The English Language and Culture programme focuses on four areas, namely: philology, literature, linguistics and language acquisition. It also offers several specialisation options, ranging from renaissance literature to the use of metaphors.

On this page you will find more information about the selected projects of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund for 2025.

Across cultures, parents help their children master the social and linguistic codes needed in adult life. Recent research on language socialization found important cross-cultural differences, pointing out the need for more diversity for a full understanding of this process. Deaf communities form…

The History programme has been working for several years to make the curriculum more diverse and inclusive. With a Comenius grant, university lecturer Kim Beerden wants to take the next step.

Language can be a time machine: we can learn from ancient texts how our ancestors interacted with the world around them. But can language also teach us something about people whose language has been lost? PhD candidate Anthony Jakob investigated whether the languages of prehistoric populations left…

The Heritage Sector at a Crossroads: The way of Intersectionality. This project investigates how heritage institutions can achieve inclusion and accessibility within their organization, collection, and exhibition spaces that meets the breadth of demands placed by today’s “critical visitors.” Fifteen…

Every year, the ECHO Award is presented to students from non-western backgrounds who are committed to social improvement in the field of diversity and inclusion. One of this year's finalists is Leiden alumna Husna Jalal, who works for Afghan women's rights with her organization the Young Afghan Women’s…

The worldwide protests following the police violence in the United States show how deep-rooted and wide-spread racism is across the world. As an academic institution doing research on law & society, the Van Vollenhoven Institute is very much aware of systemic racism and speaks out in support of these…

Moving to a different city as a student can be a daunting prospect, let alone to a different country. Each year, many students come to Leiden, and many find a home away from home thanks to the Humanities Master’s Buddy Programme. Kathleen Burke and Victor Jarzargaray experienced it first-hand. “It’s…

Subproject of the NWO Smart Culture Grant research project 'The Critical Visitor'.

Three students are still in the race for the ECHO Loyens & Loeff Law & Tax Award 2019, two of them are students at Leiden Law School.

We are delighted to announce that the Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence minor will be offered in the 2024-2025 academic year with options of 15 EC or 30 EC packages.

Welcome to the conference site of ICEHL-21, which will be held in Leiden, 7-11 June, 2021. If you are on Twitter, you may be interested in following @ICEHL21 for regular news, updates and reminders.

The Faculty of Humanities has 8 institutes:

Lecture, LUCL Colloquium - Series '24/'25

Lecture, Retired & Kicking

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University or do you want more information about a specific course? You can get in contact with a student from the Linguistics master's directly!

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University or do you want more information about a specific course? You can get in contact with a student from the Linguistics master's directly!

You can do a degree in Artificial Intelligence at Leiden University, but its role is also increasing in other degree programmes.

SAILS likes to occasionally organise workshops about topics that relate to our programme. On this page you can find more information about previous workshops.

The BA in Linguistics programme draws on Leiden University’s renowned expertise in linguistics to bring students the widest range of subjects and languages offered by any institute in Europe. As a student, you will have the chance to study nearly extinct languages, to be involved in experimental research…

Knowledge and culture subproject 4:

September 26 is the European Day of Languages. There are 24 official languages in Europe but some 200 languages in total are spoken on our continent. What good are all these different languages? And should we all learn Azerbaijani or Swedish? We asked Lisa Cheng, Professor of General Linguistics.

When Daan van Esch, master’s student in Chinese Studies, travelled through China last summer, he noticed that he often did not understand what the inhabitants of the different villages and cities were talking about. There turned out to be huge differences within the language. He decided to map this…

Argumentation and rhetorics is the study of how we convince people verbally. In other words, what do people say and how do they say it?

This dissertation examines what network in the human brain is involved in the perception of prosody and whether activity within this network is modulated by the personality trait alexithymia.

Study of human cultures using computational approaches

Empirical and experimental research focusing on literary, legal, medical and audiovisual translation.

On the 11th of June, Umberto Selva successfully defended his doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Umberto on this great result.

Tracing Transitional English in the Twelfth Century

On the 16th of June, Ndokobai Dadak successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Ndokobai on this achievement!

The languages of the Mbam-et-Inoubou District of the Centre Region of Cameroon have a unique position in Bantu linguistics. Being in between

On the 17th of January, Sarah Von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Sarah on this achievement!

On the 28th of September, Jiang Wu successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Jiang on this achievement!

This project aims to investigate the underlying (neurocognitive) linguistic processes of ellipsis resolution, particularly gapping.

On the 12th of September, Lorenzo Nespoli successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Lorenzo on this achievement!

The BOCA project explores new forms of communicating academic knowledge as a way to strengthen the connection between the university and society.

On November 21st, Frederick Boswell succesfully defended his doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Frederick on this great result.

On May 30th, Yang Yang succesfully defended her doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Yang on this great result.

Once you have decided on your field of research, you should start looking for a supervisor as early as possible.

On May 23rd, Ernanda succesfully defended her doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Ernanda on this great result.

Leiden’s Faculty of Humanities is one of the broadest of its kind, offering courses in no fewer than 80 different languages and a very broad spectrum of academic disciplines.

Find the answers to frequently asked questions about the Summer School here.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

Bordering Up: Regulating Mobility Through Passes, Walls and Guards