Museum Temporalities analyzes how museums relate to time. It explores the hidden temporal assumptions and practices that define museums. How might these assumptions help us to better understand and address museums’ often problematic and painful relationship to the colonial past?

The programme consists of four fields of study which are outlined below.

Caspar Reuvens, the world’s first Professor of Archaeology, was a prominent classical scholar and from his appointment in 1818 onwards Classical & Mediterranean Archaeology has been an important field of research in Leiden.

This book examines the history of The Netherlands in a way that connects global processes to local developments.

Leiden Journal of Pottery Studies 23, 2007

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

This publication of the School of Advanced Study of the University of London is one of the outcomes of the Landscapes of Early Roman Colonization project and the Colonial Rural Networks project (NWO, Dr. T.D. Stek). The volume, edited by Tesse Stek and prof. Gert-Jan Burgers of the Free University Amsterdam,…

The central aims of MicroClock project are to describe the B. subtilis circadian clock at molecular and functional levels, and discover the mechanisms of clock-regulated bidirectional signaling between B. subtilis and the model plant Arabidopsis

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?…

From 20 June to 12 August 2011 a team from the Caribbean Research Group, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University and the St. Eustatius Centre for Archaeological Research (SECAR) under the direction of Dr. Grant Gilmore III, Dr. Menno Hoogland, Prof. Corinne Hofman and Dr. Alice Samson carried out…

To reach a larger audience beyond the academy, a number of activities in the cultural realm have been programmed over the years.

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.

Two Decades of Research in Nicaragua and Costa Rica

A technique originally developed for satellite imaging can now be used to recover pictographic texts from underneath the surface of a five hundred year old Mexican manuscript.

Situated at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish Philippines offer historians an intriguing middle ground of connected histories that raises fundamental new questions about conventional ethnic, regional and religious identities.

The first comprehensive and authoritative history of work and labour in Africa; a key text for all working on African Studies and Labour History worldwide.

This book examines the critical role of information and knowledge in early modern Europe's global pursuits, exploring challenges in trusting distant information, the development of doubt in intercultural encounters, and the impact of misinformation.

The interdisciplinary minor American Studies offers a survey of U.S. history, literature and culture from the establishment of the first colonies on the North American continent in the 15th century to the present.

The minor Creative Strategies for a Society in Change (CSSC) creates a connection between gaining insight into creative making processes and exploring societal issues that characterize our time.

LUCDH presents a lunchtime talk once a month on recent research related to Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence. All Leiden University staff and students are welcome to attend in the Digital Lab, Huizinga 0.09 (or online).

This research investigates the changing landscape and land use in two case studies of the coastal villages of St. Kitts and the Kalinago Territory of Dominica. By integrating human and ecological aspects of agrarian landscapes, this research analyzes how land degradation or land change impacts cultural…

The previous blog post in this series discussed the role of international diplomacy during the coronavirus crisis. This post focuses on diplomacy and its challenges in post-corona times. Specifically, the blog post argues that diplomats will face a range of challenges following the Covid-19 pandemic…

Immerse yourself: read books, listen to podcasts and watch films about racism, discrimination and the colonial past.

The Netherlands leads Europe when it comes to part-time work. Does this affect labour shortages? According to Olaf van Vliet, Professor of Economics, it's more nuanced: ‘A trade-off between paid employment, care responsibilities, voluntary work, and free time.’

The Dutch museum landscape is among the most forward-thinking worldwide, in terms of innovations in engaging diverse audiences and stakeholders. Building on the museum studies and art history programmes at Leiden University, the Museum Lab explored conceptual and practical aspects of the museum as a…

As of 1 February prof. Mariëlle Bruning, dr. Stephanie Rap and Denise Verkroost LL.M. will start the second part of the research project concerning the participation of children in youth care.

An article by Bert Fraussen, Adria Albareda, Caelesta Braun, Moritz Muller & Erin Sullivan, published as a three-part blog series.

An article by Bert Fraussen, Adria Albareda, Caelesta Braun, Moritz Muller & Erin Sullivan, published as a three-part blog series.

University lecturer Olga van Marion invited pupils from Ashram College in Alphen aan den Rijn to take part in a series of Dutch workshops organised at the University. Some the students and workshop leaders reflect on the busy morning.

Karwan Fatah-Black and Lauren Lauret are co-authors of Geketend voor Hollands Glorie (The Chains of Holland’s Glory) that studies the political and economic connections between South Holland and slavery. The findings of this research will be presented with Dr. Joris van den Tol (Radboud University)…

Drones are proving to be a good means of mapping man-made changes in the landscape. Geophysicist Till Sonneman and his colleagues (archaeology) are experimenting with drones in inaccessible areas of the Caribbean.

On 23 February, Daniel Somart and Karolina Wróbel, students of the BASS took part in the 2023 SAGANET Awards, a competition in which participants can show a serious game they developed.

To easily take part in group decision-making research, Jörg Gross, Assistent Professor Social and Organisational Psychology, launched a platform that allows students at the social interaction lab. Sign up to receive invitations if you are interested in taking part in on-going scientific studies in the…

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.

During this year's Dutch Film Festival (NFF), which took place from 27 September to 5 October in Utrecht, a new Artificial Intelligence-driven Virtual Reality project was pitched for BoostNL. This project, The Great Orator, was conceived by the Dutch interactive illustrator Daniel Ernst and realized…

Fradinta Laksmita came to Leiden in 2023 for the Advanced Master Law & Finance during her sabbatical. She has since returned to Jakarta and now works as an associate lawyer at Dentons. ‘My best memory was actually going to class.’

Three Dutch research institutes - including the Leiden University’s KITLV - will conduct a follow-up study on the use of violence during the Dutch East Indies war of decolonisation (1945 – 1950). The government has designated 4.1 million Euros for this study.

The students of European Union Studies visited Brussels this October, and it was another successful and worthwhile trip for those students in the MA International Relations programme.

An article by Bert Fraussen, Adria Albareda, Caelesta Braun, Moritz Muller & Erin Sullivan, published as a three-part blog series.

The worldwide protests following the police violence in the United States show how deep-rooted and wide-spread racism is across the world. As an academic institution doing research on law & society, the Van Vollenhoven Institute is very much aware of systemic racism and speaks out in support of these…

The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics has been badly affected by the corona crisis: the research in the four labs and the fieldwork has come to a standstill. What are the implications?

The African Studies Centre Leiden’s Research Programme for 2025-2029 is called ‘African Trajectories: Past Dependencies and New Directions’. Building on its former programme, it extends the recognition of Africa’s pivotal role in world affairs. The continent’s global significance has become increasingly…

On the 24th of November Aditi Mukherjee successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Leiden Asia Centres

the production, use and exchange of bodily accoutrements through the lenses of the microscope

Every year, the World Cultural Council grants special acknowledgements to five to ten young researchers or scholars of the host country who have achieved outstanding performance in the fields of science, education or arts.

How can wide-scale applications of isotope analyses and isotope mapping contribute to the identification of ancient migrants and their origins in the Western Caribbean? Can we observe linkages between individual behaviors and long-term patterns, for example as manifested in continuous waves of migration?…