It is a familiar phenomenon: you ask the assistant on your phone to call your mother, but it calls a friend instead. Tom Kouwenhoven, PhD student in the SAILS programme, investigates how humans and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can better communicate with each other, so that these kinds of situations…

We need to dispel the arrogant and misguided idea that modern humans are superior to earlier human species. It is thanks in part to all our predecessors such as Neanderthals that we are who we are today. This is what Marie Soressi, Professor of Hominin Diversity Archaeology, will argue in her inaugural…

'In Leiden, I can continue on the path towards my dream: having my own pharmacy,' says Duaa Abbas. She studied pharmaceutics in Syria and worked in a pharmacy there for a year and a half. After having to flee the country, she ended up in the Netherlands. Thanks to the help of the Foundation for Refugee…

Indigenous philosophies have been ignored for too long. This prompted Osiris González Romero to study the wisdom of the Nahua in Mexico. Their philosophy has an important message for the consumption society: see the earth and nature as living beings and not just as resources. PhD defence 22 June.

South Korean smash hit Squid Game is on track to becoming the most successful Netflix production ever. The series is number one in over 90 countries. Professor and Korea expert Remco Breuker can see why South Korean pop culture is becoming so popular, also outside Asia.

Lecture, CHiLL series

Lecture

Lecture, Book presentation and Q&A

Leiden University has had a diversity policy since 2014. The aim is to create a diverse and inclusive learning and working environment for all students and staff. Diversity Officer Aya Ezawa updates us on the process and the results. It’s now 2022, what has already changed?

Lecture

Lecture, LUCL Colloquium - Series '24/'25

Lecture, This Time for Africa! series

Ambroise Paré, Thomas Sydenham and Herman Boerhaave: all were great medical innovators in their time. We know far less about the 19th-century Russian physician and scientist Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov. PhD candidate Inge Hendriks researched him in Dutch and Russian archives and collections. She discovered…

For more than 35 years they helped put American Studies on the map: Joke Kardux and Eduard van de Bilt. This spring, the couple retired. A farewell interview.

It was his thesis supervisor during his master's in Film and Photographic Studies who encouraged Shivan Shazad to pursue a second master's in diversity policy at Ghent. He is now Manager of Diversity and Inclusion at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

In the spring of 2024 the Faculty of Archaeology welcomed a new postdoc. Dr Adam Benfer, originally from the United States, occupies a double position as a researcher in the project of Alex Geurds and as the Faculty’s Data Steward. ‘It is pretty much what the title says: I steward data. Essentially,…

Several of the most important manuscript collections in the Leiden University Libraries (UBL) Special Collections, comprising 443 extremely rare and often unique volumes, have been made available in Open Access via Digital Collections. The available manuscript collections include the private collections…

Historians recently started preliminary research on Leiden University’s role in colonialism and historical slavery. Our knowledge about this is too limited and fragmented. They are looking with fresh eyes at Leiden’s archives and collections. An interview with historians Alicia Schrikker and Ligia G…

On January 16, 2022, our respected and beloved colleague Prof. dr. Bas Edixhoven passed away after a short period of serious illness.

Bruno Allahissem and Luca Bruls recently joined the Institute for History as PhD candidates in the NWO-funded project 'Digital warfare in the Sahel: popular networks of war and Cultural Violence', led by Mirjam de Bruijn and Jelena Prokic (LUCL). Below they introduce themselves.

The Executive Board of the Institute of Psychology has a new Director of Operational Management. It’s the perfect role for Paula van den Bergh. ‘For me, “connection” is a nice word. If you see the connections between things, you immediately see the logic behind the processes.’ Her career has taken her…

AI is already widely being used in HR processes, but it’s unclear whether these applications contribute to fair and inclusive decision making. Leiden researcher Carlotta Rigotti is involved in BIAS, a big consortium research project that aims to provide answers and develop a new, trustworthy AI app…

Maria Vasile's ethnographic fieldwork in Turin reveals that volunteering and citizen engagement may not empower residents or allow them to shape their cities. Her analysis of urban gardens, food markets, and food aid initiatives calls for a broader perspective on urban peripheral areas and a shift away…

Lecture, LAC Asia Academy

Lecture, LAC Asia Academy

Conference, D&I Symposium

Film screening and Q&A

Lecture, Leiden Lectures on Arabic Language & Culture

Lecture

Lecture, CMGI Brown Bag Seminar

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

Arts and culture

Conference

Debate

PhD defence

Lecture, Leiden Lectures on Arabic Language & Culture

PhD defence

Bezoek

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Lecture, LIAS Lunch Talk Series

Lecture, China Seminar

University ceremony

Are we going vegetarian this year? Shall we keep the dessert the same? Where do I find inspiration for a festive meal during the holidays? For readers who like to postpone these questions, for those who like to tell a good story with their culinary contribution, or for those who simply want to know…