History: Archival Studies

This is a subtrack of the History specialisation History of the European Expansion and Globalisation and only starts in September.

Literature Seminar [10 ECTS]
Students start their programme with a Literature Seminar, whether they start in September or February.

Research Seminar [10 ECTS]
Students follow one Research Seminar in the first semester of their programme. Students starting in September follow their Research Seminar in the Fall Semester, students starting in February in the Spring Semester.

Optional Courses [10 ECTS]
Students follow one or two optional courses. All MA courses offered at level 400 or higher can be followed as ‘Optional Course’. These may comprise MA-courses offered by Leiden University (including any Literature and Research seminars offered by the Department of History, subject to availability of space) and those offered by other universities.
You can either follow one course of 10 ECTS or two of 5 ECTS. It is advisable to take these courses in the first semester of the programme, but it is possible to take them in the second semester, provided you start already with the thesis in the first semester.

Thesis and exam [30 ECTS]
The Master’s Programme will be concluded by a 30 ECTS MA-thesis. This thesis will be based on original research and will be ca. 23.000 words in size. Students are guided in writing their thesis by thesis supervisors. Students are also expected to follow a thesis seminar. This seminar consists of a number of meetings in which students are given the opportunity to present their work and to comment on the work of others. The seminar aims at providing students with some additional support in the writing process as well as achieving further uniformity where practical matters are concerned. Before graduation students sit for a final exam for which they defend their thesis and answer questions on additional literature.