Leiden university

[Geoffrey S]

After my exams I'm thinking of studying history at Leiden; the other possibility was Utrecht, but I've already spent seven years there. I've visited Leiden twice now, and it seems a pleasant enough place.

Could someone tell me how well regarded the Leiden history department is, either when compared to other dutch universities or with universities abroad?

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Seven years? What are you going for here?

[Geoffrey S]

Dutch equivalent of high school; that normally lasts six years for the level I'm doing, but I failed one year.

[Brutus]

I study history at Leiden University, and nearly finished (only 50 more pages on my thesis next month... ) so naturally all I can say is that the history department here is great! Any specific things you want to know?

[Dutch_guy]

As I am still in my 4th year of High school I Imagine I couldn't be of much help.

I have however heard that the city is great for students and that Leiden is one of the better places to study, along with Groningen, Amsterdam and Maastricht.

My two cents...

[Fragony]

One of my heroes, Ashin Ellian teaches there, should be enough. Don't know how much you value this, but Leiden is a pretty dull place, it's a gentlemen's university with little to none activity, unless you aspire to be a korps member which you shouldn't.

[Geoffrey S]

I study history at Leiden University, and nearly finished (only 50 more pages on my thesis next month... ) so naturally all I can say is that the history department here is great! Any specific things you want to know?

Mainly I was curious how well Leiden stands in quality when compared to other universities in Holland and abroad when it comes to history. Things like the quality of the teaching, the resources available, and the general level of the students. As I said, I've visited Leiden twice and it left a good impression, but it's always hard to tell since those visits are aimed at convincing people that Leiden's the place to be.

Thanks in advance for any info you could provide me with, it'd make the choice a lot easier.

One of my heroes, Ashin Ellian teaches there, should be enough. Don't know how much you value this, but Leiden is a pretty dull place, it's a gentlemen's university with little to none activity, unless you aspire to be a korps member which you shouldn't.

Guess I'll have to liven the place up, then!

Not planning to join the korps, not my kind of thing. I'm not too bothered about activity, since I'm pretty used to having to travel for fun; Breukelen isn't the most ideal place for such activities. Worst case, I'll bunk up in Utrecht or Amsterdam, since I know enough people in the region where that's possible.

As I am still in my 4th year of High school I Imagine I couldn't be of much help.

No problem. Hey, need that literatuurdossier yet? Still got some hundred pages of it sitting on my computer if you need it.

[Dutch_guy]

No problem. Hey, need that literatuurdossier yet? Still got some hundred pages of it sitting on my computer if you need it.

You know what, since we're slowly starting the dreaded ''leesdossier/literatuurdossier'' I'd gladly accept your offer !

I imagine It'll come in handy soon enough, too soon for my liking though .

Shall we sort the rest out via PM , instead of hijacking the thread ?

[Brutus]

Mainly I was curious how well Leiden stands in quality when compared to other universities in Holland and abroad when it comes to history. Things like the quality of the teaching, the resources available, and the general level of the students. As I said, I've visited Leiden twice and it left a good impression, but it's always hard to tell since those visits are aimed at convincing people that Leiden's the place to be.

Well, of course my experience with other universities is limited. One thing you should ask yourself is what you want out of the study of History, as different universities offer different specialisations. For example, Utrecht is good for Early Medieval history, which isn't actually teached at Leiden University.

Currently you can study (after your first year, which is just general stuff):
-Ancient history (not my cup of tea, Amsterdam might be better. We however do have the largest Archeology faculty of the country as well)
-Medieval History (my own field. It generally covers the period between 1350 and 1570, concentrating heavily on the Netherlands.)
-Early Modern History (covering the period of 1500-1870, worldwide)
-Modern History (covering the period 1870-present, worldwide)
-"Vaderlandse Geschiedenis" (History of the Fatherland/Dutch History. Covers the area of the Modern Netherlands in the period 1568-present. Lots of stuff about the Revolt, the Republic, Verzuiling, etc.)
-History of Migration (Which is, I believe, Leiden-specific)
-History of European Expansion (Good place to study this, considering the large amount of material available on especially Expansion in (South-)East-Asia. Much fun if you like the VOC or the Dutch Indies)
-American History (Either Amsterdam or Utrecht might be better)
-Social History (They specialize in this stuff in Rotterdam)
-Economic History (Pretty good, but remember that Leiden doesn't have a faculty of Economics)
-Maritime History (Again Leiden-specific. More stuff about the VOC)
-Military History (I'm pretty sure for this, Leiden is not really the place to be. Don't know where it is better, though)

The quality of teaching is generally pretty good, of course depending on the teacher you get. If you are looking for well known personalities in the field of History, Leiden is apretty neat place to go. Admittedly, we don't have Maarten van Rossem (who is in Utrecht), but we have Piet Emmer, Simon Groenveld (soon to be emeritus though), Wim Blockmans, Leonard Blusse and several others who have published a lot.

Concerning resources Leiden is a good place, considering firstly the size of the University Library (which is quite ok), the nearness of both the Royal Library (Koninklijke Bibliotheek, which owns every publication (book, article, magazine, newspaper) ever published in Dutch besides many other materials, and the National Archives (Nationaal Archief) in The Hague (about 15 minutes from Leiden Central Station). Besides that, Leiden has a very well preserved city archive. Also Leiden has a lot of Museums and a nice historic centre, and is close to Amsterdam (30 min.), Utrecht (40 min.), Rotterdam (30 min.) and pretty much all of the Randstad.

The general level of students is pretty good, I'd say, but it's hard to be unbiased.

Not planning to join the korps, not my kind of thing. I'm not too bothered about activity, since I'm pretty used to having to travel for fun; Breukelen isn't the most ideal place for such activities. Worst case, I'll bunk up in Utrecht or Amsterdam, since I know enough people in the region where that's possible.

Fragony is right that Leiden might a bit of a hard nut to crack, socially, if you don't commit yourself to a students' club, a sports' club, or something similar, considering something of about 40% of all students (including foreign students and pensioners) joins a club, which is much higher then in other University towns in the Netherlands. However, Leiden does have a lot of cafes (unfortunately though, no "Grote Markt" or something similar where most localities are concentrated, so you have to find a nice spot yourself). Not all clubs are "Korps" though. That is only a (well-known) minority (of which I myself m not, and were not, a member), and there are many other clubs which can be a lot of fun.

Well, I'm out for the moment. Doesn't hesitate to ask.