I have always been fascinated by the cultural and linguistic interaction between Arabic speakers and Bantu speakers in Eastern Africa up to Southern Somalia as well as by the Islamic influences and their impact along the East African coast. These interests motivated my choice of studying Classical Arabic…

In the academic year 2025-2026, the project 'Sea-ing Africa: Tracing Legacies and Engaging Future Promises of 'Big' Infrastructure Projects in Port City Regions in Ghana and Morocco' will be pleased to host students from all three tracks of the MSc Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology and…

Leonor Jonker (1987) is a historian, author, and artist. She was the scientific curator of an exhibition on the Namibian genocide at the Mémorial de la Shoah, Paris (25 November 2016 - 12 March 2017).

When deciding what to study you undoubtedly read a lot of information about your study programme. Leiden University employs various systems to provide information about programmes and courses and to facilitate communication between lecturers and students.

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.

Jan Frans van Dijkhuizen is Associate professor at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society.

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.

Lecture

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.

Exhibition

Former President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa gave a public lecture on Campus The Hague on 7 July. His story was about the economic transformation of Africa.

Mohamed Muse is a researcher at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University. Mohamed Muse’s current research focuses on diaspora remittances and international financial regulations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mohamed’s background is in International Development and International Political…

The jury of the Africa Thesis Award is delighted to announce that the 2024 prize has been awarded to Baleseng Maeneche, a graduate of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities at the University of the Western Cape, for her thesis 'Media Representations of Male Perpetrators of Violence against Women and Children:…

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…

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…

Olaf Kaper is a professor of Egyptology at Leiden University, specialized in the New Kingdom to Greek and Roman Periods. An expert in the fields of Egyptian religion, iconography and cultural history, he furthermore excavates in the Dakhleh Oasis.

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,…

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

Leiden University and four other Dutch universities will appoint 51 PhD candidates to conduct solution-oriented research for and with the African continent.

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

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…

Lecture

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

Egbert Fortuin is Professor Russian Language and Linguistics.

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…

During the Bachelor Honours Class ‘The world is quantum’, students from various disciplines learned about the rules of nature on the smallest scale: quantum mechanics. What opportunities and dangers do they see for their field of study?

The special of the Dutch History Programme Andere Tijden 'Missie Geslaagd?' (Mission accomplished?) tells the story of the last fathers of the Holy Spirit Congregation who live in Gennep. Professor of Anthropology and Sociology of Africa Peter Pels is one of the specialists in this episode. He explains…