On 17 August 1945, two days after the Japanese surrender that also brought an end to the Second World War in Asia, Indonesia declared its independence. The declaration was not recognized by the Netherlands, which resorted to force in its attempt to take control of the inevitable process of decolonization.…

The bachelor’s in South and Southeast Asian Studies is a unique multidisciplinary programme that integrates the culture, religion, history, sociology, economics and politics of the region. As a student, you can choose to study Hindi, Sanskrit, Tibetan or Indonesian.

In the South and Southeast Asian Studies programme you will gain a strong foundation in the academic, language and critical thinking skills essential to understanding the history, culture and modern context of this dynamic and increasingly important region.

Alumni event

Do you have a question about studying at leiden University or student life in Leiden? Do you want more information about the South and Southeast Asian Studies programme? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

Anna Scott is a Canadian pianist-researcher interested in using the early twentieth century recordings of the Brahms circle of pianists to question persistent gaps between the loci of knowledge, ethics, and act in both modern mainstream and historically-informed performances of Brahms’s late piano w…

Study information

What is your preferred career path? Do you enjoy coordinating? Would you like to work in marketing? Or do you prefer writing and editing? You will find that your degree in South and Southeast Asian Studies is a perfect preparation for the career of your choice.

Do you have any questions about the bachelor's programme South and Southeast Asian Studies? Don't hesitate to contact us!

Religion and Orientalism in Asian Studies analyses the role of religion in past and present understandings of Asia.

Do you want to apply for the bachelor’s programme South and Southeast Asian Studies at Leiden University? Find out how to apply by following the step-by step guide below.

On 27 January 2022 Tjahjono Prasodjo successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

To be eligible for Southeast Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

Find out how to apply for Southeast Asian Studies at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

This ethnographic research is a joint project with the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University, and KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies. It aims to understand the experiences of social inclusion and exclusion of female migrants…

This research project focuses on the extended documentation and investigation of these non-Austronesian (‘Papuan’) languages.

The project aims to build upon cultural studies of digital design and looks at AI’s ethical dilemmas from the viewpoint of Muslim Southeast Asia.

To be eligible for History, Arts and Culture of Asia at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

Roundtable

The Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs is situated at three locations in The Hague's city centre.

Dr. Henk Schulte Nordholt, working at KITLV and LIAS, has been appointed extraordinary professor of Indonesian history for a five-year period.

Do you want to become an expert in South and Southeast Asia as a region, or in one of its countries? Do you want to learn one of its major languages? Come to Leiden! You are welcome in our ambitious bachelor’s programme, where you will benefit from Leiden university’s long-standing expertise on the…

Around the sixth and seventh centuries, South and Southeast Asia saw a great religious change: Saivism largely took over from Vaisnavism. We’re going to look at the way in which Saivism, the religion of the god Siva, presented itself with respect to Vaisnavism. In particular we’ll investigate the role…

In Sri Lanka, a prominent Singhalese Buddhist monk publicly proclaims that it is not a sin to kill Tamils. In Japan, the family register kept in a Buddhist temple and specifying the outcaste status of a lineage is provided to private detectives investigating the marriageability of a young woman. Throughout…

The Asian Library holds the largest collection on Indonesia worldwide, and some of the foremost collections on South and Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Korea.

What can languages spoken in the Lesser Sunda Islands today tell us about the histories of its various population groups?

Trigonostemon Blume is a plant genus in the family Euphorbiaceae comprising 59 species.

What are the differences between the trade in Chinese herbal drugs in Europe between 1800 and now? Can we see the major metabolic changes after 200 yours?

Get the most out of your studies at Leiden University by taking part in our extracurricular activities.

Sonic Modernities situates Southeast Asian popular music in specific socio-historical settings, hoping that a focus on popular culture and history may shed light on how some people in a particular part of the world have been witnessing the emergence of all things modern.

Cultural Anthropologist Erik de Maaker published, together with Monica Janoswki (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London), Stories across Borders: Myths of Origin and Their Contestation in the Borderlands of South and Southeast Asia in Southeast Asian Studies (SEAS).

Lecture, Leiden University Nationalism Network

VVI Research Meetings 2022-2023

Leonard Blussé, emeritus Professor in the History of European and Asian relations, will receive the prestigious Japanese Academic Fukuoka Prize. Blussé receives the prize for creating a new academic field: 'The Maritime History of early modern East/Southeast Asia'. He will receive the Prize in September…

The |0100| Project studies the discourses, practices and imaginaries of Islamic information society’s most debated component- Artificial Intelligence- using multimodal and mixed methods and comparing and contrasting narratives and imagery of AI-religious-futures in Muslim Southeast Asia.

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University, or do you want more information about the Asian Studies master's programme? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State is a major multidisciplinary research project which aims to re-vision the history of Asia in one of its most significant periods. The project is based at the British Museum, British Library and the School of Oriental and African Studies, and…

To be eligible for Politics, Society and Economy of Asia at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

To be eligible for South Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

The one-year master's in Politics, Society and Economy of Asia, a specialisation of Leiden University’s master's in Asian Studies, offers a large and varied selection of subjects and the freedom to choose the areas on which you will focus.

In the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia the soursop family (Annonaceae) can be found. The genus Uvaria is a part of this family, but it has not yet been described entirely correctly. That is what Annas Rabbani will be studying during the next four years as a PhD student at the Hortus botanicus…

Do you have questions or remarks? Please contact the coordinators of the Medieval and Early Modern Studies cluster.

The aim of this research is to investigate the informative potential of drawings and decorations in Italian secular cantata manuscripts from the seventeenth century.

The staff members of the Methodology & Statistics unit are members of various boards and committees.

Jaroslaw Kantorowicz examines how strategic climate litigation influences public attitudes on climate policy, using a UK experiment to explore legal cues.