A platform to research memory and culture in the Muslim world. This programme explores the ways modern memory studies methodologies can be applied to pre-modern Muslim societies to reveal the uses of the past and senses of tradition in diverse contexts of Muslim thought.

China is an important partner of Leiden University. We collaborate with more than 20 Chinese universities and welcome around 400 Chinese Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD students.

Xinrong Ma defended her thesis on 13 February 2018

In this article in International Affairs, Saskia Postema and Jan Melissen examine Chinese celebrities' UN-affiliated Weibo activism in the context of China's increasing engagement in the United Nations, which coincides with a shrinking domestic public sphere under Xi Jinping's leadership.

On 23 January 2020, Paula Kemp defended her thesis 'Enforced performance of commercial sales contracts in the Netherlands, Singapore and China'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. H.B. Krans and Prof. M.H. Wissink (RU Groningen).

The Modern Devotion: pone of the most influential religious initiatives in the late medieval Low Countries.

This research project focuses on the thoughts of ethnicity and political orthodoxy in Medieval China by investigating Wang Tong’s works.

Jinhua Wu defended his thesis on 5 January 2021

This research cluster centres on regional, national, and global intersections between a variety of artistic and cultural expressions and their role in society from 1800 onwards.

A delegation from Leiden University, headed by Vice-Rector Hester Bijl, was in China from 9 to 11 October. During the visit to different universities and partner organisations, existing bonds were reinforced and new contacts made. These agreements will make the future exchange of students and researchers…

Cody Bahir defended his thesis on 1 June 2017.

Senior Researcher at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs and Associate Fellow of The Hague Program of Cyber Norms François Delerue was awarded the 2021 Book Prize of the European Society of International Law for his book Cyber Operations and International Law published by Cambridge University…

This project will explore how Chinese digital networks are grounded in real-world institutions, and how interest groups and individuals use digital infrastructures to shape public discourse on national history.

The central aim is to systematically study differences in crime patterns and social control between migrants and non-migrants in early modern Frankfurt am Main.

The conquest by Rome brought profound changes to large parts of Europe. Unprecedented infrastructural works were created, towns sprang up, a ribbon of fortresses was laid out along the frontiers.

This project investigates memorisation strategies that were employed in the fields of painting and calligraphy in imperial China, with a focus on the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

During her lecture, Professor Annelou van Gijn explored user-wear analysis and experimental archaeology, showing details about past human life.

Aristocratic dynasties have long been regarded as fundamental to the development of early modern society and government. Yet recent work by political historians has increasingly questioned the dominant role of ruling families in state formation, underlining instead the continued importance and independence…

The main aim of this research is to understand the dynamics of identity within indigenous Caribbean communities as expressed through the practice of intentional cranial modification. A multidisciplinary approach will be applied to achieve this aim, combining current anthropological and sociological…

Ms. Monica Klasing Chen defended her thesis on 16 December 2020

Why does the past elicit this intense activity in the present? What does the past mean for the present, and what does it do to it? A WAR OF WORDS will engage this complex of Chinese claims to Manchu-Korean ancient history, South Korean reactions, public discourse and cultural expression in both states,…

The European Society of International Law (ESIL) awarded its 2020 Book Prize to Daniel Peat, an Assistant Professor of Public International Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden Law School. The ESIL Book Prize is awarded annually 'for an outstanding published work in the…

Has the industrial sector in China effectively been decarbonizing in recent years, across different regions and subsectors, and is it plausible that it will reduce its CO2 emissions in conformity with national and internationally pledged emission goals?

On the 26th of May Pao-Yi Yang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

A mere day after setting foot ashore in the Bahamas on October 13th 1492, Christopher Columbus notes the broad foreheads of the inhabitants of the Americas. These permanently altered cranial shapes are deliberately created through the application of pressure to the head of the infant in the first years…

More and more Leiden students are studying in China. Two of them talk about their summer course there. 'Now I understand better the kind of country Chinese students come from who are studying in Leiden.'

