Apply for the Master in Cultural History at Utrecht University!

The Department of History and Art Studies at Utrecht University offers a one-year master’s course in Cultural History, starting in September 2011. This course is the only master in Cultural History in the Netherlands.

‘Culture’ is the buzz word in the world today. What does this imply for historians? Culture, after all, is a fiercely contested concept. The one-year MA programme ‘Cultural History’ at Utrecht University is designed to contribute to a better understanding of the relevance and topicality of cultural history, identity formation, cultural memory, cultural heritage, and public history. Our focus is specifically on developing insight into the relationship between material facts and cultural constructions, between historical sources and popular narrative, between history (‘the past as it was’) and memory (‘the past as it is imagined to have been’), between historicity and heritage, and between individual experience and cultural identities.

The Master in Cultural History is characterised by its interdisciplinarity. Courses address themes like theory of cultural history, history of culture and power, concepts of identity and alterity, religious cultures, the cultural Cold War, and Rome in the age of the Baroque. Several of our modules include field trips.

We believe that tomorrow’s professionals in the broad field of culture need particular competencies to cope with important socio-political issues on an academic level. This master programme provides these competencies by tackling questions like: What is the meaning of collective memory in a globalised world? What is the bearing of historical evidence on popular understandings of history? To what degree are identities historically contingent? How can history show that culture matters? The MA programme in Cultural History at Utrecht University trains students in historical research, providing them with comprehensive and socially relevant expertise. Our graduates find jobs in fields like cultural policy (municipal, regional, national, European, global), journalism, media, public history, museums, heritage, and education.

Utrecht University offers a unique gateway to Europe and the world. One of Europe’s leading research universities, Utrecht University is ranked best in the Netherlands, 11th in Europe, and 50th in the world by the prestigious Shanghai Academic Rankings of World Universities 2010. The internationally oriented Faculty of the Humanities is located in the beautiful old city centre.

For more information on the Master in Cultural History, see:
http://vkc.library.uu.nl/vkc/ch/education/Education%20Information/Cultural%20History.aspx
or contact Dr. Willemijn Ruberg: W.G.Ruberg@uu.nl for a brochure.
For more information on Utrecht University: www.uu.nl (Dutch) or www.uu.nl/EN (English). Information on application can be found here: http://www.uu.nl/university/international-students/en/programmes/mastersprogrammes/admissions/Pages/default.aspx

The application deadline for non-Dutch students is 1 March 2011.