Ancient History (MA)

Career preparation

Our goal is to prepare you to make a difference in your future career.

Knowledge and skills

The master’s programme in History at Leiden University aims to equip you with a range of important skills and knowledge that will help you achieve your personal career goals. Whichever your area of expertise, you will have a broad and global context to your knowledge and critical-thinking skills that can be applied to the most complex conceptual problems.

Relevant professional experience

During your studies you have ample opportunity to gain experience studying, working, or conducting research at an organisation or institution. This experience is highly valued within international organisations. In class, we encourage every student to participate in discussions with fellow students and lecturers to develop their confidence articulating ideas. Regular events throughout the year, including an Employment Café, present opportunities to network with alumni and explore internship and job opportunities.

Internships for Ancient History students

Students are personally responsible for arranging an internship assignment, which must have a minimum duration of 280 hours (good for 10 ECTS) and exploit the skills they acquire during the programme. Former students have completed internships with organisations that include:

The National Museum of Antiquities (RMO)
Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency
Museum Booijmans van Beuningen
Smith Davidson Gallery
UNESCO
Historisch Nieuwsblad and MAARTEN! (magazines)
De Nederlandse Bank

The Humanities Faculty Career Service regularly publishes internship opportunities.

Patricia Kret

graduate Ancient History

‘I did an internship at the State art collection in the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency. It was a very valuable experience to do an internship during my Research Master Ancient History that was not related to the ancient world. I gained knowledge about the different ways historians can put their research skills to practice and the possibilities for working with historical objects. I learned to work with, for me, new (art)historical sources. This stimulated my creative thinking, also in the field of ancient history.’

Key Tengeler

graduate Ancient History

‘I want to bring the wonderful world of Greeks and Romans I discovered in my study to a broader audience. At the University, I acquired the necessary research and writing skills for this job, but an internship could provide me with opportunities for publication. I looked for an internship in popular scientific journalism and found my way into the organisation behind 'Historisch Nieuwsblad' and 'Maarten!'. Now that I have finished my study, the first three projects I work on as a historical journalist all come from the people I met while I was doing my internship there.’

Humanities Career Service

Our staff can help you identify both the career that is right for you, and the necessary steps to get you there. Our team at Humanities Career Service provide all Leiden University humanities students with professional advice and guidance on everything from internships and career planning to job applications. Humanities Career Service also organises regular workshops on topics such as effective interview skills and creating a successful CV.

Online Career Week

The first Online Career Week was organised in May 2020. Every day there were 2 events that students could sign up for.

For example, there was a Q&A with interns. Three interns working for respectively Philips, the Dutch Mission to the UN, and the World Economic Forum provided the participants with information on their internships, the application processes and working from home. In addition, a live webinar CV writing took place, and students were able to schedule an appointment with a career counselor for personal advice.