The American University of Rome
M.A. Cultural Heritage: Sustainability & CommunityRome, Italy
DURATION
15 months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
May 2025
TUITION FEES
USD 27,400 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* 3 semesters
Key Summary
Introduction
AUR’s Cultural Heritage program equips the next generation of heritage professionals to meet the challenges of preserving our vast patrimony of art, history, and culture. Our graduates gain the skills for careers in practical heritage protection and project development alongside equally important soft skills in intercultural communication.
Based in Rome, the city at the center of debates around the future of global heritage, the M.A. program in Cultural Heritage: Sustainability and Community trains graduates to face the most important challenges in the heritage industry today: decolonization of our museums; preventing the looting and trafficking of cultural objects; safeguarding the unique culture of indigenous cultures and marginalized groups; protecting cultural heritage during conflict and, after conflict, using the reconstruction of communities as part of long term peacebuilding.
Cultural heritage is an essential element of developing stable, sustainable, and resilient communities, and it is a crucial component of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
What makes AUR's Cultural Heritage program unique?
Community focus
This program focuses on the community, not on state structures or institutional responses to heritage. AUR’s program aims to train students in skills that lead to roles in the heritage sector, working with communities, NGOs, and other organizations to ensure the restoration and protection of sites of cultural importance.
Professional networks
The faculty of the Cultural Heritage program are career professionals highly regarded in their fields. Their connections, alongside the growing reputation of this program, see students working directly with organizations like ICCROM, UNICRI, Parco del Colosseo, and many more.
Career potential
Students from AUR's MA in Cultural Heritage have gone on to illustrious careers with the likes of The Smithsonian, NATO, Pakistan's Higher Education Commission, and the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the New York District Attorney’s Office.
Gallery
Admissions
Curriculum
This 15-month M.A. program consists of 36 credits, of which 27 are for coursework, 3 for the internship, and 6 for the thesis.
The Thesis
- Students must obtain at least a B- for their MA thesis to complete the MA program.
- The thesis will focus on a particular topic identified by the student as an area of special interest and/or pertinent to his/her future career or further research in Cultural Heritage.
- The thesis enables a student to demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired during coursework, as well as their ability to conduct a research project and produce high-quality academic writing and defense.
Fall Semester A
Core Course
- Contemporary Issues in Cultural Heritage (3 credits)
- Cultural Heritage, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (3 credits)
- Research Methods for Social Sciences (3 credits)
- Principles of Business for Non-Profit Organizations (3 credits)
- GIS: Geographic Information System (1 credits)
J-Term
Elective option*
- Rome and Athens: From Antiquity to Modern Capital Cities (travel and course fees required) - 3 elective credits
*Elective Courses may be taken in Spring or Summer, depending on elective choice and offers.
Spring Semester A
Core Course
- Heritage Economics (3 credits)
- Cultural Heritage Tourism: Intercultural Interactions (3 credits)
- Sustainable Conservation (1 credit)
- Thesis Preparation (1 credit)
- Grant Writing and Fundraising (3 credits)
Elective option*
- Negotiation and Conflict Management (3 credits)
Elective option*
- International Response to Humanitarian Crises (3 credits)
- 5 core courses (+ 1 possible elective)
*Elective courses may also be taken in J-Term or Summer, depending on elective choice and offers.
Summer A
Core Course
- Internship (3 credits)
- Thesis work on the first draft
Elective option*
- Archaeology Practicum (3 credits)
- 1 core course and work on thesis (+ 1 possible elective) - (3 core credits (+ 3 elective credits)
*Elective courses may also be taken in J-Term or Spring, depending on elective choice and offers.
Fall Semester B
- Thesis (6 credits)
Program Outcome
Program Objectives
- To provide an overview of the interdisciplinary nature of the field.
- To give the necessary heritage management tools in line with international, national, and regional strategies to enhance cultural heritage management.
- To provide an understanding of the tools, techniques, and processes for documenting and assessing cultural resources, and producing and implementing management plans.
- To foster an understanding of the role of heritage agencies and organizations at international, national, local, and regional levels.
Upon completing the Master’s program in Cultural Heritage, students will have acquired the following skills and knowledge:
- Project management - including budgeting and fundraising.
- Appreciation of the complexity of heritage economics, its relationship to tourism, to the local community, and to conservation issues.
- An understanding of the role of heritage in the broader political and legal context, including issues of contested heritage, dark heritage (heritage from periods of tragedy or war or discredited political regimes), and an understanding of the role of heritage in forming identity at the local, regional, national and transnational levels.
- Oral and written communication skills at a professional level, including the ability to debate issues with practitioners in the field.
- Planning, marketing, management, and funding of sustainable heritage-related projects, including the ability to examine and critique heritage management theory.
- Critical analysis of the use of heritage in different political, religious, social, and ethnic contexts.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Cultural heritage is becoming increasingly economically important throughout the world. Accordingly, well-trained professionals will find a range of fulfilling careers in this field. In balancing theory and practice, this Master’s program prepares students for employment in heritage administration, development control, and consultancies, as well as for continuing academic research. Graduates of this program have moved in many directions.
Faculty
Student Testimonials
English Language Requirements
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