Events

March 2026

Mon 9 March 2026

Book talk webinar | The inside story of America’s failure to disarm North Korea

Joel Wit talks about his new book 'Fallout: The Inside Story of How America Failed to Disarm North Korea'. He discusses why several U.S. administrations failed to prevent North Korea’s emergence as a nuclear-armed state and what can be done to address this threat.

Tue 10 March 2026

Filmavond Japan | Tonde Saitama - Fly me to the Saitama

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Kom Tonde Saitama (een kitscherige actiekomedie met popster GACKT in de hoofdrol en met de rivaliteit tussen Japanse prefecturen als achtergrond) beleven op het grote scherm van de Universiteitsbibliotheek!

Tue 10 March 2026

Hybrid book presentation | The Successor: The decline of modern Russia

Mikhail Fishman talks about his new book 'the Successor' and analyses Russia’s failed attempt to become a liberal democracy. In The Hague.

Tue 10 March 2026

College | Blockbusters en filmmmuziek

Muziek uit de grote drama's en de sci-fi films wordt bestudeerd. Ook wordt wereldwijd gekeken naar andere filmmuziek componisten.

Tue 10 March 2026

Talk | Scripts, stages, and performances in world politics

Alejandro Esguerra (Bielefeld University, Germany) discusses the use of dramaturgy, a sociological perspective that uses theatre metaphors such as script, stage, and performance, to study the social role of meetings and documents in world politics.

Tue 10 March 2026

ASCL seminar | Rabat city of lights: urban image-making and lived heritage in contemporary Morocco

Rim Yassine Kassab (Netherlands Institute in Morocco) traces how the city Rabat has been transformed from an administrative capital into a cultural and globally visible city. 

Wed 11 March 2026

KITLV event | Breaking fast across the Indian Ocean (Iftar)

TASTE researchers reflect on Ramadan meals and culinary traditions from their respective countries of study. After, a communal iftar (breaking of fast) is held.

Wed 11 March 2026

Hybride lezing | Barones tussen de armen

De Merlijnlezing wordt gegeven door Astrid Schutte. Ze spreekt over de biografie van Alwine de Vos van Steenwijk (adellijke weldoenster voor ‘de allerarmsten').

Wed 11 March 2026

Conference | Feminist foreign policy under pressure: Latin America and the Caribbean in times of conservative backlash

Diplomats and scholars of the region discuss how Mexico, Chile, and Colombia are advancing feminist foreign policy across Latin America and the Caribbean, despite strategic challenges. In The Hague. 

Wed 11 March 2026

Lecture | The global political economy of transnational migrant advocacy networks

Crystal Ennis discusses the nature of global migration governance and the limited power of transnational advocacy networks that try to provide these groups with agency.

Wed 11 March 2026

Lezing | Van warenhuis tot universiteit: het nieuwe én oude Spui 3 en 5

Drs. Laura Plezier en Ir. Peter Hagelaar analyseren de gevels van het warenhuis aan het Spui en de Spuistraat en nemen een vogelvlucht langs de verschillende fases van de ontwikkeling van het nieuwe universiteitscomplex in de Spuistraat.

Thu 12 March 2026

IIAS online presentation | The ONE RIVER case in Okazaki, Japan

Yuta Itsumi (Kyushu University, Japan) and Mitsuru Iwagaya (Project Manager of ONE RIVER) talk about the urban river project ONE RIVER in Okazaki City, Japan.

Thu 12 March 2026

Colloquium | The right to explanation, narrative identity, and epistemic injustice

Dr. Barend de Rooij (Tilburg University) examines three moral grounds commonly used in defense of the right to explanation, and introduces a fourth.

Thu 12 March 2026

Lecture | Archaeological forum

Maaike de Waal discusses project Proteha mi, about investigating and protecting Bonaire's heritage. Jason Laffoon & Lisa Anderson discuss the reconstruction of the lives of the Batavia Shipwreck Survivors.

Thu 12 March 2026

Talk | Digital authoritarianism in practice

Prof. Anita Gohdes (Hertie School, Berlin) introduces the concept of digital authoritarianism and the tools it uses, such as surveillance, censorship, internet shutdowns, and online propaganda. In The Hague.

Thu 12 March 2026

RMO boekpresentatie | Wereldreizigers

Archeoloog Alexander van de Bunt presenteert zijn nieuwe boek, waarin hij vertelt over de mensen en volken die vanaf de laatste ijstijd, 12.000 jaar geleden, Europa ontdekten en daar gingen leven.

