News
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European grant to research Tibetan collection: 'Tibetans' literary output was and is huge' 17 January 2023
As a student, university lecturer Berthe Jansen fell under the spell of the Van Manen collection: a collection full of Tibetan writings and objects. A...
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Feminist fatwas: How female Islamic scholars influence the religious landscape in Indonesia 02 January 2023
If you have a question about the right way to live as a Muslim, to find the answer - the fatwa - you need to speak to an alim (plural ulama), an Isla...
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Yorum Beekman: ‘I didn’t want to write about people, I wanted to give them a voice’ 28 November 2022
As a woman, working in Japan and Korea can be pretty tough, Yorum Beekman discovered. It prompted her to pursue a PhD on the subject: ‘I thought: hey,...
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Mirae Kim on translation issues at K-pop 03 November 2022
K-pop is wildly popular. Fans all over the world sing along to the Korean songs, often without understanding exactly what the lyrics mean. University ...
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Month of Tutankhamun: Egypt's most legendary pharaoh 28 October 2022
November marks exactly 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. To celebrate this special discovery, the Faculty of Humanities, together w...
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Flora Smit on the relationship between K-pop idols and their fans 27 October 2022
Fans of the Korean music movement K-pop go through hell for their idols. In return, artists care deeply about their fans: they even get to decide thei...
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Katarzyna Cwiertka on the declining popularity of kimchi in South Korea 20 October 2022
In the Western world, kimchi is on an unstoppable rise, but in South Korea the dish is actually losing popularity. Professor Katarzyna Cwiertka explai...
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All eyes on China: the Communist Party Congress is coming up 06 October 2022
The world’s attention will shift to China as the Communist Party is set to hold its five-yearly congress beginning on 16 October. We talk to Senior Un...
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Translation Award for Anne Sytske Keijser, Mark Leenhouts, and Silvia Marijnissen 04 October 2022
Anne Sytske Keijser, Mark Leenhouts, and Silvia Marijnissen have won the 2022 FILTER Translation Award for De droom van de rode kamer
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Nira Wickramasinghe receives grant to research forgotten Dutch slavery in the Indian Ocean World 04 October 2022
Professor Nira Wickramasinghe will research forgotten lineages with an NWO Open Competition grant, in particular the afterlife of Dutch slavery in the...
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An educational tool? Japanese children's books were more than that 01 September 2022
It was long thought that the early development of Japanese children's books served mainly as a propaganda tool of the state: the literature was suppos...
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Exhibition unveils Central Asian part of Silk Road 22 August 2022
An exhibition at Oude UB takes visitors to the historical Silk Road. Old maps, clothes and jewellery reflect the rich heritage of the cities of Centra...
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Researchers from Leiden make Ted Ed videos: ‘We want to integrate Islamic history into world history’ 09 August 2022
What are the origins of the Islamic Empire? And what was daily life like there? Two new Ted Ed animations answer these questions in simple language. A...
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Tensions between China and Taiwan: what's behind it? 08 August 2022
For a while, it was uncertain whether prominent American politician Nancy Pelosi would travel to Taiwan. But last Tuesday, she did visit – much to the...
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‘The ancient Egyptians were concerned with more than just death’ 23 June 2022
When we think about ancient Egypt, the first things that come to mind are usually mummies and sarcophagi. According to researcher and Rijksmuseum van ...