Centre for the Arts in Society

The Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS) is one of the seven academic institutes within the Faculty of Humanities. Our research focus is on the arts in all their forms, from literature and the visual arts to modern media. We examine the ‘arts in society’: we are interested in the interactions between the arts and their societal contexts.

LUCAS researchers study cultural objects from classical antiquity to the present day, from a wide range of geographical origins and in a wide range of languages, including ancient Greek and Latin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, Dutch, French, German and Italian. 

LUCAS research is divided into three chronological clusters: Classics, Medieval and Early Modern, and Modern and Contemporary. In addition, our research explores three broad themes that run through the chronological clusters: Experience, Identities, and Temporalities.