Thu 12 March 2026

Book presentation | Girlhood at war

Vjosa Musliu (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) presents her book 'Girlhood At War: Interpreting War and Liberation in Kosovo'. In the book, she tells the story of a young girl growing up during the Kosovo war and Kosovo's liberation by NATO troops in 1999. In The Hague. 

Fri 13 March 2026

Lecture | Mistaken identities

Caroline Heycock (University of Edinburgh) argues that looking more closely and more widely at definites in copular clauses can show how best to divide distinctions between semantic and syntactic constraints.

Fri 13 March 2026

Lecture | Making rules for the European car industry in times of crisis

Ioannis Barkis (MA IR alumnus and Public Affairs Manager at ACEA) explains how industry associations, NGOs, companies and institutions interact every day to create policy,  what this means for EU democracy, and how you too can be part of it.

Fri 13 March 2026

RMO lezing | Archeologie in Drenthe

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In deze 12-Provinciën lezing vertelt Marcel J.L.Th. Niekus (steentijdspecialist) over de neanderthalervindplaats Peest en de oudste bewoning van Noord-Nederland.

Fri 13 March 2026

Workshop | Westerse boeken met een Japans tintje

Kasper van Ommen (conservator Westerse gedrukte werken) vertelt over hoe de Japanse (en Chinese) boekdrukkunst westerse, en  in het bijzonder Nederlandse, boekuitgaven hebben geïnspireerd. 

Fri 13 March 2026

Hybrid symposium | the late Neolithic Vlaardingen culture revisited

Different speakers re-evaluate the wetland sites of the late Neolithic Vlaardingen culture to find out more about daily life in the Rhine/Meuse delta during the Late Neolithic.

Fri 13 March 2026

Lecture | Enlightenment language machines, then and now

This Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History is given by Tita Chico (University of Maryland/NIAS). She explores the relationship between technology and the state and focuses on enlightenment language machines.

Sat 14 March 2026

RMO leerlingendag | Oude Nabije Oosten

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De opleiding Oude Nabije Oosten-studies van de Universiteit Leiden organiseert samen met de vereniging Ex Oriente Lux en het Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten een studiemiddag voor VWO-scholieren met lezingen, rondleidingen en workshops.

Sun 15 March 2026

Wereldwandeling | Sporen van de Slavernij in Leiden

Aan de hand van deze wandeling door de straten van de historische binnenstad van Leiden, leer je meer over de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse slavenhandel en slavernij, lopend langs gebouwen waar handelaren, tot slaafgemaakten, en voorvechters voor de afschaffing van slavernij woonden.

Mon 16 March 2026

Lecture | From colonial monocultures to post-colonial economies

Isaac Scarborough discusses the cases of Suriname (Dutch Empire), The Gambia (British Empire), and Tajikistan (Soviet empire) and suggests that the development of colonial economies, economic relations to the center, and later breakdown of the financial order can best be understood comparatively.

Tue 17 March 2026

IIAS film screening | Amala: The life and struggle of the Dalai Lama’s sister

This film follows Amala's life in Tibet, her escape into exile, and her four decades of leadership at the Tibetan Children’s Village in India. 

Tue 17 March 2026

Hybrid presentation | Unfolding unopened letters based on X-ray tomography

Records of the 16th- and 17th-century English Court of Wards and Liveries are mostly badly damaged or still unopened. This presentation explores the opening of these records by virtually unfolding the locked manuscripts. 

Wed 18 March 2026

Lecture | A critical look at NATO, Europe, and nuclear strategy

Dr. Davis Ellison (HCSS) discusses questions about security studies on civil-military relations, deterrence, and defence planning in the case of NATO’s nuclear policy and planning. 

Wed 18 March 2026

ASCL seminar | Living with toxic extractivism: Women's lifeworlds with oil in Nigeria’s Niger Delta

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Dr Better Jack (University of Groningen) focuses on the different ways in which women are affected by and respond to toxic oil pollution. 

Thu 19 March 2026

Online book talk | Europe's attempt to take back control of technology regulation

Benjamin Farrand (Newcastle University) talks about his new book 'Geopolitical union: Europe's attempt to take back control of technology regulation'. In it, he explores the EU's approach to lawmaking in the field of technology. 

Thu 19 March 2026

Open discussion | The new right-wing government of José Antonio Kast in Chile

The triumph of the Right in Chile with José Antonio Kast winning the December 2025 elections has raised various perspectives regarding the central pillars of the incoming Kast administration. Prof. Carlos Peña and Prof. Patricio Silva discuss the regional and domestic consequences of the incoming administration.

