Applied Archaeology (MA)
Programme structure
In Applied Archaeology, you follow your personal interests, and choose a matching career profile and regional focus. What kind of archaeologist will you become? In the Applied Archaeology programme you get to plot your own course!
Complete overview
In the Prospectus you will find a complete overview and full course descriptions of the courses and focus areas Global Archaeology has to offer. Please note that this guide applies to the current academic year, which means that the curriculum for next year may slightly differ
Daudi Cijntje
Alumnus
"The master programme offered me opportunities to learn more about Caribbean archaeology. Last year, for instance, I was part of several Caribbean archaeological projects. I was part of the RCE’s Faro programme in which I advised on funding to be given to Caribbean projects. I also organized a session on the legacy of colonialism and slavery in Caribbean archaeology during the Reuvensdagen."
Richard Jansen
Lecturer
"The flexibility of the programme of the Leiden-Saxion Applied Archaeology MA offers students the unique possibility to choose their own path based on different future career prospects within professional archaeology.”
- Archaeological Theory
- Thesis or Graduation Project
- Applied Archaeology (3 courses)
- Focus area: World Archaeology (2 courses)
- Electives
- Archaeological Theory
- Thesis or Graduation Project
- Applied Archaeology (3 courses)
- Focus area: Digital Archaeology (2 courses)
- Electives
- Archaeological Theory
- Thesis or Graduation Project
- Applied Archaeology (3 courses)
- Focus area: World Archaeology (2 courses)
- Electives
Programme outline
| 5 ec | Archaeological Theory |
| 5 ec | What is Applied Archaeology? |
| 5 ec | Prospective Archaeology |
| 5 ec | Internship Applied Archaeology |
| 10 ec | Region Focus Area |
| 5 ec |
Electives |
| 5 ec | Free choice |
| 20 ec | Thesis or graduation project |
Compile your own programme
Below you see some exemplary programmes related to potential job market perspectives.
Some of the courses
You are introduced to the methodological framework of applied archaeology and the various disciplines within. You are presented with the scientific, environmental, spatial and societal frameworks of archaeology as it is currently practised.
We discuss current issues of (professional) archaeology such as ethical issues, heritage management, spatial planning, public and community archaeology and societal challenges. Setting up and operationalising a research proposal is part of the final assignment.
In this course the methodological problems involved in the various prospective methods (and in predictive models) are discussed. You will learn how to make a proper research outline for a prospective research project.
You will have to translate research problems into prospective fieldwork strategies and their application. Based on actual and diverse case studies from around the world, project outlines are made, assessed and discussed in small teams.
A compulsory feature of the Applied Archaeology programme is the internship, which provides a practical component to complement the more theoretical aspects of this programme.
This internship involves a small project of 15 working days and can take various forms: fieldwork (excavation or survey), policy advice, heritage management, etc.
Region Focus Areas
Within your Focus Area programme part, you may pick two courses of a region of your choice.
- Hunter-gatherer Archaeology
- Key developments in European Prehistory
- Urban Archaeology
- Neolithisation in the Near East
- Archaeology of the Assyrian Empire
- Environmental History of the Near East
- Diversities of doing Greek. ‘Hellenisation’ and ‘Hellenism’ in ancient Eurasia
- The Archaeology of Roman Imperialism in the Western Mediterranean
- Archaeology of the Crusades
- Mobility, interaction and colonialism in the Americas
- Current issues in the Archaeology of the Americas