs for the blind are a modern innovation. But as this project demonstrates clearly, guide dogs also existed during the medieval period.

Due to its economic prosperity, its policy of (relative) religious tolerance, and its large numbers of migrants, the Dutch Republic has long had a reputation of being the prime example of ‘tolerance’, especially during the seventeenth century. Although the great variety of newcomers in the Dutch Republic…

The Darién region of Panama is the only land bridge connecting North, Central and South America. Nowadays home to descendants of African enslaved peoples, Indigenous peoples (Emberá, Wounaan, and Guna), and mestizos, Darién has been and still is fundamental to connectivity, cultural interchange, and…

Shining a new light on the Roman world

LUCDH presents a lunchtime talk once a month on recent research in Digital Humanities & AI. All Leiden University staff and students are welcome to attend in the Digital Lab, Huizinga 0.09 (as well as online). Lectures are announced via the LUCDH Webpages & Newsletter. Please register so we can keep…

Lecture, European Union Seminar

The Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Religions (L*CeSAR) facilitates the integration of scholarly expertise and resources, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and intellectual exchange among researchers of ancient religions, both within Leiden University and in the broader academic commu…

Building cultures of legality: lawmaking and anxiety in the office of the Governor General.

Study information

Study information

Did you know that Arabic was for centuries the lingua franca in an area stretching from the south of Spain to the Chinese border? And that the Middle East under Muslim rule was the world’s beating heart of trade, but also of science and scholarship?

A cultural sequence of western coastal French Guiana from 5000 BP to present

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