Thu 19 March 2026

Hybride lezing | De kunst van het oorlogvoeren

Sunzi’s 'De kunst van het oorlogvoeren' is een van de meest invloedrijke teksten uit de wereldliteratuur. Paul van der Putten (geopolitiek analist), en Frank Osinga (Universiteit Leiden) bespreken de oorsprong van het boek, de vertaaluitdagingen, en de lessen die het biedt voor moderne conflicten en diplomatie in het huidige China en de internationale politiek.

Thu 19 March 2026

Book launch | Inertia, resistance, revolution

Bart Zantvoort presents his book 'Inertia, Resistance, Revolution: Hegel and the Logic of History'. In it, he discusses the phenomenon of resistance to change in individuals and institutions by returning to the philosopher Hegel.

Thu 19 March 2026

Conference | Materiality, religion and the environment

Different speakers talk about materiality, religion and the environment in Greek and Roman history.

Thu 19 March 2026

Talk | Chinese Colonialism in Tibet: Inventing Tibetan Inferiority & the Making of China's Empire

Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang (University of Colorado Boulder, USA) examines how Chinese colonialism in Tibet continues through state-led discursive and ethnographic practices in the making of the Chinese empire. 

Fri 20 March 2026

Lecture | Global colonial entanglements shaping medicine as property

Natacha Klein Käfer (University of Copenhagen / Lund University) explores how interdisciplinary research can create new understandings about how medicine, law, and colonialism were intertwined in the creation of a system of ownership over remedies and cures.

Fri 20 March 2026

Lecture | Peruvian evidence for a richer interface between language and archaeology

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Matthias Urban (CNRS/DDL Lyon) examines an issue in linking prehistoric languages with archaeological cultures with a focus on the linguistic history of Peru’s coast.

Fri 20 March 2026

Congres | De moderne tijd: Feest!

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In dit jaarcongres onderzoeken historici de feestcultuur in de lage landen, inclusief de koloniën in oost en west, in al haar verschijningen. Wat werd er gevierd, door wie, hoe en waarom?
In Amsterdam. 

Fri 20 March 2026

ASCL hybrid seminar | Preventing violent extremism in Kenya: the presence and absence of African women

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Two presentations explore programs and strategies to prevent violent extremism in Kenya, with a focus on the role of women actors. 

Fri 20 March 2026

Lecture | Manga and militarism

During the Cold War, Japan’s post-World War Two military, the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF), were noticeably absent in Japanese popular culture. Max Warrack (University of Warwick) explores the current-day creation of manga that are restoring the JSDF in Japan’s popular imaginary.

Sun 22 March 2026

WML festival | Hanami kersenbloesemfestival

Hanami is een Japanse traditie waarbij mensen samenkomen om te genieten van de bloei van de kersenbloesems (sakura). Het Wereldmuseum Leiden organiseert activiteiten binnen en buiten in het teken van Hanami en Japan zoals een foodmarkt, muziek, workshops en lezingen. 

Mon 23 March 2026

Lezing | Diplomademocratie: Bestuurskundige en politicologische reflecties

Professoren aan de instituten Bestuurskunde en Politieke Wetenschap van de Universiteit Leiden analyseren het boek Diplomademocratie. In dit boek beargumenteren de auteurs dat Nederland zich heeft ontwikkeld tot een land waarin praktisch geschoolden en academici in gescheiden werelden leven en mensen met de hoogste diploma’s het voor het zeggen hebben. In Den Haag.

Tue 24 March 2026

Symposium | What methods do

In a series of sessions, internationally active artist researchers reflect on their role in the production of knowledge and the role of art in a societal context. In Utrecht.

Tue 24 March 2026 - Thu 26 March 2026

Conference | Neoplatonism in the Christological debates of late antiquity

Different speakers reflect on the Neoplatonic influence on Christianity, with a focus on defining the nature of Christ. 

Tue 24 March 2026

IIAS hybrid event | The Nile in transition from ancient times to the present

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 Dr Miriam Müller (Director NINO) and Dr Daniel Soliman (RMO Curator) discuss how the Nile shaped life in ancient Egypt and explore the rich Nubian heritage of this region and the temples that were built here. After, a guided tour of the Nubia collection at the National Museum of Antiquities (RMO) in Leiden is given.

Tue 24 March 2026

Knowledge session | The 15th five-year plan

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Sense Hofstede explores China’s new five-year plan for 2026–2030, how this will be implemented, and what it means for the country’s economic and political future.

