Humanities Lab
Are you interested in the Humanities and do you want to expand your worldview with an Honours College track? In the Humanities Lab, you will cross academic borders, boost your skills and improve your understanding of contemporary topics.
Humanities Lab is one of seven Honours College tracks at Leiden University. Learn more about the Honours College and the tracks available through the page below.
About the Honours CollegeHumanities make the difference!
Humanities are the wide range of disciplines that study human cultures, from languages to history, from religions to mythology, from poetry to paintings. In Humanities Lab, you will cross these disciplines and discover their value when working on essential contemporary topics such as (post)colonialism, identity, big data and cultural memory.
Issues like these are simply too complex to be handled by one discipline alone. In the Humanities Lab you learn how to switch conceptual and methodological tools, while focusing on different aspects of the problems at hand. You work together in small groups to improve your understanding, pushing toward possible solutions.
Learn about the Humanities Lab in 3 minutes
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Watch the video on the original website orHumanities Lab in a nutshell
- Learn to engage with contemporary topics beyond the borders of academic disciplines
- Expand your worldview and become an expert in topics that matter
- Learn how to switch between methodological and conceptual tools
- Work in a highly interactive environment and small teams
- Push toward solutions for the challenges of today and tomorrow
Is Humanities Lab for me?
- Are you curious-minded and looking forward to meeting new, motivated students outside your own bachelor?
- Are you looking for an accessible way to explore new avenues during your studies?
- Are you ready to explore the many possibilities the humanities have to offer, while developing yourself personally and academically?
Humanities Lab welcomes you! Students from other faculties than humanities are welcome but have to consider their schedule before they apply (view 'important message' below).
Combining Humanities Lab with your studies
Humanities Lab is a flexible 30 EC programme spread over 2-2.5 years, so the workload is manageable. Classes are scheduled on Friday afternoons. Students of the Humanities Faculty have no regular classes on Friday afternoons, so that they can participate in Humanities Lab. Do you come from a different faculty? Please take a look at the message below.
Important message for students from other faculties than Humanities
Please note that all modules in the Humanities Lab track take place on Friday afternoons (13:30 – 17:00h) and that attendance is mandatory. Unfortunately, various BA programmes at other faculties than the Humanities Faculty cannot guarantee your availability on Friday afternoons.
Before applying, please ascertain yourself that your BA schedule for year 2 and 3 allows you to attend the Humanities Lab courses on Friday afternoons. You should always prioritize your main BA programme, plan your schedule well and avoid scheduling conflicts we will be unable to solve.
To obtain the Honours certificate, you must complete all six components of the Humanities Lab programme as described on the webite and you must comply with the conditions for certification as described by the Honours Academy.
Practicalities
- Location: Both Leiden and The Hague
- Schedule: Classes on Friday afternoon
- Starts: During the second semester of your first academic year or the first semester of the second academic year.
- Language: The programme is taught in English
- Credits: 30 EC split up in six components of 5 EC each
Community
Humanities Lab gives you the opportunity to meet new people – and oftentimes, even make new friends. Because you work together closely and go on the occasional excursion together, students tend to get to know each other pretty well, pretty soon.
FAQ
Our FAQ contains all the questions we have encountered over the years. Please read through the FAQ, our website and prospectus to find the information you need. If you can’t find what you are looking for, please let us know, so that we can include it in the FAQ. Due to privacy legislation, you are requested to use your university e-mailaddress (umail); we may not reply to e-mail from personal e-mailaddresses.
Application and admission
There are two possible starting dates for your Honours College track:
- In the second semester of your first academic year (first course in block 4). Applications open roughly between December and February.
- At the start of your second academic year (first course in block 1). Applications open roughly between June and August.
The duration of the programme will be 2 or 2.5 years, depending on your starting date.
Feel free to contact our student ambassadors! They can tell you everything about our programme.
It is important to think about how you are going to plan your bachelor’s and Honours courses in the coming years, and how you may combine the Honours programme with a stay abroad or internship. It is a plan, it is not set in stone. You can always change your plans.
Upon the reception of your application you will receive an automatic reply confirming that your application was complete, or that you forgot to send in one or more required documents. The Board of Admissions will review all applications right after the deadline and inform all applicants as soon as possible per umail.
