Matters of Humanities
Within the podcast series Matters of Humanities, we showcase the voices of researchers at the Faculty of Humanities at Leiden University.
Serie 1: History of Islam in Europe
Arabist Maurits Berger talks about the history of the Islam in Europe: going back to the first Muslim who set foot in Europe, and seeing what kind of interactions have taken place between Muslims and Europeans since then.
Serie 2: Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature
Senior lecturer Otto Boele examines eight notorious texts in Russian literature, paying particular attention to the commotion that they created.
Serie 3: Name that Language
Dr. Kate Bellamy and Dr. Andrew Wigman host the pilot podcast ‘Name That Language’, the podcast in which, with the help of an expert from the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), they explore the ins, outs, ups, and downs of one of the world’s 7000 or so languages. The catch? You won't hear the name of the language until the very end of the interview.
Serie 4: Muslim Futures
In this first ever podcast from LUCIS, hosts Yasmin Ismail & Sara Bolghiran explore what it means to imagine Muslim futures. Over 6 episodes we explore questions around what it means to imagine, the politics of imagination and what it would mean to engage with Muslims from the perspective of futures.
Episodes
26 episodes
Muslim Futures - Episode 5: Beyond the Horizon: Where next for Muslim Futures?
Our final episode features Ouassima Laabich, Berlin-based PhD scholar, futurist and initiator of the Muslim Futures Lab Berlin. She shares the story behind the Muslim Futures Fellowship, and we reflect on what it means to be unapologetically Mu...
Muslim Futures - Episode 4: Art, Aesthetics and Future worlds
The art space has long been a rich repository for all sorts of imaginings. We talk to Anusheh Zia, a London-based Artist and Sumayya Vally South-African & UK-based Architect about envisioning futures from Muslim perspectives and...
Muslim Futures - Episode 3: Technology and the Muslim Future
This episode takes on the dominance of technology-driven futures. We talk to James McGrail PhD candidate at Leiden’s Anthropology department whose work lies at the intersection of AI and Muslim futures in Singapore. We also dive in transhumanis...
Muslim Futures - Episode 2: Sci-Fi as a portal to Muslim Futures
Join us as we explore Sci-Fi’s ability to tackle the ‘what ifs?’ and imagine bold futures. We discuss the genre’s roots in the Muslim world and how it has long been used to creatively imagine different possibilities, futures and push boundaries...
Muslim Futures - Episode 1: An Introduction to Muslim Futures
What do we mean when we talk about Muslim futures? In the opening episode, we set the stage for a journey into imagination, resistance, and radical possibility. We unpack the concept of "Muslim futures", why it's necessary, what it cha...
Name that language - Episode 3 (Andrew Wigman)
Dr. Kate Bellamy and Dr. Andrew Wigman host the pilot podcast ‘Name That Language’, the podcast in which, with...
Name that language - Episode 2 (Paulus van Sluis)
Dr. Kate Bellamy and Dr. Andrew Wigman host the pilot podcast ‘Name That Language’, the podcast in which, with...
Name that language - Episode 1 (Kate Bellamy)
Dr. Kate Bellamy and Dr. Andrew Wigman host the pilot podcast ‘Name That Language’, the podcast in which, with...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 8: Farewell Europe
The eight episode of the podcast is about “The Big Green Tent” by Lyudmila Ulitskaya (born 1943), published in 2011. This final episode of the series focuses on a historical roman à clef. “The Big Green Tent” is a historical roman à clef about ...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 7: A very dark novel
The seventh episode of the podcast is about “The Sad Detective” by Viktor Astafiev (1924-2001), published in 1986.Did the increased openness under Mikhail Gorbachev (in power from 1985 until 1991) also have a downside? Absolutely! Some w...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 6: Four little brats in Tallinn
The sixth episode of the podcast is about “A ticket to the stars” by Vasili Aksyonov (1932-2009), published in 1961. Although Soviet officials vehemently denied its existence, after the Second World War the Soviet Union saw the emergence of a r...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 5: Remorse of a terrorist
The fifth episode of the podcast is about “The Pale Horse” by V. Ropshin (pseudonym for Boris Savinkov, 1879-1925), published in 1909. Boris Savinkov was a well-known terrorist in late imperial Russia. He was the mastermind behind the deadly bo...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 4: A pornographic novel of ideas
The fourth episode of the podcast is about “Sanin” by Mikhail Artsybasjev (1878-1927), published in 1907. In this year, Russia was swept by a wave of moral panic caused by Artsybashev’s novel “Sanin”. Russian youth was said to have united in se...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 3: Thou shalt not copulate
The third episode of the podcast is about The Kreutzer Sonata by Lev Tolstoy (1828-1910), published in 1890. This novella is one of the most confusing and controversial texts in Russian literature. Apart from arguing that modern marria...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 2: The worst novel ever written
Episode two is about “What Is to be done?” by Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1828-1889), published in 1863. Chernyshevsky had no talent for writing but was well aware of it. For him, to write “beautifully” was far less important than putting yourself a...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 1: Russia gave nothing to the World
The first episode of the podcast is about “Philosophical letters addressed to a lady” by Pyotr Chaadaev (1794-1856), published in 1830. Russia has always had a love-hate relationship with the West; the debate between the “Westernizers” and the ...
Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature - Trailer
Among the many emotions that Russian literature has triggered over the past 200 years, the triad of outrage, disbelief, and moral panic has been a particularly stubborn phenomenon. Literary critics, state authorities, and even disconcerted read...
History of Islam in Europe - Episode 8: The legacy of Islam
Muslims have been living in eastern parts of Europe for centuries. Since the 1970s, the presence of Muslims has also become a fact of life in other parts of Europe. In this last episode we will discuss where Europe and its Islam stand in the tw...
History of Islam in Europe - Episode 7: The disappearance and reappearance of Muslims in Europe
By the end of the first world war, the Ottoman Empire had ceased to exist, and few Muslims still lived in Europe. That changed in the 1970s, when new Muslim communities were established in Europe by means of migration.Matters of Huma...
History of Islam in Europe - Episode 6: Turquerie
In the eighteenth century, the Europeans became infatuated with all things 'Oriental' and 'Turkish'. At the same time, there was an increase in trade and diplomacy with the Ottoman empire. Matters of Humanities: History of Islam in E...
History of Islam in Europe - Episode 5: Better to be a Muslim than a Catholic
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries one could hardly speak of Christian or European unity against a Muslim enemy. We have seen that this was because of the political divisions in Europe. In this episode we will discuss another reason for...
History of Islam in Europe - Episode 4: Was Europe united against the Muslims?
In the next three episode we will take a closer look at the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. That period was dominated by the presence of the Ottomans, and in today's episode we w...
History of Islam in Europe - Episode 3: Living together
King Otto had thrown out the Arab warlords from southern France. As a thank you, the pope crowned him king of the Christians in Europe, and Otto would build an enormous empire in central Europe that became known as the Holy Roman Empire. This s...
History of Islam in Europe - Episode 2: Image of Islam
What did Europeans think of the Muslims who had been entering Europe since the eighth century? Was it just another group of warriors, like the Vikings in the north and the Huns in the east? Or were they seen as a new religion, perhaps even a ch...
History of Islam in Europe - Episode 1: The third wave
Were the Muslims set on conquering Europe? And how did Europeans respond? In this first episode, Maurits Berger tells the stories of the first encounters between Europe and Islam. Matters of Humanities: History of Islam in Euro...
