Admission requirements
Enrolment in the BA1 Heritage and Society track;
Field School 1 obtained.
Description
In Internship BA2 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 Internship BA2 will also develop the skill of critical reflection on the value and definition of heritage, critical reflection on social and ethical issues related to heritage, or critical reflection 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 Internship BA2.
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 a course coordinator for Internship BA2 in the Heritage and Society track.
The field of placement can be broadly considered, for example, an archive or government office is also possible. No matter where your Internship BA2 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.
Doing more than one project is highly recommended, for example, 10 ec consisting of two projects worth 5 ec each. However, you are allowed to do your entire Internship BA2 on one project providing that you are able to demonstrate you will learn a variety of skills on this one project.
The period of your Internship BA2 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 Bachelor year 2, and be conducted over a focused, coherent period (see ‘Conditions’ below for time requirements). It must not prevent you from attending other classes.
Internship BA2 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 Internship BA2 is spread out over multiple projects, the size of each report is 1,000 - 1,500 words. When the entire Internship BA2 takes place on one single project, the report should be at least 1,800 words.
During Field School 1, Internship BA2, 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* Internship BA2* opportunities that have come to the Faculty’s attention.
Funding
Students who started their BA studies at the Faculty of Archaeology in 2022-2023 can apply for a financial contribution for Internship BA2. Funding regulations are:
- From 2023-2024 onwards, every 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 (in other words, when the student has passed the course).
The full restitution procedure can be found in Brightspace.
Conditions
Internship BA2 is fieldwork or a work-related activity such as conducting practices or research in archives, collections and museums, carrying out anthropological or social science methods on site, implementing tools in public or community archaeology or other forms of heritage (including intangible heritage).
It comprises 30 days of 8 working hours or the equivalent of this distributed in a different way. These 30 days may be fulfilled during shorter (field) projects, of which the shortest is 1 week. It is recommended to arrange it over a focused period, rather than distributed over a longer period of time. 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 Internship BA2. 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* Internship BA2* procedures in Brightspace;
Find a project in which you can participate;
Fill out the official ‘Internship BA2 agreement form’ (to be found on Brightspace) with the Internship BA2/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). They will check whether the proposed project is indeed admissible as Internship BA2. 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 Internship BA2 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 six weeks after the last field day.
Reading list
To be compiled by the student. It must comprise 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.
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please contact the exchange coordinator for information on how to apply.
All information 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.