Wed 25 March 2026

Lecture | The quest to be (trans)nationals: Experiences of being Asian in Europe

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Maggi Leung (University of Amsterdam) highlights the role of the 'others' in the pursuit to be (trans)nationals among Asians in Europe. 

Wed 25 March 2026

Lezing | Steden als samenkomst van mensen, planten en dieren

Dr. Rosanne van der Voet (universitair docent bij Urban Studies en Environmental Humanities) onderzoekt de vraag 'hoe kunnen we over steden nadenken als samenkomst van mensen en niet-mensen?'

Thu 26 March 2026

NINO exhibition | Collections in the spotlight

Different speakers present ongoing projects and the results of recent studies on materials from NINO and The Leiden Papyrological Institute.

Thu 26 March 2026

Lecture | How (not) to lie with numbers

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Ionica Smeets examines how statistics shape public understanding and how they can mislead. She discusses how data are produced, what numbers truly show and hide, and how we can interpret quantitative claims more critically.

Thu 26 March 2026

Lezing | De nieuwe kunst van de moderne wereld

Dr. Carmen van den Bergh (universitair docent Italiaanse Letterkunde) vertelt over de nieuwe kunst van de moderne wereld (ca. 1880 - 1960) waarin de manier waarop mensen tijd, ruimte en identiteit ervaren snel veranderde. 

Thu 26 March 2026

Conference | Who is Asian?

The diversity of Asia has made it challenging, and at times controversial, to define the region. Speakers critically reflect on the complexities, diversities and contradictions that define Asia and its representations.

Thu 26 March 2026

Dialogue | The struggle for the rule of law in Hong Kong

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The discussion explores how Hong Kong’s legal system has been reshaped since the 1997 handover, long before the National Security Law marked a dramatic turning point in 2020. In The Hague. 

Thu 26 March 2026

Hybride lezing | Het Frans in Nederland door de eeuwen heen

Prof.dr. Gijsbert Rutten bespreekt Rutten de verfransing van de Nederlandse taal vanuit sociolinguïstisch perspectief. Hij besteedt daarbij aandacht aan taalkeuze, taalgebruik en het publieke debat over verfransing.

Fri 27 March 2026

Lecture | Negation compounds in Old Hittite

In this Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (CIEL) Seminars lecture, David Sasseville (École pratique des hautes études, Paris) uses a Luwian song in Old Hittite to study negation compounds.

Fri 27 March 2026

Symposium | Pioneers in migration history

Marlou Schrover and Leo Lucassen are honoured and celebrated for their great impact on the field of migration history. 

Mon 30 March 2026

Lecture | Self-determination in very small places

Dr. Bradley Simpson (University of Connecticut) focuses on places that were considered too small or too primitive for self-determination, and their implications for contemporary global politics.

Tue 31 March 2026

Lezing | Van de eerste buren tot gevaarlijke buurten: Den Haag door de eeuwen heen

Drs. Peter Stokkel (hoofd archeologie bij Gemeente Den Haag) en Prof.dr. Manon van der Heijden (hoogleraar Stadsgeschiedenis) onderzoeken wat de overblijfselen van de eerste bewoners van Den Haag ons vandaag vertellen en waarom er minder geweld plaatsvond in steden, hoe de daling in geweld is te verklaren en waarom vrouwen zoveel crimineler waren dan nu.

April 2026

Wed 1 April 2026

RMO lezing | Leuke scherven voor de mensen!

Evert van Ginkel (voorzitter de Nederlandse Archeologievereniging) vertelt over zijn ruim veertigjarige ervaring op het gebied van archeologie en publiek. Hij vertelt over de ontwikkelingen en de toekomst van de publieksarcheologie.

Thu 2 April 2026

KITLV hybrid book talk | Taxation and governance in colonial Indonesia

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Maarten Manse presents his new book, in which he discusses local improvisation, indigenous customs, and everyday negotiations as a central element of taxation methods in colonial Indonesia.

Tue 7 April 2026

RMO hybride lezing | Het graf van Kha en Meryt

Christian Greco (directeur Museo Egizio, Turijn) brengt het verhaal van de 120-jaar oude ontdekking van het graf van Kha en Meryt tot leven, een van de best bewaarde graven uit het Nieuwe Rijk. Daarnaast laat hij de nieuwe vondsten uit dit graf uit het Museo Egizio zien.

