Research news

What soy sauce can teach us about the history of South Korea

‘Three books published within a year – that happens only once in a lifetime!’ This was the reaction of Katarzyna Cwiertka, Professor of Modern Japan Studies at Leiden University, on the publication of Cuisine, Colonialism and Cold War, one of her three new books. The book sketches the colonisation of Korea by Japan, through the medium of food.


The Great Umar Khayyam

No medieval non-European was as influential on western poetry as the Persian poet, philosopher, and mathematician Umar Khayyam (1048 - 1131). Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, senior lecturer in Persian language and literature, published 'The Great Umar Khayyam', discussing the reception of Khayyam's 'Rubaiyat'.