Central European University (CEU)
Master of Arts in Cultural Heritage Studies - Track: Cultural Heritage Management and Policy
Vienna, Austria
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline *
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
EUR 12,000 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* application deadline for applicants for master’s programs who wish to be considered for CEU financial aid (where available).
** payable in one or two installments, non-refundable initial tuition fee installment (€500 EUR) is paid to confirm your acceptance of our offer of admission and is credited towards the 1st tuition fee installment in year 1
Introduction
Cultural heritage, as understood by Central European University's Cultural Heritage Studies Program, is the legacy of physical artifacts (cultural property) and intangible attributes of a group or society inherited from the past. Cultural Heritage is a concept that offers a bridge between the past and the future with the application of particular approaches in the present. Due to its attached values for these groups or societies, cultural heritage is maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. At the same time, the concept of cultural heritage developed as a result of complex historical processes and is constantly evolving.
The Cultural Heritage Studies Program combines theoretical and practical education, offering a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches with a strong emphasis on practical knowledge and skills based on fieldwork, and internships with local, regional, and global heritage organizations.
Historical approach, present social relevance (policy and management), and the integration of cultural and natural heritage issues are the three pillars of the program.
The program offers a global viewpoint within local Central European heritage contexts (capital of culture, World Heritage sites, urban environmental imperatives, local issues of conflicting interests)
One of the principles CEU is based on is respect for the diversity of cultures and peoples. As the University attracts students and faculty from 100 countries from around the world, it is an ideal host of a cultural heritage program dealing with disparate traditions, practices, and social interactions.
General Aspect of the Program
Heritage is a contemporary activity with far-reaching effects. Most importantly, it is the range of contemporary activities, meanings, and behaviors that we draw from them. Activities related to cultural heritage are complex and they represent deliberate acts from the present for the future, taking into account various aspects of the past. Traditionally these activities are described as Preservation or Conservation, but more recently they have been integrated into the framework of management or the context of policies. Therefore, they can take the form of different and complex approaches or acts. Heritage can be an element in far-sighted urban and regional planning. It can be the platform for political recognition, a medium for intercultural dialogue, a means of ethical reflection, and a potential basis for local economic development. It is simultaneously local and particular as well as global and shared.
Changing social and economic trends require expert training, flexible enough to keep up with the challenges of heritage environments, which are in continuous flux. Cultural heritage activities are based on academic research of historical, social, and environmental aspects (archival studies, archeology, art history, anthropology, history, literary studies, etc.) and form a crucial element of the master's program. There is also a need for project managers, experts in regional and sustainable development extending across frontiers: individuals who can tackle challenges, and even resolve financial issues in project development but who, at the same time, remain sensitive to the need to preserve knowledge for future research.
The two streams of the cultural heritage master's program:
- Academic Research and Protection of Cultural Heritage
- Cultural Heritage Management and Policy
Program Accreditation/Registration
- The program was approved and registered by the New York State Education Department
- Program accredited by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ-Austria)
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
To master’s candidates, we award financial aid based on academic merit. You can apply for financial support for master’s studies in the Funding section of the Online Application Form.
Curriculum
Academic Research and Protection of Cultural Heritage
This stream of the master's program offers a selection of academic methods and disciplines essential for heritage studies (cultural and natural) and combines them with particular skills of management related to the protection of heritage. The stream is designed mainly for those coming to the program with a former education in humanities or any academic discipline researching heritage. At the same time, the stream also offers a basic education for those individuals who want to change the character of their university education from a management-type activity to a more research-oriented career.
Courses for the two streams in addition to the general courses
Academic Research and Protection of Cultural Heritage (ARP)
Year 2 Fall Term
- Thesis writing seminar (credit 0)
Year 2 Winter Term
- Advanced thesis writing seminar (credit 2)
Year 2 Spring term
- Thesis writing workshop (credit 0)
Rotating
- UNESCO World Heritage (credit 2)
- Environmental Heritage and Landscape: protection, policy, and Management (credit 2)
Year 2
- Comparative intellectual history or history of science (credit 2)
- Written culture (credit 2)
- History and Philosophy of Culture or Historiography of Cultural Heritage (credit 2)
- Skills & research fields related to cultural heritage (a: written culture – paleography, codicology, MSS studies; b: material and visual culture – archaeology, anthropology, art history, GIS; c. presentation in various media to target audience) (credit 2)
- Legal protection or management of cultural heritage (from the management stream) (credit 2)
Cultural Heritage Management and Policy
The main aim of this stream is to offer a multidisciplinary education for students who want to work in heritage institutions or the heritage business playing an active role in the changing world of cultural heritage (managers, activists, members of social programs). It offers courses and practical work with expert supervision to understand the interaction of these areas shaping cultural heritage. The original university education of the students choosing this stream may mainly have been related to management or social activities, but they can also come from a more research-oriented program to use their academic skills in a more activist-type career.
Courses for the two streams in addition to the general courses
Cultural Heritage Management and Policy (MP)
Year 2 Fall Term
- Thesis writing seminar (credit 0)
Year 2 Winter Term
- Advanced thesis writing seminar (credit 2)
Year 2 Spring term
- Thesis writing workshop (credit 0)
Rotating
- UNESCO World Heritage (credit 2)
- Environmental Heritage and Landscape: protection, policy, and Management (credit 2)
Year 2
- Advanced course on the legal protection of cultural heritage (credit 2)
- Operations management/strategy development /marketing (credit 2)
- Advanced course in policy (credit 2)
- Human resource management and leadership (credit 2)
- Ethical issues, intellectual property, privacy (credit 2)
Career Opportunities
Subject-specific skills
- The ability to work with the standard methods in at least one academic field or activity area related to cultural heritage
- The ability to work with tangible and intangible cultural heritage
- Knowledge of and the ability to use standard methods of academic research, policy-oriented and management activities
- The ability to apply interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary methods in research, policy, and management
- Basic skills in digital methods for recording, storing, and interpreting cultural heritage (data visualization, GIS, digitalization methods)
- Writing, presentation, and publication skills in English and the ability to generate publications and media materials for different audiences to understand, disseminate, protect, and develop cultural heritage sites, objects, complexes
- Basic knowledge of and the ability to use academic reasoning (qualitative and quantitative methods, statistical approaches, etc.)
Career perspectives
The Cultural Heritage Studies Program degree should be broadly convertible, future professionals might include policy and management experts, urbanists, environmental professionals, architects, art historians, archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, museum curators, archivists, librarians, conservators of artifacts and monuments, and so on. Heritage-related activities can be connected to various types of institutions or organizational structures, with special emphasis on governmental decision-making bodies (policy issues) and networks of NGOs in the field of cultural heritage management.