Educational objectives and career perspectives

Educational objectives of the program

  • Understanding the changing definitions and conceptualizations of cultural heritage in the past and present
  • Understanding changing attitudes in past societies to different cultures and civilizations, global interactions of cultures and civilizations in the past, and the impact of this process in the present
  • Understanding the relation between academic research fields and analytical approaches; the ability to conduct research using a variety of academic methods
  • Recognition of different global (World Heritage), regional, national, local approaches and conceptual frameworks to the different aspects of cultural heritage (tangible, intangible, etc.)
  • Studying the impact of tourism and commercialization on object-based and intangible cultural heritage policy
  • Understanding the connections between heritage elements and identity building (universal, European, national, minority, local, etc.) processes
  • Recognition of policy and management aspects of cultural heritage and of the need for a holistic approach to heritage protection and sustainable development

Subject-specific skills

  • The ability to work with the standard methods in at least one academic field or activity area related to cultural heritage
  • The ability to work with tangible and intangible cultural heritage
  • Knowledge of and the ability to use standard methods of academic research, policy oriented and management activities
  • The ability to apply interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary methods in research, policy and management
  • Basic skills in digital methods for recording, storing and interpreting cultural heritage (data visualization, GIS, digitalization methods)
  • Writing, presentation and publication skills in English and the ability to generate publications and media materials for different audiences to understand, disseminate, protect and develop cultural heritage sites, objects, complexes
  • Basic knowledge of and the ability to use academic reasoning (qualitative and quantitative methods, statistical approaches, etc.)

Career perspectives
The Cultural Heritage Studies Program degree should be broadly convertible, future professionals might include policy and management experts, urbanists, environmental professionals, architects, art historians, archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, museum curators, archivists, librarians, conservators of artifacts and monuments, and so on. Heritage-related activities can be connected to various types of institutions or organizational structures, with special emphasis on governmental decision-making bodies (policy issues) and networks of NGOs in the field of cultural heritage management.