Research newsThe Western world’s perceptions of China are counterproductive is what Prof. Peter Ho will claim in his inaugural lecture on Friday 27 January. Ho believes that the constant stream of inaccurate reports on China is disadvantageous to the Netherlands, when actually a great deal of good is possible.
Adam Łajtar, Jacques van der Vliet, ed. (2011)
‘The study of mundane objects used by ordinary people on a daily basis can play a key role in deepening our understanding of Japanese society. And understanding Japan may just be the way to end the West-centredness which sometimes plagues academia.’ So argues Prof. Katarzyna Cwiertka, Professor of Modern Japan Studies, in her inaugural lecture on 11 November 2011.
Dr. Thomas Lindblad, senior lecturer in South and Southeast Asia studies and Economic History, has won the first Humanities Teaching Award.
As of 1 September 2011, Dr. Remco Breuker is Full Professor of Korean Studies. Breuker has been with the Centre for Korean Studies at Leiden University for many years. His research contributes to the Asian Modernities and Traditions key research area.
On Friday 1 April, at the joint conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) in Honolulu, Wim Stokhof was honored with the AAS Award for Exceptional Service to Asian Studies.
The research profile Asian Modernities and Traditions has recently launched a new website.
Renate Dekker has recieved the Kardinaal Willebrands prize on tuesday 17 March for her MPhil thesis 'The Sahidic Encomium of Pesunthios, bishop of Keft: towards a new understanding, based on a recently discovered manuscript'.
Showcasing Leiden's talents. That was the idea when the Executive Board designated eleven research profiles in 2009. One of these is Asian Modernities and Traditions.
‘There is no such thing as a timeless Japanese soul,’ says newly appointed Professor in Modern Japan Studies Katarzyna Cwiertka. The first month of her professorship turned out to be a crucial test: Japan was hit by a destructive earthquake and tsunami, and Cwiertka had to keep her head in the midst of intense media attention.
Since the disaster in Japan, professors, staff and students of the department of Japanese Language and Culture at Leiden University have regularly been contacted by the media asking for their opinion about the events taking place there. Ivo Smits and Kasia Cwiertka, Professors of Japanese, give their thoughts on the images portrayed by the media.
How can historical archive sources by non-elite groups help us understand modern-day politics in South Asia? This is one of the main themes of Prof. Nira Wickramasinghe’s inaugural lecture on 14 March.
The Ancient Egyptians used logos next to their writing. Especially from the New Kingdom (ca. 1550-1070 BCE) a lot of these logos are known. We can read the Egyptian script, but not these intriguing marks. Egyptologist Ben Haring has received an NWO grant in the Vrije Competitie Geesteswetenschappen to conduct his research.
Interview with prof. dr. David Henley in Forum.
By Adam Łajtar and Jacques van der Vliet.
Dutch translation from Korean by Remco Breuker and Imke van Gardingen.
Recently, the Leiden University Buddhist Studies Network has been established by dr. Henk Blezer from LIAS, the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies.
History, Ideology, and Identity in the Koryŏ Dynasty. By Remco Breuker.
Research project by LIAS associate Alain Delattre, with a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship.
In March, both dr. Wido van Peursen and prof.dr. Wilfred van Soldt received an NWO grant. Van Soldt will use the money to excavate an Assyrian palace in Iraq, Van Peursen will develop a computer program to analyse the Bible.
