Education and Organisation Development

Studying languages enables you to unearth a lot of valuable information about humans: it reveals our history and explains cultural differences and it even illustrates the process of learning new information. The University is sharing its knowledge of and passion for languages in various new ways, including…

An overview of the courses

This project focuses on two Mayan languages in contact: Awakateko and K’iche’. With the aim to create a database to be accessible to researchers, students, and indigenous activists interested in Mayan languages, this project will train Mayan speakers on transcription, translation, and analysis of…

Diana Dávila Gordillo, PhD candidate at Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science does field trips to her native Ecuador.

Do you have a question about studying at Leiden University or student life in Leiden? Do you want more information about the Heritage and Society specialisation? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

Do you have a question about studying at Leiden University or student life in Leiden? Do you want more information about the Heritage and Museum Studies master's specialisation? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!​​​​​​​

Anne Marieke van der Wal-Rémy recently joined the Institute for History as a lecturer in International Relations. She introduces herself.

Explore the contemporary dilemmas of archaeological heritage management, or focus on museum practices from an archaeological perspective.

VALUE (Videogames and Archaeology at Leiden UnivErsity) is publishing an edited volume on the intersection of archaeology, heritage and video games. In this volume, both scholars and game creators are collaboratively writing to raise academic awareness, address a variety of research opportunities and…

The feature drama film In Times of Rain will have its world premiere at the Guanajuato International Film Festival (#GIFF 2018) in Mexico. The film is a result of the Leiden University project ‘Time in lntercultural Context’, funded by the European Research Council.

The ACE-network consists of heritage and research organizations from 10 countries which aim to promote contemporary archaeology at a European wide level, by emphasizing its cultural, scientific, and economic dimensions, including its manifold interest for the wider public.

Everything you need to know about the minor Museums, Heritage and Collections.

This programme examines cultural space, national identity and the politics of tangible and intangible heritage in Islamic Central Asia.

At the heart of this study is a thorough inquiry of categorisations of social identity used in the VOC’s record-keeping bureaucracy. How were service, occupational and caste groups classified and shaped by the VOC?

The significance of indigenous Amerindian knowledge has been marginalised in the history of the colonisation of the Americas. Wrongly, according to research by Leiden archaeologists. Indigenous knowledge and infrastructure were essential for the 'success' of the Spanish colonisers. Publication in the…

There are as good as no clear rules for the return of stolen art. This means that rather than in court, many cases are decided in the political arena instead. In her PhD research Evelien Campfens suggests how this could change. PhD defence on 11 November.

The map application includes information from old and new buildings archaeological projects. This makes it possible to investigate whether water facilities (wells, cisterns) and waste facilities (cesspits, sewers) were the privilege of Leiden’s wealthy elite in the late 16th and 17th centuries or whether…

Effectively supporting young people in coping better with COVID-19 related stress requires detailed understanding of the factors that influence resilient functioning. But what are those factors and what concrete actions can be taken to support young people in building resilience? Take a look at this…

Landscapes of mobility in the northern Chilean altiplano: from chiefly networks to colonial markets (AD 1100-1800).

How did the Dutch Empire compare with other imperial enterprises? And how was it experienced by the indigenous peoples who became part of this colonial power?

Indigenous Pasts and the Roman Present

Call for Papers: Imperial Artefacts. History, Law, and the Looting of Cultural Property

The master’s specialisation in Applied Archaeology offers you the best start to your professional career in archaeology. This unique specialisation is a collaboration of Leiden University and Saxion University of Applied Sciences.

Postcolonial Displacements explores the multiple ways in which migration in South Asia contributes to the imagining, questioning, subverting and reframing of territories, nations and communities. The project focuses on the contested fringes of the politically divided South Asian subcontinent, across…

Representing Japanese Colonial 'Heritage' in Taiwan

In 2018, the European Year of Cultural Heritage, Leiden University Libraries focuses on the materiality of text and image with its activity programme titled ‘Beyond Content’. The programme pays attention to the forms in which historical texts and images have come down to us, and also to the new technologies…

The MCS research group members and their research are closely affiliated with the two Leiden master’s tracks in Museum Studies offered at the Art History and Archaeology departments.

Heritage Quest citizen scientists conduct research in two ways: online and in the field. Online, from their own home, they inspect elevation maps for traces of archaeological heritage.

Carsten Stahn has just published Confronting Colonial Objects: Histories, Legalities and Access to Culture. The book is part of the OUP Cultural Heritage Law and Policy Series.

As part of a cooperation agreement between the Stichting Nederlands Institute in Turkije (NIT Foundation) with Koç University in Istanbul, the institute is located within the premises of the Koç University ANAMED Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, in the central Beyoğlu district of Istanbu…

In the contemporary myriad of definitions and approaches of landscape, the starting points and limits of the concept of landscape biography are being explored, but also tested in this thesis. What exactly is a landscape biography? What does it constitute of? Is landscape biography just a narration of…

The Department of World Archaeology is a lively pluriform community that explores various theoretical and methodological approaches, applies cutting-edge technologies, creates and maintains international networks across the globe, and unites researchers of many different backgrounds.

New archaeological research into grave goods and skeletal material from the oldest grave field in the Netherlands shows that male-female roles 7,000 words ago were less traditional than was thought. The research was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Archol, the National Museum…

On Sunday August 19, the National Geographic channel programme 'Drain the Oceans' will focus on Martijn Manders' excavation of the Dutch VOC ship De Rooswijk.

In Dutch society’s discussions about remembering the colonial past, voice is often used as a metaphor for empowerment ('we must raise our voices'), whereas silence is often used as voice’s negative counterpart, signifying a loss or lack of power ('we will no longer be silenced'). Yet, silence is expressive:…

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

Study all aspects of human life in the past and take on a broad, historic perspective in the specialisation World Archaeology. Or investigate the role of cultural heritage in society in the specialisation Heritage and Society.

Covering all seven countries on the isthmus, this volume presents the first collection of original linguistic studies on Central American Spanish varieties, which have long been neglected in Hispanic Linguistics.

'Politics of Withdrawal' considers the significance of practices and theories of withdrawal for radical thinking today.

This book considers the porous relationship between legality and illegality in Brazil, a country that presages political and societal changes in hitherto unprecedented dimensions.

Book by Soledad Valdivia Rivera

In this volume, Leonard Blussé and Nie Dening open up a veritable treasure trove of Chinese archival sources about the autonomous history of Chinese Batavia.

Essays in archaeology, ethnohistory and ethnography of the Amerindian circum-Caribbean

Mesoamerican Manuscripts: New Scientific Approaches and Interpretations brings together a wide range of modern approaches to the study of pre-colonial and early colonial Mesoamerican manuscripts. This includes innovative studies of materiality through the application of non-invasive spectroscopy and…