Admission requirements
Field School obtained.
Description
‘Internship BA2: World Archaeology’ is meant to gain routines in the professional and practical skills you trained during Field School (1) or in one of the facets of the archaeological process discussed in Field Techniques. You can practice these skills at a project/ company/ institute/ organisation of your own choosing as long as the activities you are going to carry out are in compliance with the activities in the list below:
Desk-based research (in Dutch Archaeology: Bureauonderzoek);
Prospective research (coring; trial trenches);
Archaeological survey;
Geophysical fieldwork including the processing of these data;
Excavation;
Field research on rock-art;
Field research on historic buildings;
Processing of archaeological field data (finds and data processing, GIS work, etc.);
Work in an archaeological depot or repository (cataloguing and processing of new collections; museum depot/repositories included as long as there is a clear archaeological research question).
You are expected to arrange your own project(s). You are allowed to spend your entire Internship BA2: World Archaeology (= 30 workdays of 8 hours) on one project, as long as you are able to demonstrate you will learn a variety of different practical skills during this one project. Doing more than one project is highly recommended. If you aspire a professional career in field archaeology, make sure that your internship(s) include a wide range of practical field archaeology skills. You can schedule your internship in any period in which you do not have other educational obligations at university: courses, exams and retakes always have priority(!)
The course is concluded by writing your Internship BA2 portfolio (detailed instructions and outline provided in Brightspace). This portfolio consists of the following elements:
30 daily reports;
Report(s) on the project(s) you participated in;
Reflection on the project(s) you participated in and the skills that you trained;
Assessment(s) by the Internship provider(s): the evaluation and feedback form.
Where to begin?
Always start by checking Brightspace: here you can find all the necessary procedures, forms, FAQs, tips and tricks and a list of archaeological organisations in the Netherlands. Relevant projects that have come to the faculty’s attention will also be advertises via Brightspace.
An important step in arranging and preparing an internship is to fill out the Internship BA2 agreement form:
Fill out the official ‘Internship BA2 agreement form’ (to be found on Brightspace) with the Internship provider (Party B on the agreement form);
Send the filled-out ‘Internship BA2 agreement form’ to the appointed region coordinator (see Brightspace; Party A on the agreement form) for approval of the Internship;
Upload the signed form in Brightspace before the start of the Internship.
Going abroad?
Start your preparations and arrangements on time. It is recommended to have arranged for everything 6 weeks before you leave. Two mandatory steps for internships abroad involve:
Registering your study activity abroad in uSis
Taking part in one of the Health and Safety meetings organised by the university
Course objectives
To independently procure an internship position in a professional learning environment;
To enhance your employability by increasing practical skills needed for a future job;
To gain routines in professional and practical archaeological skills and to develop an independent research attitude;
To know under which circumstances and with what purpose these skills can be applied (excavation, prospective research, processing, analysis, reporting etc.);
To deepen knowledge about sampling techniques, sample analysis and use of sample data;
To gain more experience in describing and using archaeological data according to the applicable guidelines;
To obtain insight into the relationship between the research questions and the chosen research method(s);
To gain insight in the organisational, legal, logistical, societal and administrative aspects of a research project;
To obtain knowledge of the historical and theoretical context of a research project;
Being able to write well-structured and relevant daily field notes;
Being able to work together in a team under challenging conditions.
Timetable
Course schedule details can be found in MyTimetable.
Log in with your ULCN account, and add this course using the 'Add timetable' button.
Mode of instruction
Practical, hands-on participation in an archaeological research project.
Assessment method
The assessment for Internship BA2: World Archaeology consists out of two elements:
Evaluation and feedback form(s) to be filled out by the Internship provider (50%);
The Internship BA2 portfolio (50%). In this final assignment you report and reflect on the internship(s) you participated in (see Brightspace for guidelines). Portfolios are graded by the region coordinator appointed by the faculty for the region in which your (main) internship took place. Please note that students who already handed in a report before the portfolio assignment was introduced (September 2023) can still hand in separate report for the remainder of their Internship BA2 (see Brightspace for the exact procedure).
The Portfolio assignment needs to be handed in through Brightspace within 6 weeks after the last internship day.
The Portfolio needs to cover 30 workdays of 8 hours. Extra days may be included, but will not be counted as extra EC’s.
A retake is only possible for the portfolio and only when the overall grade is lower than 5.5.
Reading list
To be compiled by the student, in consultation with the internship supervisor/provider (study materials depending on the internship[s]). The reading list must comprise, but is not necessarily limited to, academic literature..
Registration
Enrolment for all components of your study programme through MyStudymap is mandatory. This applies to both compulsory elements and elective credits. If you are not enrolled, you may not participate.
General information about registration can be found on the Course and exam enrolment page.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact Dr. A.J. (Arjan) Louwen.
Remarks
Funding
Students who started their BA studies at the Faculty of Archaeology in 2022-2023 and later can apply for a financial contribution for Internship BA2. Funding regulations are:
- From 2023-2024 onwards, every archaeology student can ask for restitution of actually made expenses once during their BA track to enable participation in an Internship BA2 project;
- This project may be abroad as well as in the Netherlands;
- The application for restitution cannot exceed the sum of 500 euros;
- Restitution can only be provided for costs related to travel (travel to the destination and local transport), accommodation and food;
- Restitution cannot be provided for costs for which the student has already received a reimbursement, e.g. via the internship provider;
- Restitution can only be provided for costs that can be demonstrated by actual invoices;
- Restitution can only take place after the Internship has been successfully finished (i.o.w. when the student has passed the course).
The full restitution procedure can be found in Brightspace.