Through each individual decision, however small, people make history. This is what historian Katja Happe said in the Cleveringa Lecture on 26 November. She illustrated this with individual reactions to the persecution of Jews during the Second World War.

A number of European countries have started evacuating their citizens and there is a threat of military intervention by neighbouring countries: the situation in Niger is deteriorating rapidly. A military coup has thrown the country into turmoil, partly aided by social media.

On Wednesday 9 March, a Faculty meeting about the war in Ukraine was held for staff and students in the Lorentz Lecture Hall. By the time the meeting started at 17.00 hrs, the 220 available seats in the lecture hall had been filled mainly by large numbers of students.

Major developments worldwide are creating new challenges for society. The pandemic has hit us hard, for example, and we are already feeling the effects of global warming. How can society and politics deal with the urgent problems of our time? That is the theme of the Global Transformations and Governance…

Courts that adjudicate war crimes or other crimes against humanity are increasingly taking regional norms and cultural values into consideration. PhD candidate Seun Bakare examined whether this could also be an asset in cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

'Echoes of the Silent Roots' by Mark Lindenberg wins the Multimodal Incentive Grant for Alumni of the Metje Postma Awards. His film is a touching auto-ethnographic project about family estrangement and repair. Ieke van Dam won the Excellence in Visual & Multimodal Ethnography Thesis Prize for her film…

Finding solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the not-inconsiderable task of the new Peace Academy in The Hague. Professor Maurits Berger and twelve students from different conflict zones are starting a creative thinking process that aims to discover the basic conditions for peace in the…

Lecture, Teach-In Series on Palestine and Israel

Lecture, Teach-In Series on Palestine and Israel

CFP: Two-day PhD/ Research MA masterclass Feminist Theory with and around the work of Prof. dr. Lynne Huffer organised by the OZSW in cooperation with NOG

There is a real chance of war closer to home, political and military leaders in Europe have warned. What does Frans Osinga, Professor of War Studies, think about the threat and what we should do?

New research has confirmed that the Dutch military used systematic, extreme violence against Indonesians. In his book Soldaat in Indonesië (Soldier in Indonesia), to be released at the end of October, historian Gert Oostindie draws the same conclusions using different sources. He presents new findings…

The proceeds of the Leiden University Science Run on 28 September will go to Scholars at Risk, a section of the UAF that assists refugee scholars. One such scholar is Leiden PhD candidate Lety Elvir Lazo from Honduras.

China makes no secret of its ambitions to become the world’s leading nation. What can we expect now that the EU and the rest of the world are in recession? And why did President Donald Trump suspend US funding to the World Health Organization? Rob de Wijk, Professor of International Relations and Security…

A cannon, a sabre, guns: these Sri Lankan objects had been in the Rijksmuseum for centuries. In early December, they were returned to Sri Lanka. Associate Professor of Colonial History Alicia Schrikker led the research that formed the basis for the restitution and published a volume on the findings…

Hak, lawyer, international imagery law lecturer, and adjunct associate professor, talks about his PhD research on the use of images in international criminal prosecutions. He was a public prosecutor in Canada for over 30 years and dealt primarily with the prosecution of homicides and other major cri…

At least six people are off to a good start of the summer, because they are the recipients of a Meijers grant. For the next few years, these researchers will be able to devote themselves to their PhD research. Let’s meet these new PhD candidates!

Her book ‘Veel valse hoop’ (Much False Hope) about the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands was immediately hailed as a seminal work. German historian Katja Happe gave the Cleveringa Lecture on 26 November. She is fascinated by what makes people take a stand.

The end of the year often means looking back with lists, overviews and stories. This combines nicely in a list of all the books published this year by various political scientists at Leiden University. Indeed, in terms of books, these scholars have certainly not been idle. A unique collection of stories,…

Religious minorities and their languages in the emerging nation states of the Middle East (1920–1950)

Access to education for people from the lower socio-economic class has improved immensely in Europe from the 1950s onwards. Yet the Roma and Sinti were unable to reap benefits from this. PhD candidate Anita van der Hulst researched why so few Roma and Sinti went on to higher education. PhD defence on…

Arts and culture, LUCIS Middle East Culture Market

Inaugural panel discussion

Lecture, Teach-In Series on Palestine and Israel

Conference, Symposium

Lecture, Seminar

VVI Research Meetings 2024-2025

PhD defence

The team of WIIS-Netherlands exists out of the board members and the advisory council.

From the mid-19th century until the 1970’s, the Middle East witnessed the presence of various European missionaries who played a fundamental role in the birth and the development of humanitarianism. Since these Christian missionaries were well integrated in the local Middle Eastern societies via their…

Various consortia in which Leiden University is represented are beginning interdisciplinary research, which will bring scientific and societal breakthroughs within reach. Knowledge institutions, government and private parties are working closely together on the projects.

So much has happened this year! 2023 was an eventful year in which several wars raged about which our experts could offer interpretation. It was also the year in which the government made apologies for the slavery past. Leiden humanities scholars were at the forefront of this with their research on…

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union (EU) and its Member States have adopted wide-ranging legal and political measures to support Ukraine in its struggle.

In 1933, Leiden held a large international student conference. It was supposed to be a celebration of unity that would bring together the French, British and Germans. But when the Nazis showed their true colours, Rector Magnificus decided to intervene...

Dutch troops, judges and politicians collectively condoned and concealed the systematic use of extreme violence during the Indonesian War of Independence. Historians have now shown how this could happen. ‘It was scandal management rather than prevention,’ says Leiden historian and research leader Gert…

Ten scientists from Leiden University will receive a Starting Grant from the European Research Council. This will allow them to launch their own project, form their own research team and implement their best ideas.

Lecture

Lecture, LIMS seminar | Book Talk

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

Lecture, Teach-In Series on Palestine and Israel

INTERDISCIPLINARY SYMPOSIUM

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has had a clear impact on Leiden University. Students and staff are angry or scared, feel unsafe and are experiencing group pressure.

Climate change is made up, the secret services murdered Pim Fortuyn and JFK, and the moon landing was a fake show. Conspiracy theories are of all times, providing sensation and entertainment, but also unrest and fear. The corona pandemic is new fuel for conspiracy theorists who set fire to 5G masts,…

University ceremony

Many of our staff and students have won prizes over the past year. Others have been awarded a subsidy, or, because of their eminence in their field, they have been appointed members of academic societies or have taken up positions in the community. Reasons enough to be proud of them and to include them…