The Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) is one of the four research institutes of the Faculty of Humanities. The researchers from the departments of History and Art History, Languages, Literature and Communication and Media and Culture Studies who belong to ICON are organised in the research groups Gender Studies, Literature, Media and Performance, Medieval Culture and Musicology. 

Interdisciplinary and international research

The members of these research groups often work together to explore issues concerning different facets of the role played by art, culture, and media in present-day society. Through their interdisciplinary projects, they contribute towards the university’s focus area Cultures, Citizenship and Human Rights and the strategic theme Institutions for Open Societies, among others.

ICON scholars are also members of national research schools and are active in numerous international partnerships and networks in their various disciplines. Collaboration with other partners within society is also a key priority for ICON. Several projects have already been launched in the context of the Creative Industry programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.