Tue 7 April 2026

Lecture | Linguistic cues for Arabic authorship analysis

Hossam Ahmed explores the use of Machine Learning algorithms for extreme cases to verify the authorship of a document to a single author. 

Wed 8 April 2026

Seminar | The 'hybridisation' of radicalisation, implications for research, and the prevention of violent extremism

Christopher Kehlet Ebbrecht (Aarhus University, Denmark) discusses the "hybridisation" of radicalisation and reflects on the implications of the results of the study for research and violence prevention practice.

Wed 8 April 2026

Lecture | East Europe’s forgotten peasant revolution

Professor Jakub Beneš (University College London) reconsiders the period of world wars and focuses on East Europe. 

Wed 8 April 2026

Lecture | Mapping debt, displacement, and rentier urbanism in South Korea

Yoonai Han analyses debt as a tactic of rentier urbanism in low-rise residential neighbourhoods in Seoul, South Korea. She analyzes the consequences in the form of neighbourhood change and displacement.

Thu 9 April 2026

RMO docentenmiddag | Pallas 2

Tijdens deze middag vertelt Charles Hupperts over de herziening van Pallas en de rijke ontwikkelingsgeschiedenis van deze methode. Daarna volgen verschillende lezingen over onderwerpen die aansluiten bij lessen uit Pallas. 

Thu 9 April 2026

Lecture | Humans as a legal technology

Ida Koivisto (University of Helsinki) talks about the emergence of "new humans" in European technology regulation and ethical discourses. This means that instead of natural persons, bureaucrats or civil servants, ‘humans’ are assigned legal assignments and power. 

Thu 9 April 2026

RMO quiz | Ken-Uw-Klassieken Pubquiz 2026

Test in de Tempelzaal je kennis over Griekse en Latijnse literatuur, klassieke mythologie, oude geschiedenis, antieke wijsbegeerte en archeologie.

Thu 9 April 2026

Lezing | Postmodernisme in de film: Hoe onze blik op de werkelijkheid verschuift

Dr. Peter Verstraten (universitair docent filmwetenschap) legt de voor en tegens van postmodernistische films (ca. 1960 – 2000) en hun vele stijlen en vormen naast elkaar.

Fri 10 April 2026

RMO lezingen | Wie zijn de Kelten?

Peter Schrijver (hoogleraar Keltologie) en Sasja van der Vaart-Verschoof (zelfstandig archeoloog onderzoeken wie de Kelten zijn op het gebied van mythes en taal.

Fri 10 April 2026

Online lezing | Luisteren naar Polyphemus

Justine McConnell (King’s College London) bespreekt schrijvers en kunstenaars die een nieuw, menselijker beeld hebben gecreëerd van Homerus’ cycloop Polyphemus. De nadruk ligt op het werk van romanschrijver Ralph Ellison, beeldend kunstenaar Romare Bearden en dichter Nikki Giovanni. 

Fri 10 April 2026

RMO lezingen | Xerxes' speedo

In vier korte lezingen vertelt een panel van experts over hun favoriete vorm van oudheidreceptie. Ze laten zien hoe wij verhalen uit de oudheid blijven vertellen, creatief aanpassen en soms ook volledig laten ontsporen.

Sat 11 April 2026

RMO lezing | Homeruslezing 2026

Coen Simons (hoofdredacteur Filosofie Magazine) verklaart met behulp van Plato, Erasmus en Kant waarom de jeugd van tegenwoordig steeds moreler wordt, maar ook steeds minder deugt. 

Sun 12 April 2026

RMO lezingenmiddag | One god, many voices

Dr. Benedetto Neola (Universiteit Leiden) en dr. Clelia Attanasio (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) vertellen over de context waarin het Christendom zich heeft weten te vestigen als dominante religieuze traditie in de westerse wereld tussen de 3e en 6e eeuw na Christus. In het Engels.

Sun 12 April 2026

RMO workshop | Kraak de Gallische code

Archeologen hebben een plaatje gevonden dat is gemaakt van lood, waar een Gallische tekst op staat. Je leert hoe je deze oude tekst kunt ontcijferen en daar een eigen vertaling van kunt maken.

Sun 12 April 2026

Wandeling | De Haagse spreukenroute

Prof.dr. Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade (emeritus hoogleraar socio-historische taalkunde van het Engels) vertelt over de verschillende spreuken, over Ingrids ontmoetingen met de sprekers van de talen, en over hoe de route tot stand kwam.

