African Studies

The master’s in African Studies at Leiden University is an advanced area studies qualification that combines world-class scholarship with practice-based learning.During your studies you will gain access to the African Studies Centre’s extensive international network and high-profile events that will connect you to the leading researchers in the field.  

This multidisciplinary programme offers you the opportunity to learn about Africa from a wide range of perspectives: historical, literary, cultural, socio-economical and political. At Leiden, relevance and real-world issues are at the fore, which means that you get to critically analyse current events as they unfold and from a broad, comparative and global perspective. Multi-modal research methods and mixed methods will also be introduced to you. You also get to study the subject areas that interest you most, by choosing electives, project topics, and the focal area of your thesis.

An important part of the master's programme is a ten-week research internship at an organisation in Africa or a African related setting in Europe/The Netherlands. This is your opportunity to test your new skills and ideas in practice while gaining invaluable cultural and professional experience. For your research internship in Africa, you will receive funding from the Humanities Faculty’s Sustainable Humanities Internship Fund.