Mexico, between 500 B.C. and A.D. 900

The Research Master History offers an advanced and rigorous historical education, ideal for students aiming to pursue a PhD or a career in research.

Read more about the partner organizations of the Summerschool Global History in the 2020s.

This article explores an emerging “cultural turn” in intelligence studies, which, if fully realized, could entail the expansion of the discipline to include new methodologies and theories, and a more integrative understanding of historical causality that locates intelligence agencies within the widersocio-cultural…

Increasingly, primary sources from the period before the emergence of digital media are being digitized. These “digital surrogates” have facilitated the work of (historical) researchers; instead of having to visit several archives, libraries and other places, the (primary) sources appear in front of…

The Laboratory for Human Osteoarchaeology specialises in the macroscopic and microscopic analysis of human remains. We use cutting edge scientific approaches to address archaeological, historical, and anthropological research questions. In addition to paleopathological, histological, and 3D scanning…

The 21st International Conference on English Historical Linguistics will be held from 7 to 11 June 2021 at Leiden University.

In tracing the deeper historical roots of what Xi Jinping contemporarily frames as a “Chinese dream” of “wealth and power,” the article discerns key actors, events, and organizing principles in a long process toward restoring China’s deemed rightful place in the regional system.

What type of violones were used to perform Bach’s music in his time? And which octaves and tunings are appropriate for his stringed bass instruments?

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…

The Modern Devotion: pone of the most influential religious initiatives in the late medieval Low Countries.

The Global Order in Historical Perspective specialisation focuses on how power relations are structured, from the great politics of global governance to diplomatic culture in regional and national perspectives through transnational alliances.

On 23 oktober 2018, Elsemieke Daalder defended her doctoral thesis 'De rechtspraakverzamelingen van Julius Paulus'. The doctoral research was supervised by prof. mr. W.J. Zwalve and Prof. mr. E. Koops.

The research project of Yannis Patoukas proposes to explore the different intersections between experimental rock music of the 1960s and 1970s and electroacoustic music, with regard to studio practices and production techniques and their creative possibilities.

On the 7th of November, Rasmus Thorsø Nielsen successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Rasmus on this achievement!

Investigating the relations between Tupi Indigenous Knowledge, Museum Collections and the Dutch Colonization of Brazil

From the formative period of Islam to the contemporary world, Muslims have negotiated changing modalities of being Muslim.

In this volume, Leonard Blussé and Nie Dening open up a veritable treasure trove of Chinese archival sources about the autonomous history of Chinese Batavia.

Constant Hijzen and Simon Willmetts have released Spies, Culture, and Society, a collection of essays, published by Georgetown University Press, exploring the relationship between intelligence agencies and the societies and cultures they inhabit.

Leiden archaeologists investigate how people in the past impacted their environment. Together with scientists, environmental scientists, and humanities experts, they use this information to draw conclusions about the present – and show what we can learn from it for the future.

The third project, worked on by dr. Rina Knoeff, is a synthesising project directed at studying the Leiden anatomical collections as important parts of ‘public history’. It will use the results of the other projects in order to analyse anatomical collections (their focus, significant silences, audiences,…

The Old Observatory houses four historical telescopes. On this page you can learn more about them.

How can we make the information in handwritten historical research reports accessible and searchable? Data scientists at Leiden University are working with other universities on a method that will improve access to cultural heritage.

LUCAS’ Medieval and Early Modern (MEM) cluster brings together expertise in the fields of art, literature and media. It focuses on the arts in society in Europe and beyond during a vast period of time, from the 7th through to the 18th centuries CE.

LUCAS members are experts in the fields of literary history and theory, film and media studies, and art, architectural, and book history.

We’re delighted to announce our plenary speakers.

This project, South American population history revisited: multidisciplinary perspectives on the Upper Amazon (SAPPHIRE), investigates population dynamics in western South America on the basis of traces in the geographical, genetic, archaeological, ethnological, and linguistic record.

The War and Peace Studies track offers you a comprehensive understanding of the historical, theoretical, and practical dimensions of war and peace, while addressing the complex challenges of conflict and peacebuilding in the contemporary world.

This project incorporates spatiality into the discussion of medieval demography, allowing for a more nuanced view on medieval town populations. It establishes a maximum population count for towns for periods prior to 1400 and provides a means to compare the ranking of towns using size and density instead…

From ca. 1540 to 1600, thousands fled the war-stricken Southern Low Countries to the British Isles, Germany, and the Northern Low Countries. Research on this displacement crisis, central to the formation of the Netherlands and Belgium, reflects 21st-century debates on migration and language: language…

In this sub-project a selected number of narrative texts will be examined written in the Eurasian realm in the period 1300-1800, focusing on representations of kingship and royal authority.

The Modern and Contemporary Cluster is the largest within LUCAS and home to more than 100 staff members and PhD candidates.

An account of a cognitive approach to historically informed staging.

Memoria de un Paisaje Sagrado

What does site patterning reveal about the social landscape dynamics across the historical divide?

Tracing Transitional English in the Twelfth Century

How was time understood during the colonial period by Tlaxcaltecan Naua communities? What is the relationship between time, spirituality and ritual in the present-day Naua community of Santa Catarina? What does this tell us about the strengths and values of Indigenous heritage and about the impact of…

How were war heroes and war criminals created, and how do these images relate to the historical context?

LUCIS is an interfaculty knowledge centre offering a multidisciplinary and comparative view on Islam and Muslim societies.

In this article, Thomas Maguire, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, examines why states use intelligence to influence external audiences.

In Indigenous Ancestors and Healing Landscapes Jana Pešoutová presents new interpretations of current healing practices in Cuba and the Dominican Republic juxtaposed against the European colonization of the Caribbean after 1492.

Announcement of the publication of Vamping the Stage: Female Voices of Asian Modernities, the first book-length study of women, modernity, and popular music in Asia (University of Hawai'i Press, 2017).

This project examines the notion of sacred fertility and sacred landscapes, associated rituals and material culture, both archaeological and ethnographic manifestations in the Horn of Africa.

Escalating tensions in South China Sea have epitomized US–China relations for nearly a decade. Warning signs of a possible collision between a rising China and steadfast US, bring to light the need to think about ways that can halt and reverse the intensification of their confrontational moves.

On 1 September 2022 Güldeniz Kibris successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.