Sun 12 April 2026

RMO leesclub | Medusa in de spiegel

Letterkundige prof. dr. Jacqueline Klooster (Universiteit van Freiburg) laat lezers in een reeks persoonlijke verkenningen van mythologische figuren en hun moderne transformaties in een mythische spiegel kijken.

Mon 13 April 2026

RMO competitie | Benelux sprekerscompetitie

Leerlingen uit Nederland en Vlaanderen gaan de woordelijke strijd met elkaar aan. Sprekers uit de onder- en bovenbouw gaan in duo’s aan de slag met creatieve spreekopdrachten over heden en verleden.

Mon 13 April 2026

Lecture | The Bank van Lening (1746) en Bank Courant (1752) in Batavia: Did empire  reate a financial revolution in Asia?

Catia Antunes talks about the Bank van Lening (created in 1746 as part of an institutional reform that tried to justify the Dutch empire in Asia) as the first modern bank in Asia that provided relatively affordable loans. She also disccuses the incorporation of the Bank Courant into the Bank van Lening. 

Tue 14 April 2026 - Fri 17 April 2026

Conference | European human behaviour & evolution association

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Different speakers explore the meaning of AI developments for research on behavioural sciences, anthropology, archaeology, sociology, linguistics, medicine, and more. 

Tue 14 April 2026

Lecture | Connecting Dutch colonial sources with AI

Johan Visser introduces the research platform dutchtatlanticsources.com. DAS is a digital humanities project that brings together early modern sources on the Dutch Atlantic world.

Tue 14 April 2026

Seminar | Effective public risk communication: Raising awareness without causing fear

Prof. Lasse Lindekilde (Aarhus University) addresses the question: How can government institutions communicate effectively to the public about the risk from terrorism, war, pandemics etc. without causing undue fear in the population? In The Hague.

Tue 14 April 2026

Hybrid roundtable | Populism and nationalism: What's the difference?

Sarah de Lange, André Gerrits and Steven Denney discuss the ideal-type differences and similarities between populism and nationalism and the connection between the two in Dutch and East Asian politics. 

Tue 14 April 2026

RMO live-opname | Veelstemmige oudheid

In deze live-opname voor de podcast 'Verleden Verteld', praten conservatoren Daniel Soliman en Suzan van de Velde met host Timo Epping over de veelstemmige oudheid in het museum.

Tue 14 April 2026

IIAS lecture | Controlling Measles outbreak in Southeast Asia

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Laurence Monnais (University of Lausanne, Switzerland) reflects on the current outbreak of Measles using a Southeast Asianist perspective and history as prevention. 

Wed 15 April 2026

RMO avondsymposium | Legendarische vrouwen in de Griekse literatuur

Ineke Sluiter (Universiteit Leiden) en Irene de Jong (Universiteit van Amsterdam) wekken de stemmen van vrouwen uit de Griekse literatuur van de Oudheid tot leven en vertellen over Penelope en Tomyris.

Wed 15 April 2026

Lecture | National language and feminist activism in Republican China

Coraline Jortay (French Centre for Scientific Research) discusses the 1924 Congress for the Advancement of Education. She focuses on feminist activists' influence on debates about the unification of language in China from the late Qing into the early People's Republic of China period.

Thu 16 April 2026

Lecture | Sacrifice and social imaginary in Hellenistic Kos

Péter Kató (Eötvös Loránd University Budapest) explores sacrificial prescriptions from priests addressed to various groups within the local population, in order to maintain established social hierarchies. 

Thu 16 April 2026

WML performance lecture | Undesirables

Artist filmmaker Sabine Groenewegen shares from her ongoing research on the Dutch colonial plantocracy.She shows resistance to racial capitalism despite attempts to suppress it. In Amsterdam. 

Thu 16 April 2026

Symposium | To rise from the ashes

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The Dutch Symposium of the Ancient Near East discusses the continuous response, adaptation and (re)emergence of societies throughout time in ancient West Asia.

Thu 16 April 2026

Lezing | Heen en weer tussen hoop en cynisme

Dr. Robin van den Akker (Erasmus School of Philosophy) verkent de verschuiving naar het metamodernisme (ca. 2000- nu) en hoe dit zichtbaar wordt in kunst en cultuur.

Thu 16 April 2026

RMO lezing | Constantinopel en water

Dr. Mariëtte Verhoeven (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) onderzoekt hoe water op verschillende manieren bepalend was voor de identiteit van Constantinopel.

Fri 17 April 2026

Lecture | Modal strategies in Hittite

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In this Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (CIEL) Seminar, Theresa Maria Roth (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) shares her early considerations for a systematic study of modal strategies in Hittite.

