Squid Game and the Significance of Derivative Television

Quite some “Netflix Originals” are actually derivative. While often understood as a derogatory term, Evert Jan van Leeuwen argues how significant the derivative character of popular culture can be by exploring Squid Game’s close-intertextual relations to earlier deadly-gameshow stories.

Evert-Jan van Leeuwen • November 05, 2021

Art about Art: an introduction to Metapoetry in Antiquity

Quite a few popular TV shows, such as the irreverent sci-fi series Rick and Morty or the quirky sit-com Community, are, in part, appreciated due to the fact that their humour is often meta. What does it mean for something to be meta? And can classical literature be viewed through a meta-lens?

Ruben Poelstra • October 28, 2021

Challenging Assumptions - Looking & Seeing

Archival research is extremely rewarding, whether you find documents that corroborate a hypothesis or that contradict it. Yet, balancing between contradicting sources can be tricky. In this post, Andrea talks about documents that challenged her preconceptions about the social fabric of New Spain.

Andrea Reyes Elizondo • October 13, 2021

Neptune on the Amstel: Theatre as Public Diplomacy in the Early Modern Netherlands

In this blog, Dr Bram van Leuveren, Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at LUCAS, examines the theatrical performances that Dutch city councils staged for English and French rulers and their diplomats between the 1570s and 1640s.

Bram van Leuveren • October 06, 2021

Digital Theology: A Short Introduction through Art

Nobody knows exactly what is going on, especially when the subject is that of theology, belief and myth. In spite of doubt, some people try their luck and open up about their faith through art.

Bernardo Bremm • September 30, 2021

Entering Bo Burnham’s Inside: Reframing Internet Conventions

In Inside performer Bo Burnham attempts to come to terms with performing for an audience, via the internet, alone. He intermingles multiple conventions in a singular performance that speaks volumes about our contemporary digital age. Have a look Inside: “Come on in the water is fine.”

Miguel Mira • July 01, 2021

New Series: Humanities in the age of digital technologies

Nowadays we live in a world of digital technolgies and we cannot live without them. Yet, how does this impact us?

Liselore Tissen • June 30, 2021

The Hanse and the Arts: Past and Present

The Hanse, an extensive medieval mercantile network, has a continuous presence today – think, for example, of Lufthansa, Hanse cities, and the company Hansaplast. In this blog, Suzie reflects on the importance of studying the Hanse and the pivotal role of art in its development.

Suzie Hermán • March 04, 2021

Enlightened Spaces: The eighteenth-century interior and the study of decorative arts at Leiden University

The University has long fostered the study of the decorative arts and domestic culture and has produced several notable specialists in this field. A new series of public lectures on the eighteenth-century interior organised by Alexander Dencher continues this tradition.

Alexander Dencher • January 26, 2021