Elective courses are designed to enable students to shape their own professional and/or research profile depending on their interests and future career aspirations. The program allows a certain flexibility, not only with the choice of elective courses, but also in respect to the time frame in which these courses can be taken. However, students are required to complete all course work before they can submit their thesis.

  • Heritage and Tourism: Meeting the cultural "other" (3 credits)
  • Field trip: Rome and Athens: From antiquity to modern capital cities (3 credits)
  • Negotiation and Conflict Management (3 credits)
  • Archaeology Practicum (audit option/extra fee)

Heritage and Tourism: meeting the cultural "other" (3 credits)

Heritage tourism is considered to be a vital source of income for many communities, but it can also lead to negative impacts. ‘Overtourism’ in historic cities has led to local people being displaced and has damaged the historic environment. In the global south the development of a tourism industry has often resulted in an undermining of traditional practices and values. Through on‐site visits, lectures, seminars and interactive classroom discussions this course will explore the challenges facing heritage tourism in the 21st century. Particular emphasis will be placed on factors affecting the impact on host communities, the visitor experience and developing heritage tourism in a way that is both ethical and sustainable in the long term.

Field trip: Rome and Athens: From antiquity to modern capital cities (3 credits)

This 10 day field course taking place on-site in Rome and Athens explores the issues facing archaeological heritage management in two World Heritage cities which are also capitals of their respective nations. These cities are required to balance the needs and expectations of modern development with preservation of their cultural heritage and continue to act as the focus of national identity. The course will begin with three days in Rome with an introduction to the concepts to be discussed and visits to the principal monuments of the city to analyze their heritage challenges. The course will then transfer to Athens for four nights, which will act as a comparison to Rome. Athens, like Rome, is a classical city dependent on heritage tourism, but it has a very different position as a national capital and dissimilar conservation issues. The course will then wind up with classes in Rome.

Negotiation and Conflict Management (3 credits)

Conflict is part of daily life: it can be destructive as well as constructive but it needs to be dealt with productively. Resolution is a collaborative process by which differences are handled and outcomes are jointly agreed by the interested parties. It is the transformation of the relationships and situations such that solutions are sustainable and self-correcting in the long term. This course will introduce the student to the common causes of conflicts, and enable them to understand how and why they appear. Techniques and methods to approach, manage and resolve conflicts will be introduced, including the strategies of good listening and good communication skills. Various techniques will be examined and applied using selected case studies, including negotiation from a humanitarian perspective and negotiation with armed groups.

 

Archaeology Practicum (audit option/extra fee)

This is an archaeology practicum course and it must be taken in conjunction with a field school organized by AUR. This course is suitable for students who have no prior experience of archaeological excavation. In addition to the practical experience students will be required to submit a paper within 10 days of the end of the excavation on an aspect of Cultural Heritage.

Exact selection and number of elective courses offered in each semester is subject to change. Students will be informed about available elective courses for the fall semester upon opening of the application procedure for the MA program. Students will be asked to choose elective courses in the fall semester upon the official registration for the program. Students choose elective courses for the spring semester by the end of the winter break (minimum course enrollments must be met to ensure that the course will run).