Fri 17 April 2026

NINO hybrid lecture | Identity and Connectivity at the Oryx District

Oryx District was once a thriving town in the middle of Egypt. Several tombs found there show individuals who did not look like Egyptians. Dr Anna-Latifa Mourad-Cizek (The University of Chicago) explores who  those people were and who else lived in there.

Fri 17 April 2026

Book talk | France, you love it but you leave it

Olivier Esteves (Lille University) presents his book 'France you love it but you leave'. The book discusses the silent and largely unacknowledged flight abroad of French Muslim. It focuses on their motivations, their experiences in France and abroad, and their sense of Frenchness, torn between gratitude and bitterness.

Fri 17 April 2026

RMO boekpresentatie | The Poet and the Underworld

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Amaranth Feuth vertelt over de manier waarop eigentijdse literatuur bekende Griekse en Latijnse teksten in herinnering brengt en op subtiele wijze bijstuurt vanuit het hedendaagse perspectief van diversiteit.

Fri 17 April 2026

Lecture | Household dominium and enslavement in the seventeenth-century Dutch empire

In this Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History lecture, Timo McGregor talks about ownership and slavery in the Dutch empire of the 17th century. 

Fri 17 April 2026

Lecture | the British government's colonial bureaucratic practices in southern Africa

In this Sociolinguistics & Discourse Studies Series, Susan Fitzmaurice (University of Sheffield) discusses the British government's communicative practice in colonial bureaucracy at the turn of the twentieth century in southern Africa. 

Sun 19 April 2026

RMO evenement | Romeinen in het museum

Op de laatste dag van de Week van de Klassieken presenteren de Romeinse re-enactors van Legio Secunda Augusta demonstraties en een modeshow om de oudheid dichterbij te brengen.

Sun 19 April 2026

WML evenement | Meer tijd voor Papoea

Een middag vol film, gesprek en smaak, waarin tijd en de hedendaagse realiteit van West-Papua centraal staan. Verschillende activiteiten focussen op verdieping, ontmoeting en nieuwe perspectieven. 

Sun 19 April 2026

Wereldwandeling | Sporen van de Slavernij in Leiden

Aan de hand van deze wandeling door de straten van de historische binnenstad van Leiden, leer je meer over de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse slavenhandel en slavernij, lopend langs gebouwen waar handelaren, tot slaafgemaakten, en voorvechters voor de afschaffing van slavernij woonden.

Sun 19 April 2026

NINO slotmiddag | Veelstemmige oudheid

Verschillende sprekers presenteren studies waarin verschillende identiteiten in de Levant en de relatie tussen tekst en archeologie van het derde tot en met her eerste millennium v.Chr. voorkomen.

Mon 20 April 2026

Talk | Irradiated imaginations and anti-nuclear solidarities

Fabienne Rachmadiev (University of Amsterdam) discusses the intertwined histories of nuclear infrastructures, colonialism, and resistance. She focusses on the Northern Kazakh steppe around Semey, which the Soviet Union used for its nuclear programme between 1948 and 1991, causing long-lasting effects of pollution and radiation. 

Thu 23 April 2026

Online book talk | Repression and resistance on the Russian internet

Françoise Daucé and Francesca Musiani talk about their new book 'Digital Authoritarianism in the Making: Repression and Resistance on the Russian Internet'. In it, they discuss the rise of authoritarianism and its domination of the Russian digital space. 

Thu 23 April 2026 - Fri 24 April 2026

Conferentie | Neerlandistiekdagen

Studenten maken kennis met lopend onderzoek en actueel onderwijs binnen de neerlandistiek via workshops en lezingen, onder andere over straattaal. Ook wordt gevraagd hoe de neerlandistiek van de toekomst eruitziet.

Thu 23 April 2026

Lezing | Van posthuman-isme naar post-humanisme

Drs. Jasmijn Leeuwenkamp (Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis) stelt dat het posthumanisme (ca. 1980 – nu) aantoont dat mensen altijd al onderdeel zijn geweest van grotere netwerken.

Fri 24 April 2026

Neerlandistiekdagen | Neerlandistiek: de toekomst!

Deze dag is speciaal voor docenten uit het vo, hbo en wo, onderzoekers en andere vakgenoten binnen de neerlandistiek. Centraal staat de vraag hoe de neerlandistiek van de toekomst eruitziet.

