Unlike most other medieval and early modern history departments in the Netherlands, Leiden offers additional expertise in Iberian and Central European history as well as in the political and cultural history of the Netherlands. There are also optional courses in the history of early modern European expansion in Asia and the Americas. You are encouraged to think comparatively about the transformations in politics, culture and religion of this era.

The staff runs larger research programmes on issues like court culture and state building, war memories and identity formation, and feuding and factionalism. Many of the courses relate to the research interests of the academic staff. The courses allow you to engage closely with current scholarly debates and offer you a chance to scrutinise new ideas as they are being developed. 

Excellent library and archival resources in Leiden and The Hague offer you quick and efficient access to many primary sources and secondary studies. The courses offer research training, as well as a chance to study current historical debates, so as to prepare you for the writing of an independently researched MA thesis.

Detailed information on the components of the Research MA may be found on the Prospectus.