Programme
Literature Seminar (10 EC)
Students commence their programme with a Literature Seminar, whether starting in September or February.
Research Seminar (10 EC)
Students take a Research Seminar within their specialisation in the first semester of their programme.
Research Workshop (5 EC)
Students take a Research Workshop within their specialisation in the first semester of their programme.
Academic Skills and Thesis Seminar (5 EC)
Students are required to take 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.
Optional Courses (10 EC)
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 and those offered by other (foreign) universities. Alternatively, students can also opt for an internship. For more information about the different possibilities, see the specific MA Optional Courses page.
Thesis and exam (20 EC)
The Master’s Programme will be concluded by a MA-thesis. Students are guided in writing their thesis by thesis supervisors. Halfway through the first semester, the student commences with the thesis and has to ask a member of staff active in the field of his/her specialisation to act as their thesis supervisor. See the Overview of Staff for a possible supervisors. The thesis is written in the second semester.
Before graduation students sit for a final exam in which they defend their thesis and answer questions on additional literature.
Career Preparation
Career Preparation in MA History
The programme
The curriculum of MA History is characterised by the guiding principle ‘Global Questions, Local Sources’, referring to our aim to follow the international developments in historiography and to teach students to critically analyze source materials. In our MA History students develop their academic skills by a thorough orientation on international debates, by analyzing historical sources, and by discussing these insights with professors and co-students. In the range of subjects that is on offer, the Leiden MA History is the broadest and most international History MA in the Netherlands.
The MA History offers six specialisations. In each specialisation, students in the Leiden MA History acquire a broad, comparative dimension in their knowledge and connect this to global events. This approach to learning brings a broad understanding and an aptitude for critical thinking both of which are highly valued by employers today.
How can you use this knowledge and the skills that you acquire? Which specialisation should you choose within your study programme and why? What skills do you already have, and what further skills do you still want to learn? How do you translate the courses that you choose into something that you’d like to do after graduation?
These questions and more will be discussed at various times during your study programme. You may already have spoken about them with your study coordinator, the Humanities Career Service or other students, or made use of the Leiden University Career Zone. Many different activities are organised to help you reflect on your own wishes and options, and give you the chance to explore the job market. All these activities are focused on the questions: ‘What can I do?’, ‘What do I want?’ and ‘How do I achieve my goals?’.
Activities
You will be notified via the Faculty website, your study programme website and email about further activities in the area of job market preparation. The following activities will help you to thoroughly explore your options, so we advise you to take careful note of them:
Transferable skills
Future employers are interested not only in the subject-related knowledge that you acquired during your study programme, but also in ‘transferable skills’. These include cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, reasoning and argumentation and innovation; intrapersonal skills, such as flexibility, initiative, appreciating diversity and metacognition; and interpersonal skills, such as communication, accountability and conflict resolution. In short, they are skills that all professionals need in order to perform well.
It is therefore important that during your study programme you not only acquire as much knowledge as possible about your subject, but also are aware of the skills you have gained and the further skills you still want to learn. The course descriptions in the Prospectus of MA History include, in addition to the courses’ learning objectives, a list of the skills that they aim to develop.
The skills you may encounter in the various courses are:
Collaboration
Persuasion
Research
Self-directed learning
Creative thinking
Courses of MA History
Courses of the study programme obviously help to prepare you for the job market. As a study programme, we aim to cover this topic either directly or less directly in each semester. Within MA History, this takes place within the following courses:
Contact
If you have any questions about career choices, whether in your studies or on the job market, you are welcome to make an appointment with the career adviser of the the Humanities Career Service 071-5272235, or with your Coordinator of Studies.
