The second and final volume of this co-authored study has just been published by J.B. Metzler. This second monograph explores the history of the concept of barbarism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

LUCAS members are experts in the fields of literary history and theory, film and media studies, and art, architectural, and book history.

The MA in History, Arts and Culture of Asia is designed for students interested in taking a humanities-related approach to the study of countries or regions in pre-modern, modern or contemporary Asia.

Learn the newest insights from established researchers.

The Central Asia Initiative in Leiden was launched by the Leiden research area Asia Modernities and Traditions (AMT) in February 2015. Here, you can find more information about (associated) research projects, researchers and networks.

Education in (Chinese) Medicinal Plants associated to the Hortus botanicus in Leiden - Which Traditional Chinese Medicinal plants can be grown in the Hortus? - Establishing of a database which Chinese medical plants are available in Dutch Botanical Gardens - Data validation (correct identification,…

The current project aims to revive the idea that sound inventories are structured according to a small set of universal principles by applying insights from current phonological theory and by making use of modern database technologies and data assessing methodologies.

A comparative study in the History of Modern Philosophy focused on the recourse to physiology on the part of two key figures, Spinoza and Nietzsche.

Tuna Kalaycı, ed. Archaeologies of Roads. 2023.

This subproject examines how memories of flight and persecution shaped new social and religious identities in the Netherlands.

This dissertation develops an innovative approach to cultural transformation in the kingdom of Commagene (modern south-east Turkey) during the 1st c. BCE, focusing on a palatial context in the capital Samosata.

This research focuses on a historical/social analysis of a selected corpus of novels from modern Turkish literature which have the common theme of migration from Anatolian towns and villages to Istanbul, and the immigrants’ struggle in this city against various exclusion mechanisms.

For thousands of years, societies have fallen under the reign of a single leader, ruling as chief, king, or emperor. In this fascinating global history of medieval and early modern dynastic power, Jeroen Duindam charts the rise and fall of dynasties, the rituals of rulership, and the contested presence…

An experimental approach to organic palaeolithic technology

The first of the two volumes of this co-authored study has just been published by Metzler. The study explores the history of the concept ‘barbarism’ from the 18th century to the present and illuminates its foundational role in modern European and Western identity.

Memory and Identity is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

A modern ship design process is subject to a wide variety of constraints such as safety constraints, regulations, and physical constraints.

The China Region Group develops and monitors Leiden University's cooperation with China. It is chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Prof. Jasper Knoester, and consists of representatives of Leiden University's faculties and various policy departments.

Subproject of

Promotor: Prof.dr. L.J. Slikkerveer

The rise and fall of Dutch Brazil (1624-1654) was a major news story in early modern Europe, and marked the emergence of a

Mobility, Globalisation, and Interculturality is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

Chinese Porcelain and the Early Modern World

In developing cooperation on research and education with China, Leiden University focuses on projects that promote innovation, have an impact on science, and benefit society

Since my master's thesis on the landed property of the Frisian monasteries in the Middle Ages I am highly interested in the do ut des-aspects of the relation between religious houses and the lay world. Key words here are: property, power, patronage and the role of religious institutions in the 'salvation…

This omnibus brings together some old and some recent works by Jos Gommans on the warhorse and its impact on medieval and early modern state-formation in South Asia.

New perspectives from archaeology and ancient history

On the 23rd of June Arianna Sacco successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

In this article, the authors analyse two major factors that deepen informality, namely multipolar geopolitics and the rise of non-state actors.

On the 19th of April, Iris van de Voorde successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Iris on this achievement!

Hekmat Dirbas defended his thesis on 14 February 2017

The relevance of intentionality to the interpretation of Aristotle was first suggested by Brentano in his Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint. Here we take our starting point from Brentano and investigate how Brentano’s concept of intentionality is rooted in Aristotle.

The process of unification and the character of the union are the central topics of Magnanimous Dukes and Rising States. Robert Stein mirrors continuity and modernisation in Burgundian times with the bankruptcy of the former dynasties and the decline of feudal government. The powerful towns played an…

This book reveals how one publishing firm's editorial strategy helped to legitimate European colonialism in the early modern era.

Historicising Art and Literature is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

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…

“Winner CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award 2016” A Cultural History

Modern computer-aided simulation tools used by various industries produce gigabytes of data. But currently, they take days and even up to weeks of computation effort. To make the best use of all these data, the DAMIOSO project focuses on developing algorithms and tools for managing, mining, and optimizing…

Islam is a religion as well as a cultural practice that takes on a diversity of forms, some of them contradictory. This has always been the case, and it is becoming increasingly apparant in the modern world through migration, globalisation and the digitial media. The minor Islam: Religion and Society,…

The multiple connections between emblematics and Natural History in the broader perspective of their underlying artistic, literary, political and religious ideologies.

In late medieval and early modern times, books, as well as the people who produced and read (or listened to) them, moved between regions, social circles, and languages with relative ease. Yet, in the multilingual Low Countries, francophone literature was both internationally mobile and firmly rooted…

Die Aufführungspraxis italienischer Instrumentalmusik in der Auseinandersetzung mit Vokalmusik und Text: Quellen und moderne Umsetzung

Recent studies of Neandertal body mass and skin surface indicate raised energetic requirements in this lineage compared to anatomically modern humans.

Muge Özoglu defended her dissertation on 5 December 2018

On 14 November, Ilya Kokorin defended the thesis 'Intra-group financing and enterprise group insolvency: problems, principles and solutions'. The doctoral research was supervised by Matthias Haentjens and Reinout Vriesendorp.

In 'The Spirit of Matter', Peter Pels explores the significance of emotionally evocative objects, challenging the denial of their existence in modern 'mind over matter' ideology.

When we read a text, we think we know who wrote it, but in the early modern period, manuscript production was often a collaborative or ‘socialised’ enterprise involving secretaries and scribes who physically wrote what the author dictated.