The MA programme in sustainable heritage management (SHM) at Aarhus University provides you with the competences needed to meet the multiple challenges of contemporary heritage management. Working with cultural and natural heritage means taking responsibility for the links between humanity and its past. But heritage is also an integral part of the present, and a resource for the future. Managing heritage is no easy task: it includes attending not only to the survivability and inherent qualities of sites, objects and traditions, but also to the different claims and interests that often surround them. The SHM programme equips you, through theory and practice, to work in the exciting and expanding as well as increasingly complex heritage field.
HERITAGE AS A RESOURCE
In all its forms, heritage is crucial for the collective memories and sustainability of communities as well as for the personal development of individuals, as it addresses the links between selves and others, temporally as well as geographically. As such, heritage can be seen as a crucial aspect of modern existence in a world of change. It can also be a potent economic, environmental and political asset that can be utilised for various ends. Heritage, for these same reasons, is not inherently good, and is sometimes put to work in ways that alter and compromise local communities and conditions in questionable ways. The Aarhus SHM programme qualifies you to analyse and respond to the ethics of heritage work, providing not only a sophisticated academic framework, but also a solidly grounded, practice-based set of skills and know-how.
A HIGHLY INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD
Heritage studies and heritage management constitute a highly interdisciplinary field, involving methodologies and approaches from various disciplines. The SHM programme is anchored in an interdisciplinary research environment that includes scholars from archaeology, anthropology, intellectual history, aesthetics, history, museology, cultural studies, evolutionary studies and digital design. So during your studies you will work not only with material forms of cultural heritage, but also with textual data and, not least, people and peoples perceptions of heritage.
The two-year Masters degree programme in sustainable heritage management is equivalent to 120 ECTS. During the first two semesters, students will concentrate on theoretical and methodological aspects, and on application perspectives (e.g. the preservation of heritage in various contexts). The first and second semesters both comprise three courses, each of which is equivalent to 10 ECTS (see table). In the third semester students do fieldwork, complete an internship, or take an academic profiling course.
COMPETENCES AND JOB PERSPECTIVES
An MA in sustainable heritage management equips you with the skills and qualifications needed to work in a number of job markets and industries, depending on your area of specialisation. Possible career paths include employment in the museum and archival sectors, in planning and development agencies and bodies, within resource management and capacity building, as well as within tourism and the creative industries. Many of the challenges that you will be trained to meet are transnational and international in scope.
You apply online through the Aarhus University self service system. To be able to apply online, you first have to create a self service account. Once you have created your account and logged on the self service system, please select the option "Application form for free movers (non-exchange)".
Please be aware that you need to start your application within 24 hours of creating the self service account.
To best prepare your application, it is important to understand the structure and the different locations of Aarhus University. Aarhus University has three different campuses (located in Aarhus, Herning and Emdrup) and is divided into four faculties, which are subdivided into 26 departments.
Remember when choosing courses that you may only take courses at one location and within one faculty. You may not choose courses at more than two different departments.
It is important that you have a relevant academic background for the courses that you apply for. You must have taken courses at your home university within the specific subject field you have applied to in order to be accepted to any of the departments.
EU students can sign up for 5 ECTS to 30 ECTS during a semester. To obtain a study and work permit, students from outside the EU/EEA have to study 30 ECTS in total (20 ECTS at one department). If you choose courses at more than one department, it is important that you choose at least 20 ECTS at one department. Students applying for courses at Aarhus BSS, should only apply for courses at one department.
At the application form, you can apply for housing as well, if needed.
You will be required to attach the following documents to your application:
Students applying to Aarhus BSS only: Students must upload a letter confirming that they will be able to transfer credits from Aarhus University to a degree at the home institution. If you cannot provide this documentation, you will be assessed according to the admission requirements of the relevant degree programme(s). Students can complete and upload this template or a similar document from the home university.
You will be informed approximately six weeks prior to semester start whether you meet the prerequisites to be enrolled in the requested courses. However, as enrolment in courses for free mover students is dependent on available space in the relevant courses, you will not receive final confirmation about course enrolment until approximately two weeks prior to semester start. If there is space left in the courses, you will receive a notification about this and an invoice. Only after the invoice has been paid in full, will you receive a Letter of Enrolment and be enrolled in the requested courses. Please be aware that due to this procedure, Aarhus University cannot guarantee that free mover students will be admitted and enrolled in courses by semester start.
