Admission requirements
Admission to the Master Archaeology programme.
Description
The MA Fieldwork / Internship involves a small practical project of 15 working days.
Firstly, you are expected to write a feasible work proposal, which has to be approved and evaluated by the internship coordinator of your choice before the internship can take place. An important component is the ‘learning by doing and reflecting on what you are doing’ aspect, to gain more practical experience within the chosen field, and allowing a hands-on approach with archaeological materials and data.
However, it is also essential that you learn to make your own decisions, and will critically reflect upon the practical activities, and place these in a wider comparative framework (be it theoretically, methodologically or regionally), as well as contextualise the importance of the activities within your own specialisation, and evaluate how this experience affects your own development in the chosen field. This will be part of the requirements for the written internship report.
The available types of internship may vary from year to year; some may be existing projects within the specialisation, some may be external, or involve exchanges with international universities. You can also propose an internship yourself, provided that you can demonstrate this experience will enhance the progress of your own development within your specialisation.
The internship will be set up under supervision of the internship coordinator of your choice. He/she will evaluate the internship report, consulting the delegate of the institution/project where the internship is carried out, and grade the report.
The practical skills demonstrated will be evaluated in a written assessment form by the work supervisor of the institute where the internship is carried out, but the final mark will be assigned by the internship coordinator.
The necessary internship documents (evaluation forms and guidelines for the report) can be found on BlackBoard (module MA internships/fieldwork 1084….-1920ARCH).
The internship comprises:
Work planning (proposal), including:
relevant internship information (project background and aims, internship duration, on-site supervisor/project leader);
your motivation;
aim and research questions of the internship;
relevance, how this internship contributes to your academic or professional development;
reflection: how you will contribute to the internship project.
Internship of min. 3 weeks (or 15 working days).
Reflective report, referring to the work planning, including:
an evaluation of research context including a literature review and the theoretical framework;
a description of work done during the internship and the results;
a critical discussion of methodology and practice;
a critical personal reflection: evaluation of your own functioning and acquired skills.
Internships per specialisation
For the current list of internship coordinators, see the BlackBoard module.
Course objectives
Experience in practical skills of the chosen track;
Ability to evaluate modern (digital) techniques and instruments;
Ability to write a feasible work plan;
Ability to successfully and independently carry out a practical project within a limited period of time;
Ability to write a report on the results, describing the activities and reason for them, and critically reflecting on them, both in terms of your own research, and in a broader, multidisciplinary context;
Ability to convey information to (non)specialists;
Ability to select relevant literature and use graphical footage to clarify and support argumentation, methods and results;
Ability to reflect how these experiences contributed to one’s academic development.
Mode of instruction
Autonomous work under supervision.
Course load
The course load will be distributed as follows:
Proposal and reflective report (1 ec);
Internship of 3 weeks or 15 working days (4 ec).
Assessment method
Work proposal (10%);
Evaluation of the practical skills (50%);
Written internship report (40%).
A retake consists of an improvement of the evaluation report within 3 weeks after the first submission, but only if all other requirements have been met.
The internship report needs to be handed in within 6 weeks after the end of the internship.
Remarks
Compulsory attendance.