Admission requirements
Enrolment in the BA1 Heritage and Society track;
Field Techniques and Field School 1 obtained;
Description
In Field School 2 in the BA Heritage and Society track you will learn skills related to working with heritage in society. These skills consist of applying relevant methods and techniques in the field of heritage studies (including museum studies, anthropological and social science research), and collecting relevant data related to the study of cultural heritage.
Skills may include ethnographic methods (participant observation) and other social science methods such as interviewing, surveys and value assessments; tools used in public or community archaeology and in community participation in heritage; methods for collections-based research, including material science, provenance, and archival research; and/or practical museum work or research focusing on public-oriented output, such as exhibitions or education.
In addition, your Field School 2 will also develop the skill of reflecting on the value and definition of heritage, reflecting on social and ethical issues related to heritage, or reflecting on the cultural, social or environmental role of heritage (which can include archaeological heritage) in society.
Your placement must lead to experience with at least three of the skills defined in your completed agreement for Field School 2.
You are expected to arrange your placement yourself.
Your placement can be within a Faculty of Archaeology project or another project or organisation (academic, commercial, governmental, non-governmental). Any option you choose must be done with the approval of the course coordinator for Field School 2 in the Heritage and Society track.
No matter where your Field School 2 takes place or what type of projects are involved, you should make sure that the experience or training covers a significant range of skills and level of skills. You are allowed to do your entire Field School 2 on one project as long as you are able to demonstrate that you will learn a variety of skills on this one project. Doing more than one project is highly recommended.
The period of your Field School 2 does not have to be made up of consecutive days or weeks; the working days can be distributed over a longer period, but should ideally begin and end in block 4 and/or block 5 of BA2. It must not prevent you attending other classes.
Field School 2 is always concluded by producing an academic report in which the scientific framework, context, data and analyses of the project are accounted for. You must refer to literature when writing the report. The report should include:
An account and critical review of the research or tasks undertaken;
Reflection on the definition of heritage in the specific context that you worked in;
Reflection on the cultural, social or environmental value or role of heritage in the specific context that you worked in;
Reflection on the social and ethical issues related to heritage in the specific context that you worked in.
The instructions for the report can be found on Brightspace. When your Field School 2 is spread out over multiple projects the size of each report is 1,000 - 1,500 words. When the entire Field School 2 takes place on one single project the size of the report is at least 1,800 words.
During Field School 1, Field School 2, Internship BA3 and throughout the Master programmes you will build up your own personal portfolio containing all your acquired (field) skills and experiences.
Where to go?
Always start by checking Brightspace: here you can find all the necessary procedures, forms and FAQ’s. On Brightspace a list of relevant organisations in the Netherlands is also provided, as are Field School 2 opportunities that have come to the Faculty’s attention.
Dr. Arjan Louwen advises on the general rules and regulations.
Conditions
Field School 2 is fieldwork or a fieldwork-related activity such as carrying out anthropological or social science methods on site, implementing tools in public or community archaeology or other forms of heritage (including intangible heritage), or conducting practices or research in archives, collections and museums.
It comprises 30 field days of 8 working hours. These 30 field days may be fulfilled during shorter (field) projects, of which the shortest is 1 week. You can schedule your fieldwork or internship in any period in which you do not have educational obligations, including January, but please note that exams and retakes have priority.
Only 10 ec can be obtained in total for Field School 2. In case more than 30 days have been spent on projects, the remaining credits will be stated on the diploma as extra-curricular.
Course set-up
The following steps are necessary:
Register in uSis/Brightspace;
Carefully read the Field School 2 procedures in Brightspace;
Find a project in which you can participate;
Fill out the official ‘Field School 2 agreement form’ (to be found on Brightspace) with the Field School 2/Internship provider (Party B on the agreement form);
Send the filled-out ‘Field School 2 agreement form’ to the appointed region coordinator (see Brightspace; Party A on the agreement form). They will check whether the proposed project is indeed admissible as Field School 2. Arrange for the final approval of your project by the region coordinator no later than:
6 weeks before the start of the project (projects abroad)
2 weeks before the start of the project (projects in the Netherlands)
During the project: make daily reports and ask the project leader to fill in the assessment form (to be found on Brightspace);
Upload the report within 6 weeks after the last field day.
Course objectives
To gain experience in field research and practices relating to heritage in society, including interpretation and reporting of field data;
To become experienced in a range of skills or tools relating to anthropological and social science research, museum studies and museum practice, public archaeology, community collaborative research and other heritage work;
To know under which circumstances and with what purpose these skills and tools can be applied;
To deepen knowledge about research methods and practices in heritage-related fields;
To gain more experience in describing ethnographic, social science and museum studies data;
Ability to work in a team;
To obtain insight into the relationship between the research questions and the chosen research approach;
To gain insight in the organisational, legal, logistical, societal and administrative aspects of a research project or organisation;
To obtain knowledge of the historical and theoretical context of a research project or organisation;
Ability to write a well-structured academic report with a clear research goal and in which the Faculty guidelines are applied;
To gain routine and to develop an independent research attitude.
Timetable
Not applicable.
Mode of instruction
Practical work in the field.
Assessment method
A sufficient level of acquired practical skills and the quality of the daily reports. This assessment is partly made by the Field School 2 provider (50%);
A report that complies with the Faculty standards of reports. Reports are graded by project leaders of Faculty projects or the internship region coordinator (50%);
A retake is only possible for the report, and only if all other requirements have been met, including handing in the report before the deadline.
The report needs to handed in through Brightspace within 6 weeks after the last field day.
Reading list
To be compiled by the student. It must comprise academic literature.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudymap is mandatory.
General information about registration can be found on the Course and Exam Enrolment page.
All information (costs, registration, entry requirements, etc.) for those who are interested in taking this course as a Contractstudent is on the Contractonderwijs Archeologie webpage (in Dutch).
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact dr. M.E. (Martin) Berger (museums) or dr. I.R. (Ian) Simpson (heritage).
Remarks
Compulsory attendance;
This course will be taught in both Dutch and English.