Humanities

HUMANITIES Humanities offer windows on the world

In these times of globalisation, the humanities are more important than ever. Migration, integration, trade and technology are causing the borders between countries and cultures to fade. If we want to work and live together in harmony, we have to understand one another. The humanities provide the insights that we need for this.

Our research and teaching range from languages, cultures and regional studies to history, philosophy, the arts and religious studies. Our researchers are driven by passion and curiosity for the world around them.

RESEARCH Our research covers almost all continents and periods, and our researchers are committed to developing, disseminating and applying academic knowledge. We strive to be an author

ity in the academic and public debate. Our research is interdisciplinary in its approach, with experts sharing their knowledge and understanding. This helps improve teaching and research projects.

Research centres •Centre for Indigenous America Studies •Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies •Leiden Asia Centre •Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition •Leiden University Centre for Digital Humanities •Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society •Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies

Graduate School The Graduate School of Humanities is responsible for all PhD programmes at the Faculty of Humanities.

TEACHING Our main priority is ensuring our students succeed. We regard curiositydriven learning as the core of our teaching. Our programmes are as small-scale as possible, and we provide opportunities for tailored learning such as personal learning pathways and an honours programme for ambitious students. We also have a talent programme for high school students. Our Faculty trains students to be critical thinkers, academic professionals and engaged citizens with international and intercultural skills. They will help resolve the future challenges. We want to prepare them for this role, and therefore consider career preparation to be essential. FACTS AND FIGURES 2019 7,539 students: 5,386 bachelor’s students and 2,153 master’s students

1,042 staff (660 academic and 382 non-academic)

Institutes: • Academy of Creative and Performing Arts • Centre for the Study of Religion • Institute for History • Institute for Philosophy • Leiden University Institute for Area Studies • Leiden University Centre for Arts in Society • Leiden University Centre for Linguistics

72 doctorates

The research and teaching at the Faculty of Humanities are ranked among the top 30 in the world (THE Ranking).

BACHELOR’S PROGRAMMES • BA in African Languages and Cultures • BA in Ancient Near Eastern Studies • BA in Art History • BA in Arts, Media and Society • BA in Chinese Studies • BA in Classics • BA in Dutch Language and Culture • BA in Dutch Studies • BA in English Language and Culture • BA in Film and Literary Studies • BA in French Language and Culture • BA in German Language and Culture • BA in History • BA in International Studies • BA in Italian Language and Culture • BA in Japanese Studies • BA in Korean Studies • BA in Latin American Studies • BA in Linguistics • BA in Middle Eastern Studies • BA in Philosophy • BA in Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives • BA in Religious Studies • BA in Russian Studies • BA in South and South East Asian Studies • BA in Urban Studies MASTER’S PROGRAMMES • MA in African Studies • MA in African Studies (research) • MA in Arts and Culture • MA in Arts and Culture (research) • MA in Asian Studies (60 EC) • MA in Asian Studies (120 EC) • MA in Asian Studies (research) • MA in Classics and Ancient Civilisations • MA in Classics and Ancient Civilisations (research) • MA in Dutch Studies • MA in European Politics and Society • MA in History • MA in History (research) • MA in International Relations • MA in Latin American Studies • MA in Latin American Studies (research) • MA in Linguistics • MA in Linguistics (research) • MA in Literary Studies • MA in Literary Studies (research) • MA in Media Studies • MA in Middle Eastern Studies • MA in Middle Eastern Studies (research) • MA in Philosophy (60 EC) • MA in Philosophy (120 EC) • MA in Religious Studies • MA in Russian and Eurasian Studies

Fact-checkers at work Politicians make all kinds of claims, particularly during elections. But is what they say true? For many people it is too difficult and timeconsuming to find out for themselves, which makes it useful having fact-checkers do it for you. Nieuwscheckers is the fact-checking project of the students and staff from the Journalism and New Media programme, including Peter Burger (see photo). It began as a teaching project but Nieuwscheckers now checks news and claims made by politicians during elections.

Writer-in-residence inspires students Novelist and essayist Karin Amatmoekrim was the writerin-residence at Leiden University in autumn 2019. She gave a series of lectures on creative writing and delivered the Albert Verwey Lecture, a permanent fixture of the writer’s residency, to the general public. The writer’s residency is a unique phenomenon and was instated at Leiden University in 1985. It is an opportunity for students and staff to meet a celebrated writer, someone who looks differently at the world around them, and who thinks and expresses themselves in a way that may open up new perspectives. Previous writers-in residence include famous Dutch writers such as Gerard Reve, Margriet de Moor, Gerrit Komrij and Anna Enquist.

Handwritten texts full of mysteries Nadine Akkerman was awarded a grant of two million euros by the European Research Council for research into English manuscripts from the 16th and 17th century. Akkerman: ‘Working with handwritten texts and unravelling their mysteries is one of my passions. And it’s especially rewarding when this work allows me to recover a voice from the past that has lain hidden for centuries.’ These handwritten texts were often the result of collaboration between an author and a scribe. Like a modern secretary, these scribes would correct, edit and amend the words given them by their employer as they put their goose feather quills to paper. Akkerman will analyse these texts in order to disentangle the different voices that may appear in a manuscript.

Students practise giving talks Lights, camera, action! In ‘LU-talks’, students from the Faculty of Humanities were able to practise communicating science to a wider audience in a real theatre. The challenge: how do you deliver an inspiring pitch about your research to people outside the University? To meet this challenge, students learn not only traditional academic skills such as writing papers, but also modern skills that prepare them for the job market of today and tomorrow.