For over 170 years, KITLV staff has combined scholarly research with the creation of the world’s best library and special collections on the former Dutch colonies of Indonesia, Suriname and the Antilles. While collections management was transferred to Leiden University’s Library in 2014, the new research institute Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde / Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) continues to draw heavily on these world-class collections which are available on campus.
KITLV is a KNAW research institute. It is dedicated to the study of societal challenges, focusing on the histories and afterlives of colonialism in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and the Netherlands. Departing from a globally comparative and interdisciplinary perspective, the KITLV engages primarily with the broad themes of Mobility and Belonging; State, Violence, and Citizenship; and Climate Governance.
In Leiden, KITLV works with both partners at Leiden University (History, Anthropology, Law, Area Studies) and within the broader framework of LeidenGlobal, a consortium of scholarly institutions and museums. KITLV brings to these partners a tradition of reflection on colonial and postcolonial themes that feeds directly into wider debates in Dutch society on colonialism and its contemporary legacies – public debates to which KITLV will continue to contribute. As an institute of the KNAW, KITLV cooperates with its sister institutes in KNAW’s Amsterdam-based Humanities Center, in particular on projects with an e-humanities methodology. In the end, of course, KITLV operates and competes in a global scholarly world, hence its strong international network, including the hosting of the secretariat of the European Association of Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS).
In addition to a core of senior staff, most researchers at the institute are either PhD candidates or postdoctoral researchers, or are attracted through KITLV’s fellowship program. This allows for dynamic teams within a lively research community. KITLV’s research staff has strong connections to the scholarly and collections staff at Leiden University and with researchers at other humanities institutes of the KNAW.
Our Annual Reports
Below you can find our annual reports dating from 2000 upwards. The full annual reports are available in Dutch. The English documents contain highlights only.
2023 Dutch
2022 Dutch | English
2021 Dutch | English
2020 Dutch | English
2019 Dutch | English
2018 Dutch | English
2017 Dutch | English
2016 Dutch | English
2015 Dutch | English
2014 Dutch | English
2013 Dutch | English
2012 Dutch | English
2011 Dutch | English
2010 Dutch | English
2009 Dutch | English
2008 Dutch | English
2007 Dutch | English
2006 Dutch | English
2005 Dutch | English
2004 Dutch | English
2003 Dutch | English
2002 Dutch | English
2001 Dutch | English
2000 Dutch | English
