Western countries still tend to view Africa as the periphery, says anthropologist Mayke Kaag. In her inaugural lecture, she calls for a shift in perspective: to see Africa as a mirror of global developments.

Victoria Nyst is associate professor linguistics whose research interests include historical sign language studies, sign language documentation & description, sign language technology, lexicography, linguistic iconicity, and the gesture-sign language interface. She also works with the Africa Studies…

Within the scope of innovating and connecting – the theme of our new Strategic Plan – I paid a visit to Brussels last week. It is important to give Leiden University a face in Brussels and to show our expertise, on Africa for instance.

Nancy C. Kula is Professor and Chair of African Linguistics. Her research interests focus on a range of topics in African and General Linguistics with a focus on Bantu Languages investigating phonology, morphology, tone and their interfaces. She also works on Language Policy in Africa, specifically…

Jan Frans van Dijkhuizen is a University Lecturer at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society.

Leiden University will deepen its cooperation with knowledge institutions in Africa. During a trip to Ghana, a delegation spoke with several African knowledge institutions about intensifying their collaboration.

Sini Hassinen is a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University Centre for the arts in Society. She has a background is in anthropology and African studies. Her research combines cultural analysis, decolonial and queer approaches, and participatory research methods.

Joanne Stolk is a Lecturer in Greek papyrology and Coptic connected to the Leiden Centre for the Arts in Society and the Leiden Papyrological Institute.

Carmen Van den Bergh is assistant professor in Italian Literature at the Leiden University Centre for Arts in Society (LUCAS) where she is director of the Italian Language and Culture Department, track leader for Italian in the MA Literary Studies and quartermaster for the new BA programme Modern Languages.…

Peter Bisschop is Professor of Sanskrit and Ancient Cultures of South Asia at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies. He is a Sanskritist and cultural historian of ancient India, with particular interest in the development of Hinduism and related traditions. His research is philological in…

David Ehrhardt studies governance and institutional change in Africa, with a focus on the role of non-state leaders (such as traditional and religious leaders) in promoting changes that enhance development. He is also co-lead of the Learning Mindset innovation project, which develops and researches…

Lettie Dorst is an associate professor at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics. She teaches a range of different courses in the Minor Translation and the MA Translation, including courses on Translation Studies, Translation Technology, Multimodal Translation and Subtitling. Her research focuses…

Keiko Yoshioka is a Lecturer at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies and Head of the Japanese language programme. She specialises in Japanese language and second language acquisition, with a focus on Japanese language pedagogy, multimodal interaction—especially gestures—Japanese ideophones,…

Rogier Creemers is a Lecturer in Modern Chinese Studies. With a background in Sinology and International Relations, and a PhD in Law, his research focuses on Chinese domestic digital technology policy, as well as China's growing importance in global digital affairs. He is the principal investigator…

Matthijs Westera is an assistant professor at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics.

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

Priscilla Lam is a PhD candidate at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics. As part of the Melody in Speech project, Priscilla’s research investigates the prosody of tone languages. She examines the interaction between tone and intonation systems with a focus on West African languages, namely…

Dr Michael Kerschner is Senior Guest Researcher at the Faculty of Archaeology. Parallel to this position he is a research associate at the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and responsible for the research focus “Cult and Sanctuary” there. His main field…

University Lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe commented on the BBC regarding Donald Trump’s plans to exclude South Africa from the G20.

Casper Wits is a University Lecturer in the Institute for Area Studies. His research focuses on postwar diplomatic and international history in East Asia, with a special interest in the development of Chinese and Japanse foreign policy and Sino-Japanese relations in this period. He also takes an interest…

Alisa van de Haar is Assistant Professor in historical French Literature. Her research focuses on historical multilingualism, the history of the language sector, and the intersection between language and migration. From 2022 to 2026, she conducted a Dutch Research Council Veni project titled ‘Languages…

Martine Bruil is a University Lecturer at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics.

Amadou Adamou is a PhD candidate at the Institute for History.

Florian Schneider's research interests include questions of governance and public administration in the PRC, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, political communication strategies and political content of popular Chinese entertainment, recent Chinese economic developments, as well as Chinese foreign policy. He…

Remco Breuker is a historian of Korea and Northeast Asia, who works on medieval Korean and Northeast Asian history and on contemporary North Korean affairs. He published on the medieval state of Koryo, Korean historiography, Northeast Asia and North Korea, as well as literary translations from Korean…

The Executive Board of Leiden University has appointed Dr Alicia Schrikker as Professor of Dutch History in the World, effective 1 January 2026. The chair is based at the Institute of History (Faculty of Humanities).

Thijs Porck teaches Old English, Middle English, Tolkien and Medieval Studies at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. He is a cultural historian of early medieval England, with a background in medieval history as well as English language and literature. The common strand in his research…

Petra Sijpesteijn is professor of Arabic. Her research concentrates on recovering the experiences of Muslims and non-Muslims living under Islamic rule, using the vast stores of radically under-used documents surviving from the early Islamic world. Professor Sijpesteijn is PI of the NWO funded VICI research…