Wed 29 April 2026

Lecture | Bijutsu: The key issue of contemporary Japanese art

Kiyoko Mitsuyama-Wdowiak (SOAS, University of London) explores why contemporary Japanese art used to be seen as an imitation of Western art and why it has turned into a fascinating subject since the late 1980s.

May 2026

Tue 12 May 2026

Lecture | Life-course and intergenerational mobility among enslaved people in plantation hierarchies in 18th and 19th-century Suriname

Enid Holweg explores how the roles and social positions of enslaved people on plantations in 18th and 19th century Suriname changed over the course of their lifetimes. She also researches whether access to skilled or higher-status positions was concentrated within particular families and passed down through generations.

Wed 13 May 2026

Lezing | Een historische en etymologische blik op co-spraak gebaren en tekens

Emily Shaw (University of Gallaudet) presenteert etymologisch onderzoek naar Amerikaanse Gebarentaal (ASL) en Franse Gebarentaal (LSF). Ze focust op hoe gebaren zijn overgedragen, getransformeerd en hergeïnterpreteerd over generaties en nationale contexten heen.

Wed 13 May 2026

Lunch lecture | Transformations in global climate finance: Understanding emerging institutional approaches

This talk focuses on the reasons that have driven the emergence of global climate finance institutions from the dimensions of governance, operations, issue area, and control.

Sun 17 May 2026

Wereldwandeling | Sporen van de Slavernij in Leiden

Aan de hand van deze wandeling door de straten van de historische binnenstad van Leiden, leer je meer over de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse slavenhandel en slavernij, lopend langs gebouwen waar handelaren, tot slaafgemaakten, en voorvechters voor de afschaffing van slavernij woonden.

Tue 19 May 2026

Hybrid lecture | Kremlin's control and suppression strategies between 2000 – 2021

A sentiment analysis tool is used to trace Russia's evolution from overt repression to media manipulation under Putin, exploring how state-sponsored disinformation campaigns are used to influence public opinion, legitimise violence, and suppress dissent.  

Tue 19 May 2026

Lecture | Mind tools, language and the origins of AI

Stephen C. Levinson (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics) explores how mind tools (devices that strengthen our cognition) work psychologically.

Thu 21 May 2026 - Fri 22 May 2026

Conference | The EU as a guardian of digital fairness and sustainable consumption

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In a keynote speech, a roundtable and a panel, speakers discuss EU consumer protection, integration of environmental protection in EU legislation, and the protection of personal data.

June 2026

Wed 3 June 2026 - Fri 5 June 2026

Conference | Staging the heroine

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Different speakers talk about the construction and performance of female heroism in literature, the visual arts and theatre between 1350 and 1800.

Mon 15 June 2026

Oratie | Archeology of Middle America

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Alexander Geurds discusses how we can develop an archaeology of Middle America.

Fri 19 June 2026

Study trip | Explore the Roman past of the Netherlands

Discober the Roman life near the limes in the modern province of Utrecht. Highlights of the trip include a visit to the Roman fort and Museum Hoge Woerd and a canal tour in a replica of a Roman ship.

Sun 21 June 2026

Wereldwandeling | Sporen van de Slavernij in Leiden

Aan de hand van deze wandeling door de straten van de historische binnenstad van Leiden, leer je meer over de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse slavenhandel en slavernij, lopend langs gebouwen waar handelaren, tot slaafgemaakten, en voorvechters voor de afschaffing van slavernij woonden.

Fri 26 June 2026

KITLV hybrid festival | Celebration 175 years KITLV !

The Institute's researchers creatively show their work, and the works produced by Atelier KITLV will be exhibited and explained. There will also be dance and spoken word. At the UBL, manuscripts, photographs, maps, and other objects from the KITLV Collection are highlighted.

July 2026

Wed 1 July 2026 - Fri 3 July 2026

Conference | The prayer book as object and practice, 1300–1800

Different researchers explore the broader network of prayer books across late medieval and early modern Europe. They focus on the material book, its texts and images, devotions inspired by these texts and images, producers of the books, and the communities to which they belong. 

Sun 5 July 2026 - Tue 7 July 2026

Conference | Crimmigration in an age of authoritarian drift

The fusion of criminal law and immigration enforcement (crimmigration) has intensified globally. Different speakers explore how crimmigration works as a tool of governance and political performance in democratic, hybrid, and authoritarian settings.

Fri 10 July 2026

Symposium | History of sign language: Emergence, transmission, and change

Researchers, students, and international professionals promote the exchange of research and experiences. They also reflect on sign languages from a broad historical perspective, discussing their early records, sociolinguistic development, and current uses. 