Students who apply during the Winter of their first BA year, may be conditionally accepted because at that point, it is impossible to comply with all conditions. You will receive an email as soon as possible after the deadline.
In August, the Humanities Lab team will review all new applications and all conditionally accepted students from the winter round. If you meet the requirements, your conditional status will be automatically changed into ‘unconditional’. You will receive an email from us in September, followed by an official acceptance letter from the Honours Academy. If there are any circumstances we need to consider, please contact us.
Programme
The programme structure is rather flexible. You can find more information on our website.
Humanities Lab 101 (block 1) and the Capstone project (block 4) are compulsory. For the Capstone project students can choose one of the topics on offer. Students choose two Key modules and one Advanced module from the modules on offer. You also have to take one from a wide range of Honours Classes offered by the Honours Academy.
Check the prospectus for more information about the courses and the course descriptions.
Yes, it is a rather flexible programme and if you plan ahead it is certainly possible to go abroad or do an internship. The programme schedule can help you plan your courses
You can find the courses on offer in the prospectus. There is continuity in the programme, but we also try to innovate. Usually the majority of the courses will be offered again in the following year, one or a few courses may change.
None of the Humanities Lab courses have exams. Usually the assessment includes different components: paper, presentation, etc. Most courses have experimental assessment methods as well like making a video or website or you may have to do an onsite presentation during an excursion. You can find the assessment methods per course in the course descriptions in the prospectus.
Humanities Lab students cannot enroll themselves for courses in uSis, MyStudymap or Brightspace. For Humanities Lab 101 all accepted students will be enrolled automatically. About one week before the start of the course, the course will show in your uSis account/MyStudymap and you will have access to the Brightspace module.
For all other Humanities Lab courses, students have to register via an online form. Per block, about two to three weeks before the start of the course, the Humanities Lab team sends out a form to your umail-inbox. On the form you indicate which courses you are interested in, in the order of your preference. Humanities Lab makes the distribution and takes care of the uSis and Brightspace registration, which you will have access to during the week prior to the start of the course. Usually students are assigned to the course of their first or second preference.
More information about registration for Honours Classes is available on the Honours Academy website.
Your study plan is not set in stone. If you need to change it, please contact Eelkje and Sieglinde, coordinators of the programme.
Information about how to change your individual programme is available in the prospectus.
We are always looking for students to join! Please contact Eelkje and Sieglinde, coordinators of the programme.
As long as the grades show in your ‘Course history’ there is no problem. Some grades don’t show automatically in your ‘Academic requirements’ in uSis. We will take care of this before you graduate. If you want this to be taken care of sooner, please contact the student administration.
Please contact the student administration of your bachelor’s programme.
Humanities Lab courses are offered in Leiden as well as The Hague. All Humanities Lab courses are (usually) scheduled on Friday afternoon, between 13.30h and 17.00h. Honours Classes are offered throughout the year, on various days and hours of the week.
About a week before the start of the course you will be enrolled for the course in uSis and Brightspace
Humanities Lab students cannot enroll themselves for courses in MyStudymap or Brightspace.
Please see above, ‘How and when can I enroll for Humanities Lab modules?’
The Humanities Lab team distributes all students over the modules, trying to accommodate the preferences they on their registration form. Usually all students can take part in the course of their first or second choice. Sometimes, however, that is not possible, due to the high number of applications or other reasons.
The Honours Academy sends out an e-mail about registration for the honours classes twice a year to all BA students. Usually in late August / early September and late November/early December.
Contact details and further information about registration can be found on the website of the Bachelor Honours Classes.
Please get in touch with your coordinator of studies if you do not feel well and obviously you can also get in touch with the coordinators of Humanities Lab. If you are considering not continuing Humanities Lab, contact the Humanities Lab coordinators.
Graduation
If you are not able to meet this time limit due to exceptional circumstances, you can request an extension of time limit from the Honours Academy Board of Examiners. Check the website for more information.
The Humanities Lab team will check if you meet all requirements to be granted the Honours certificate. You will receive an email late August/ September from the Humanities Lab team about this.
The certificate ceremony (usually) takes place in November for all Honours College students from the entire University and is organised by the Honours Academy. In October you will receive an invitation for the ceremony from the Honours Academy.
If you stop the programme half way or if you don’t comply with the certificate conditions after all, the Honours courses you passed will still be included on your diploma supplement.