If you are interested in doing a master’s in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology at Leiden University, you have probably visited the Master’s Online Open Day on 15 October 2026. If you had to miss this event, or if some of your questions have not been answered yet, you are welcome to join our online Master Talks!

Chat with a lecturer and alumnus

During this online session, you’ll learn about one of the master’s tracks from two different perspectives: that of a lecturer and that of an alumnus. The lecturer will tell you more about the track’s content and structure, its central themes, and what to expect during the master’s program. The alumnus will share personal experiences, the choices they made during the program, and discuss the career paths this background can lead to after graduation.
Of course, there will also be plenty of time to ask questions. 

Master Talks

Visual Ethnography: 22 October

Are you eager to explore traditional and experimental audiovisual methods for ethnographic research? Do you consider translating your research findings into a documentary or other multimodal output? Then Visual Ethnography might be for you!

Meet Lina Le Pelley (alumna)

After obtaining her bachelor's in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology from Leiden University and a master's degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, Lina obtained her Visual Ethnography diploma last year. Within the VE track, her research focused on Rotterdam’s energy cooperatives, where she followed various Rotterdam residents who strive to tackle energy poverty and to strengthen their communities. 

Meet Sander Hölsgens (lecturer)

Sander Hölsgens (PhD, UCL) is an anthropologist of urban culture and artistic research. His current research examines skateboarding as a contested practice of socio-political resistance. He also uses zine-making and filmmaking to explore questions on affect, pollution, and the body. At Leiden University, he teaches courses in visual ethnography and social theory.

 

 

Global Ethnography: 27 October

Would you like to conduct a customised three-month ethnographic field research, learn how to study global issues at the local level, and develop excellent social scientific skills?

Meet Riccardo Toni (alumnus)

Within the Global Ethnography Riccardo researched the construction of Indonesia's new capital: Nusantara. He asked what this development project revealed about the relationship between the state and society, in terms of sovereignty and citizenship. Furthermore, he investigated how the government presented and performed the city to the wider national public, and how it governed its new inhabitants.

Meet Irna Hofman (lecturer)

Irna Hofman is Lecturer at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology at Leiden University. She is a rural sociologist, specialising in social and agrarian change in Central Asia. Irna has undertaken extensive periods of fieldwork in rural Central Asia, centred on agrarian change and everyday politics of Global China.