This project examines the notion of sacred fertility and sacred landscapes, associated rituals and material culture, both archaeological and ethnographic manifestations in the Horn of Africa.

The Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences has the responsibility for all PhD candidates in the field of social and behavioural sciences. The School's themes are anthropology, education and child studies, political science, psychology and science and technology studies..

ReCNTR is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to the advancement of multimodal and audiovisual research methods in the social sciences and humanities. It is supported by the Institute of Cultural Anthropology, the Institute of Political Science, the Center of the Arts in Society at Leiden…

Find out how to apply for Visual Ethnography at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Find out how to apply for Policy in Practice at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Find out how to apply for Global Ethnography at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Visual Ethnography combines anthropological theory and hands-on audiovisual practice.

How are contemporary art practices from Southeast Asia negotiating notions of art and tradition?

Leiden is a lively university city, brimming with history and boasting a student life that’s tangible just about everywhere.

Debate, Fireside Peace Chats

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

The skateboarding world was highly enthusiastic about the participation of skaters in the Olympic Games in 2021, although there was also a lot of opposition. Researcher Sander Hölsgens observes that the discussion has now abated and that the Games have had positive effects for skateboarders and citi…

A female body equals a woman. Nonsense, says Professor by Special Appointment to the Socrates Chair Annemie Halsema. She argues that our sense of identity and social environment also determine our identity. ‘We should stop assigning people’s sex at birth.’

Marianne Maeckelbergh has received a Consolidator grant from the European Research Council for a project on the impact of property regimes on experiences of citizenship. The project will be carried out in five democratic countries: Greece, The Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United St…

In the fight for a liveable planet, we desperately need a fairer distribution of wealth and equal rights for all, argues anthropology professor Marja Spierenburg. ‘That will also generate broad-based support for sustainable development.’

COVID-19 has shaken the world. 170 academics of eight different Dutch universities believe the time is right for a positive and meaningful vision. They signed a manifesto with a list of five policy proposals for a post-COVID 19 development model to cope with this pandemic and other social and environmental…

Please contact us with any questions regarding NESA.

Rodrigo Ochigame’s project explores how AI redefines scientific evidence, aiming to help scientists critically navigate these transformations with the Veni grant.

A post-colonial approach to the concept of time in the past and present Maya culture

Central to Nuranisa’s PhD project is the cultural diplomacy practiced by the Javanese courts of central Java (Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Pakualaman and Mangkunegaran) in response to the increasing Dutch colonial power in the 19th and early 20th century. The Javanese sultanates were incorporated into the…

Knowledge and culture subproject 3:

This month, the NISIS publication “Islamic Studies in the Twenty-first Century: Transformations and Continuities” was published by Amsterdam University Press. This volume brings together contributions of various speakers at past NISIS Autumn Schools, providing an overview of important issues in the…

The new Asian Library in the centre of Leiden accommodates the dispersed Asian collection of Leiden University. The festive opening of the Asian Library was marked by the Tour of Asia, an exciting knowledge festival, with workshops, talks and film screenings. Leiden anthropologists that work on Asia…

Attitudes towards cultural heritage have long been characterised by an ‘endangerment sensibility’ concerned with preventing losses. Recently, however, critical heritage scholars have argued that loss can be generative, facilitating the formation of new values and attachments. Their arguments have focused…

On 5 September, Elize de Mul defended the thesis 'Digital Döppelgangers: identity in the Culture of Imagination'. The doctoral research was supervised by Simone van der Hof and Esther Keymolen.

Are you interested in the minor Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology? Find out more about admission and application.

Erik de Maaker and Radhika Gupta received a Seed Grant to initiate research on how heritage has been and can be mobilised to address climate change governance in Himalayan Asia. This project will address a significant knowledge gap on the potentials and pitfalls of climate governance, with an initial…

The article Sing with Me, Sing, Brother, of América by Sing with Me, Sing, Brother, of América Benjamin Fogarty-Valenzuela is published in Current Anthropology Volume 62.

On 30 November 2021 the book 'Audiovisual and Digital Ethnography: A Practical and Theoretical Guide' was published by Routledge. The book resulted from eight anthropologists of the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology joining forces: Cristina Grasseni, Bart Barendregt, Erik…

In March 2015 Jonna Both started working as a postdoctoral researcher within the VICI project ‘Connecting in Times of Duress’ of professor Mirjam de Bruijn.

What moral concerns do people have when they encounter the financial sector in their everyday life? Erik Bähre's ERC consolidator project 'Moralising Misfortune: A comparative anthropology of commercial insurance’ aims to find out. In collaboration with Brechtje Boeke, five short documentaries from…

What if seriously ill patients do not want to hear their diagnosis? Does a clinician always need to provide a patient with all available information? Communication researcher Liesbeth van Vliet, medical anthropologist Annemarie Samuels and research intern Fiona Brosig will put these questions on open…

Sociology of Policy in Practice focuses on policy-oriented research. It enables you to gain relevant working experience by conducting a three-month research internship in Ghana or the Netherlands.

What was the relationship between women and modern media in different parts of Asia in the 20th century? Under what historical and social conditions did women achieve prominence in popular music in Asia?

Within the FSW, we have put together a core team with contacts in the individual Institutes and at the Faculty level.

Studies in Human Evolution is a series of the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University and The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig.

The dental remains of 25 enslaved Africans from the site of Newton's Plantation, on Barbados, were subjected to isotope analysis. Previous research had pointed out that the locally born individuals were subjected to high concentrations of lead poisoning. A new study, done by Dr Jason Laffoon among others…

With the Liveable Communities – Liveable Planet project, Marja Spierenburg, Professor of Anthropology of Sustainability and Livelihood, is showing that scientists are driven by ambition, hope and faith. She is linking Vrouw Vennepolder, a polder in Zuid-Holland, to the UN climate goals.

Democratic citizenship refers to the capacity and willingness of citizens to actively influence the functioning of state institutions. While considered a vital correlate of democratization and the rule of law, its largely western-oriented literature rarely studies the forms of democratic citizenship…

Lecture, Research Seminar

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

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences provides its ca. 5000 students with a thorough education in the social and behavioural sciences. The student population is very diverse and international in nature.