Constructing Heritage
The key to cultural identity
There is a growing demand throughout the world for ways to understand and preserve cultural heritage. Heritage has a crucial role to play because it strengthens societies and promotes understanding among cultures. Leiden expertise in the area of heritage spans the whole world.
News
From cultural identity to restoration after conflict
Leiden researchers play an active part in the public debate on colonial collections and their restitution. They offer insight into the ethical and legal aspects of returning collections to their original owners.
Languages and cultures are under pressure from globalisation and war, and in conflict areas material heritage is often also under threat. Leiden focuses on the protection and preservation of such heritage.
Researchers use AI to digitise historical documents and objects, which gives more people access to information, and also allows digital exhibitions to be constructed. Making digital replicas can help in the return of vulnerable objects without losing their original characteristics.
The relationship between heritage and the environment is another aspect of Leiden’s expertise. An example of this is how the visibility of ancient forts of the Dutch Water Line contributes to our collective memory.
The sense of community is strengthened by local identity. The identity of Leiden is strongly influenced by its history as a cloth town and the Relief of Leiden after the Eighty Years’ War. Research is conducted in Leiden on the city’s history.
Leiden expertise offers not only scientific insights, but also translates these insights into policy and practice. Heritage is increasingly regarded as a powerful means of addressing societal issues, from cultural identity to conflict and injustice.
Research projects
Events
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Rethinking the Wereldmuseum Leiden through Indigeneity and Contemporary Art
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The Historical Topography of Medina: Faith, Power, and Memory in Early Islamic Arabia
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Where Are You Going? Composing Novel Oceanic Art Histories
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Herta Mohr lecture 2025: TT 217, the tomb of the sculptor Ipuy
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Collecting sustainability and climate change for Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
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Commemoration in the city: Engaging with the Stolpersteine in Leiden and beyond
Experts
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Jan Kolen Topics: artificial intelligence, constructing heritage -
Rick Honings Topics: colonialism, colonialism and slavery, constructing heritage, dutch language and culture, europe, indonesia -
Laurie Cosmo Topics: art history, constructing heritage, cultural heritage, europe, modernism, museum studies, museums lab, north america -
Stijn Bussels Topics: art history, constructing heritage, early modern art history, europe -
Michiel van Groesen Topics: cartography, colonialism and slavery, constructing heritage, early modern dutch history, maritime history -
Monique van den Dries Topics: archaeological heritage management, constructing heritage, heritage and governance -
Sophie Starrenburg Topics: constructing heritage, cultural heritage, human rights, public international law, unesco -
Martine Bruil Topics: constructing heritage, cultural heritage, descriptive linguistics, indigenous languages, language diversity, languages and cultures of the world, south-america, south-american linguistics -
Verena Meyer Topics: asia, constructing heritage, heritage, islam, islam and society, south east asia -
Willemijn Waal Topics: assyriology, constructing heritage, hittitology -
Marika Keblusek Topics: book history, constructing heritage, early modern collections, environmental humanities, europe -
Ariadne Schmidt Topics: constructing heritage, early modern history, economic history, gender history, labour history, social history -
Caroline Waerzeggers Topics: area studies, assyriology, babylonian history, biblical studies, constructing heritage, cuneiform studies, history of mesopotamia, judaism, languages and cultures of the world -
Marcel Cobussen Topics: artistic research, constructing heritage, sound studies -
Elena Paskaleva Topics: architecture, central asia, constructing heritage, critical heritage studies, islamic architecture, islamic art, material culture of central asia, timurid architecture, uzbekistan -
Berthe Jansen Topics: buddhism, constructing heritage, tibetan studies -
Michael Herzfeld Topics: area studies, constructing heritage, critical heritage studies, history, southeast asia -
Alicia Schrikker Topics: asian history, colonialism and slavery, constructing heritage, disasters, dutch east india company, global history, imperialism, migration -
Fenneke Sysling Topics: colonial history, colonialism and slavery, constructing heritage, ethics, history of medicine, human research subjects, informed consent, medical ethics -
Angus Mol Topics: ai and society, constructing heritage, cultural interaction, digital humanities, game and play studies -
Mariana De Campos Francozo Topics: constructing heritage, dutch brazil, history of collections, museology -
Luc Amkreutz Topics: constructing heritage, doggerland, european prehistory, neolithic, public archaeology -
Martin Berger Topics: constructing heritage, museums, collections and society -
Marian Klamer Topics: constructing heritage, descriptive linguistics, historical and comparative linguistics, language and the human past, language contact, linguistic vitality and endangerment, typology -
Erik de Maaker Topics: anthropology, asia, constructing heritage, diversity, environment, ethnography, europe, sustainability
The special collections of Leiden
The Leiden University Library holds special collections of world-renowned rare, precious, and unique materials. The collections are actively expanded and made available for education and research, but are also made accessible to the public through (online) exhibitions, podcasts, and book salons.
Image: With the explosion of the gunpowder ship on January 12, 1807, several works from the library's collection were lost. Librarian Wyttenbach witnessed the disaster from nearby: his study, where he also kept books from the library, was destroyed. In this anonymous painting from around 1810, we see the section of the Rapenburg where the Kamerlingh Onnes laboratory was built shortly after the disaster.