In the Brill series Intersections a new volume has been published, entitled Ronsard and Du Bartas in Early Modern Europe.

This study addresses and explains the issue of negative descriptions of the Arab Other in modern Iranian thought.

Built Environment and Domestic Material Culture in the Medieval and Post-Medieval Cyclades, Greece (13th – 20th Centuries AD)

This PhD research project seeks to study the local politics in Mainland China (specifically focus on South Fujian ) by comparing with that of Taiwan——What is the specific ecology of local politics in the two regions during different eras and its role played in the political system as a whole?

The routine assumption that Upper Palaeolithic early modern humans in Europe were regular fire users who produced fire at will has never been tested against the archaeological record. Utilizing literature, database and microwear analytical approaches, this project seeks to establish the role and forms…

This special issue of Media History (22-3/4, 2016), co-edited with Helmer Helmers (University of Amsterdam), develops a new perspective on the early modern communication revolution. It discusses news as a specific kind of information – by its nature continuous, unreliable, and diffuse – which needed…

How did free agents in the Dutch Republic react to the creation of colonial monopolies (VOC and WIC) by the States-General? This project answers this question by looking at the role individuals played in the construction of an informal global empire parallel to the institutional empire devised by the…

PhD Defence

The digitisation of society is a worldwide challenge. Not only are robots increasingly taking over human tasks, they are even beating the world champion at solving the most difficult brainteasers.

Law and Society: Governance and Global Development (MSc) is a one-year master’s degree at the internationally renowned Leiden Law School of Leiden University. The programme is distinct in its broad inter-disciplinary approach, offering a timely opportunity to study the dynamic relationship between legal…

The research group Science Communication and Society aims to understand how science communication works to improve the interaction between science and society. Central themes are ‘Bridging the gap between experts and the general public’ and ‘Evaluating Science Communication’.

We study the link between the acoustic, behavioral and physiological health of birds and prominent pollution factors. We aim to explore causation through experimental studies on detrimental factors like traffic noise, particulate matter and chemical toxins. Our primary target is scientific progress…

In recent years, online platforms have been utilized more and more to spread Chinese nationalist discourse. In an interview posted on The Diplomat, director of the Leiden Asia Centre Florian Schneider gives his thoughts on how the digital environment has changed the way Chinese activists work.

On Sunday 31 January 2016, Prof. Carsten Stahn spoke at the IBA Annual Conference on International Criminal Law.

Our education responds to questions and needs from society. With the knowledge and skills they acquire through education, empowered and critical citizens will be able to contribute to a better world. Students can already start contributing during their programme, with community-based projects (Service…

The contributions in this volume seek to highlight the atypical features of the Hanse, and place them in a wider context of common roots, influences and parallel developments.

The State & Society network critically interrogates the assumption that state and society are a priori conceptual and empirical objects.

In the South African context, certain iconic images have been a dominant source for public understandings of historical events. The emphasis given these images tends to overshadow the historical value of other more personal photographic sources – like studio or amateur photography. This project looks…

Dr. Gruni was invited by the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) to join their PEPA conference which will be held in Tilburg on the 20th and 21st of April.

The Department of Archaeological Heritage and Society focuses on the relationships between past and present, the role of heritage in society, and how heritage can contribute to the improving quality of life and our (future) environment.

In the specialisation Heritage and Society you explore the role of heritage in society. With our combination of education and research you lay a strong foundation for an (inter)national carreer in heritage management and policy.

Leiden and The Hague are home to many museums with large numbers of artefacts and archives. Leiden University also and Leiden University also houses special collections. Museums, Collections & Society stimulates research and education and raises ethical questions regarding the collections’ origin.

The aim of this PhD dissertation project is to study the effect of private foreign investment outside the realm of economics in the context of a colonial structure in Indonesia between c. 1910 and c. 1960.