On 11 and 12 April, the kick-off conference “The role of law in Libya’s national reconciliation” took place. The conference marked the official start of a research project by the Van Vollenhoven Institute of Leiden University and the Centre for Law and Society Studies of the University of Benghazi on…

One of our LUCIS members, Karène Sanchez, has been granted the Internationalisation in the Humanities grant for her project 'Engaging Europe in the Arab World: European missionaries and humanitarianism in the Middle East (1850-1970)'. Sanchez is cooperating with researchers from IEG Mainz and IISMM…

Five lecturers from Leiden University have received a Comenius teaching award. With the grants they can carry out an innovation project.

The research performed by the staff of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of Leiden University is presented in the personal webpages of its staff.

Evert Jan van Leeuwen’s entry in Auteur Press’s Devil's Advocate series provides a complete study of the aesthetic appeal of Roger Corman's influential first Poe picture House of Usher.

The subject of motherhood is interwoven with themes of survival, power and identity. It is also at the heart of any consideration of women’s writing. Conversations of Motherhood sensitively charts common themes, intersecting experiences and related topics within the cultural specificities of South African…

This volume was edited by Jeroen Duindam, Jill Harries, Caroline Humfress, and Nimrod Hurvitz.

How do we define the works of a film director whose films cross many established boundaries at once?

The transformation of the myriad of medieval kingdoms, principalities, local lordships, city-‘states’ and peasant ‘republics’ into ‘modern’ states, claiming some measure of sovereignty, remains one of the core themes of European history, because it gets down to the very root of the (idea on the) Europe…

The Central Asia Initiative is funded by the Leiden research profile area Asian Modernities and Traditions with the purpose to establish Central Asian Studies at Leiden University.

The individual in the EU: The application of insights from social psychology to improve the legitimacy and conflict-solving capability of the EU

In this dissertation the notions of category and type are studied through the lens of logical syntax.

In Mapping the Pāśupata Landscape: Narrative, Place, and the Śaiva Imaginary in Early Medieval North India, Elizabeth A. Cecil explores the sacred geography of the earliest community of Śiva devotees called the Pāśupatas.

Beauty is a central concept in the Italian cultural imagination throughout its history and in virtually all its manifestations. It particularly permeates the domains that have governed the construction of Italian identity: literature and language.

The Impact of Mobility and Migration in the Roman Empire assembles a series of papers on key themes in the study of Roman mobility and migration.

Applying linguistics research to solve practical language-related problems in society.

If you have a question, there are various ways to get in touch with us.

If you have a question, there are various ways to get in touch with us.

As Lila Abu Lughod pointed out in 1989, North Africa has been one of the geographical ‘zones of prestige’ for the development of canonical approaches and crucial theoretical debates regarding the comparative study of Islam.

The Austrian Studies Fund supports the Special Chair for Central European Studies, invites visiting professors from Austria and connects with Austria Centres over the world.

On young Muslims seeking to understand their place and make their way in a transformed world.

Duizenden metaalvondsten die door detectorzoeker wijlen Herman Zomerdijk zijn gedaan in de regio Kennemerland schetsen een uniek beeld van Noord-Holland door de eeuwen heen. Hij zocht en verzamelde decennialang historische metalen objecten in Noord-Holland en bouwde zo een unieke metaalcollectie op.

This is the first reference work to describe the history of embroidery throughout Central Asia, the Iranian Plateau and the Indian Subcontinent from the medieval period through to the present. It offers an authoritative guide to all the major embroidery traditions of the region and a detailed examination…

Mei-Wen Chen defended her thesis on 29 June 2016

Indonesia is, and has long been, an important object of study for academics in Leiden in a wide range of disciplines.

Peyman Jafari defended his thesis on 11 October 2018

Dina Ishak Bakhoum defended her thesis on 21 January 2021

Reconfigurations of Practice, Community and Authority in Contemporary Aceh

Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology at Leiden University studies the everyday practices of individuals and groups around the world in relation to the complex global challenges of diversity, sustainability, and digitalisation.

On 18 October 2022 ms. Comstock-Skipp successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

This study documents and translates the Saa (Zapotec) cultural heritage of the Bene’ Ya’a/En’ne I’ya peoples, the Zapotec inhabitants of the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca.

Cody Bahir defended his thesis on 1 June 2017.

This PhD research aims to trace the impact of the Arab conquest, both immediate and long-term, on the material and social organization of Central Asia from 651 to 821 through an “urban change” perspective in four cities: Merv, Paikent, Balkh and Samarkand.

From 1550 onwards, a great interest in the natural world developed across Europe. This interest was not only stimulated by a growing knowledge of local flora and fauna, but also by the import of numerous exotic animal and plant species. Think, for instance, of researches and collectors like Gessner…

Stylianos Irakleous defended his thesis on 6 February 2020

Nadine Akkerman's book Invisible Agents is the very first study to analyse the role of early modern women spies. The book foregrounds the agency of early-modern women, offering a corrective to the gender bias implicit in modern historiography.

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

This grammar presents an in-depth linguistic description of one Papuan Malay variety, based on fifteen hours of recordings of spontaneous narratives and conversations between Papuan Malay speakers.

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.

Traces of a Colourful Past

This book explores the spiritual potential of faith, mysticism and transcendence in answer to the dangers of a mythologised state and the sacro-sanctification of (liberal) democracy and its rule of law.

The portal for prospective Indonesian Students contains information about the possibilities to study at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

On 23 October 2019, Yoram Stein defended his thesis 'Spinoza's Theory of Religion: The Importance of Religion in Spinoza's Thought and Its Implications for State and Society'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P.B. Cliteur and Prof. A.A.M. Kinneging.

On the 8th of September Yun-An Olivia Dung successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

This project is a three-year collaborative research between European and Chinese researchers (2015-2018). As a part of the China-Europe “Understanding Population Change” Collaborative Research Initiative, the project utilizes multidisciplinary research methodologies (social and cultural anthropology,…

Becoming a member of a student association is the best way to quickly feel at home in The Hague. You’ll soon get to know people and you’ll make new friends for life.