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Dual Master
Museum Studies (Heritage Studies)
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Study programme

The Museum Studies programme has a workload of 90 ECTS: 30 ECTS Core courses; 12 ECTS Electives; 30 ECTS Internship; and 18 ECTS for a Master's thesis.

During your Master's programme you will go on a number of trips, including an extended trip to dynamic locations in the museum world abroad. Last year’s destinations were Istanbul, London, New York, Paris, Jerusalem and Berlin.

The UvA is a bilingual university. Though Museum Studies is an English taught programme, students who wish to write their internship and MA thesis in Dutch can get permission to do so as long as at least 30 EC of the MA courses they took were English-taught MA courses and they can argue their choice for Dutch.

COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Museum Studies: History, Theory and Sources
    6
  • Free-choice electives
    12
  • Museums Concepts and Narratives
    6
  • Museums and the Mobility of Artefacts
    6
  • Master's Internship Museum Studies
    30
  • Tutoring and Study Guidance
    —
COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Current Issues: Excursion Abroad
    6
  • Thesis Seminar
    6
  • Master's Thesis
    18
UvA Course Catalogue: Museum Studies (Heritage Studies)
  • Bologna Exchange Programme

    The University of Amsterdam–University of Bologna programme is an international Erasmus+ postgraduate students and staff exchange programme. Bologna students and staff join the UvA programme in the first semester (September—January), and UvA students who are enrolled in the Master's in Museum Studies can participate in the programme during the second semester (February—June). UvA students will have the opportunity either to follow courses or combine course work with an internship (minimum 18 ECTS) in Bologna. UvA students who wish to follow this exchange trajectory can submit a plan of activities and a motivation letter to:

    Bologna University: Degree Programmes
  • Work experience period (internship)

    The heart of the Master's programme Museum Studies is a six-month internship (30 ECTS). Your internship will be determined in accordance with the placements offered by the museums and the development path you wish to follow. At the museum, you will work together with professionals who will show you the tricks of the trade. The students are fully responsible for the organisation of their internships and benefit from the great network the UvA Museum Studies Staff has in the Netherlands and abroad. Museums that frequently offer internships are:

    • the University of Amsterdam’s Special Collections
    • Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam
    • Hermitage Amsterdam
    • National Museum for World Cultures (Amsterdam and Leiden)
    • National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden
    • Amsterdam Museum
    • the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam
    • Rijksmuseum (Historical dept)
    • Centraal Museum Utrecht
    • Boymans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam
    • De Hallen in Haarlem
    • Van Abbe Museum Eindhoven
    • Twentse Welle in Enschede
    • Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen

    Some students went abroad to a.o. Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum in London, the Wallraf Richartz Museum in Cologne, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Australian Museum in Sydney and the CAFAM in Beijing.

    Additional internship allowance

    Students taking a dual Master's programme may be eligible for an reimbursement. 

  • Master’s thesis

    The Master's thesis (18 credits) reports on research carried out under the supervision of an academic staff member involved in the programme. The subject of the thesis must be mutually agreed upon by the student and the academic adviser.