This dissertation develops an innovative approach to cultural transformation in the kingdom of Commagene (modern south-east Turkey) during the 1st c. BCE, focusing on a palatial context in the capital Samosata.

On 12 March (at 14.00) Nathan van Kleij will defend his dissertation at the University of Amsterdam. The title is: "Beyond the Façade: Town Halls, Publicity, and Urban Society in the Fifteenth-Century Low Countries". It will be streamed online. Interested parties can obtain a link by mailing to: pro…

Het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden zoekt twee stagiairs (v/m) voor het project ‘Het jaar 1000’, voor de periode september t/m december 2021. In dit project wordt Nederland in Europese context in de 10de en 11de eeuw bestudeerd. Deadline: 15 april 2021.

On 9 June 2020, Maral Darouei defended her thesis 'Managing a sustainable career in the contemporary world of work: Personal choices and contextual challenges'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. J.I. van der Rest.

Hot rocky exoplanets are planets that orbit so close to their host star that they possess a molten surface.

The main question addressed in this thesis is how we can best conceive the contrast between a priori and empirical truths.

PhD defence

Archives were a common target during the Second World War, and hundreds suffered damages. Among these archival losses, the losses to medieval manuscript collections stand out.

Migration is the talk of the town. On the whole, however, the current situation is seen as resulting from unique political upheavals. Such a-historical interpretations ignore the fact that migration is a fundamental phenomenon in human societies from the beginning and plays a crucial role in the cultural,…

What are best practices for teaching students to engage with 'wicked' problems?

This dissertation studies the construction of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a cultural icon in American memory, particularly by FDR himself.

Promotor: Carel J. ten Cate, Co-Promotor: Hans W. Slabbekoorn

This book reveals how one publishing firm's editorial strategy helped to legitimate European colonialism in the early modern era.

In this thesis it is posed that the central object of preference discovery is a co-creative process in which the Other can be represented by a machine. It explores efficient methods to enhance introverted intuition using extraverted intuition's communication lines.

This 25th volume in the series 'Islam in Africa', edited by Annachiara Raia, is a pioneering collection of poetry by the outstanding Kenyan poet, intellectual and imam Ustadh Mahmmoud Mau (born 1952) from Lamu island, once an Indian Ocean hub, now on the edge of the nation state.

While phenomenology and Yogacara Buddhism are both known for their investigations of consciousness, there exists a core tension between them: phenomenology affirms the existence of essence, whereas Yogacara Buddhism argues that everything is empty of essence (svabhava). How is constructive cultural…

This PhD project investigates the forms, functions, meanings, and socio-cultural values embedded in Palenda, in order to understand how it reflects and shapes the worldview of the Muna people (Mieno Wuna) through metaphor.

Conference

Lecture

Various guests with a background in human rights, law, politics and international relations will be taking part in the ‘Human Rights and the World Cup Qatar’ debate on Friday 30 September. Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) Secretary-General and Leiden alumnus Gijs de Jong will be there to provide…

On 4 May, Leiden University remembered the victims of the Second World War from our university community. Alumni, students and present and former staff of the University came together for this Hour of Remembrance.

As a twelve-year-old girl, Nicky van de Beek became intrigued by the tomb chapels in Saqqara, Egypt. Now she is doing her PhD on them, just like another Leiden Egyptologist decades earlier. Herta Mohr persevered with her research during World War II. Now she is the namesake of the first Leiden building…

This new handbook by Frits Naerebout and Henk Singor places the history of the Greeks and Romans within the larger context of the contemporary Eurasian world.

Weekly Workshop

This book presents an archaeological overview of the presence and development of Egyptian material culture in the context of Augustan Rome.

The Iseum Campense, the impressive sanctuary for Isis and the Egyptian gods on the Campus Martius and arguably one of ancient Rome’s most notable absent presences, is a monument central to various debates.

The present study explores the role of water in the ancient Roman city of Ostia.In antiquity, Ostia was situated at the intersection of the Tiber River and the Mediterranean Sea, and acted as one of the harbour cities of Rome for several centuries.This study investigates how water was acquired, used,…

With the departure of Tesse Stek to the Royal Dutch Institute in Rome for three years, Andrzej Antczak will take over the role of Departmental Head for World Archaeology in September 2018. We spoke with him to learn more about his background, ideas, and plans for the future.

Lev Manovich, world-renowned innovator in digital humanities and theorist of digital culture and media art, is the first speaker in the Media Technology MSc program's "Hello World!" lecture series.

As part of Metamorfoze, the national digitalization project for the preservation of paper heritage, journals of The Van Vollenhoven Institute’s library have been digitized.

world-line presents the forces of ELISION on Huddersfield Contemporary Records for the fourth time, once again pushing the boundaries of instruments in search of visceral, expressive musical experiences. The three works present very different aesthetic approaches, crafting dynamic and innovative sound…

Metamaterials researcher Martin van Hecke was featured in the Dutch science tv show Atlas.

At the annual World Computer Chess Championship, chess computers from all over the world compete with each other. This year, Leiden University hosted the event.

In this lecture professor Harding considered the implications of Asia's 21st-century rise for its legal systems and our approaches to studying them in the new situation we confront in the early 21st century.

On 21 October, Andrea van Leerdam will defend her thesis ‘Woodcuts as Reading Guides. How Images Shaped Knowledge Transmission in Medical-Astrological Books in Dutch (1500-1550)’. To register, send an email to woodcutsasreadingguides@gmail.com.

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? Want to learn more? Then sign up for the new MOOC…

The small quantum world and our world of perception obey different laws of nature. Leiden physicists search for the border between both worlds. In an article published soon in Physical Review Letters they set an upper limit.

The World Data Visualization Prize for 2019 was awarded to Dimiter Toshkov, Associate Professor at the Institute of Public Administration, for his work on the theme of small states and good governance. The prize is a good way to raise awareness about the value of good data visualization.

This study aims to make a practical contribution to a new understanding and use of 3D reconstructions, namely as ‘laboratories’ to test hypotheses and visualize, evaluate and discuss alternative interpretations.

De klimaattransitie is in volle gang: de vervuilende industrie moet plaatsmaken voor duurzame productiemethoden. Werknemers in deze industrie zullen hierdoor nieuwe banen moeten vinden. Dat zal niet iedereen lukken. Heb oog voor die groep, waarschuwt politiek econoom Lars van Doorn.

From the birth of the universe to the molecules in a planet's atmosphere. The first five pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) show the enormous range in which the space telescope can operate. Ewine van Dishoeck, professor of molecular astrophysics, took a look at the first images Tuesday…

Lev Manovich, world-renowned innovator in digital humanities and theorist of digital culture and media art, is the first speaker in the Media Technology MSc program's "Hello World!" lecture series.

On 4 December 2020 Fabiola van Dam will defend her dissertation "Het middeleeuwse openbare badhuis, fenomeen, metafoor en schouwtoneel" (Utrecht). To attend this event online please send an email to: fab.dam@usa.net (mentioning "4 dec" in the subject line).

Following the United Nations Day of peace the kick off of World Class The Hague 2019-2020 took place at Museon, The Hague. World Class is a forum for discussion where selected students from various institutions across The Hague are given the opportunity to visit international institutions, engage in…

How will future technological developments influence our everyday lives? This is the key question during the Brave New World symposium on 2 and 3 November.

The United Nations’ fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. The Centre for Innovation at Leiden University feels the responsibility to tackle this need. Our mission is to drive innovation…

Call for Workshop Contributions