Master in History of Art and Archaeology : General

This programme helps students understand, explain, interpret, and put to use the major artistic trends and the many different facets of tangible culture produced by the human race. With a strong grounding in practice (visits, work placements in museums, excavation sites, conservation and restoration of works of art, etc.), direct contact with objects, images, and buildings, and through individual work, the programme develops the students' independence and expertise. Another goal of the Master in Archaeology and Art History is to provide students with advanced knowledge in a specific field of study, covering all periods and a large part of the world: Prehistory / Protohistory; Antiquity; the Middle Ages / Renaissance / Modern Times; Contemporary Art; Ancient America and Asia; Africa.

Students will gain more specific skills in choosing one of the four specialisations offered:

• The didactic specialisation prepares students for teaching in general and art in particular. It also aims at developing skills in reasoning and communicating knowledge, sought in many other sectors;

• The Applied Archaeology specialisation prepares students for professional practice through work placements in museums, galleries and excavation sites;

• The Visual Arts and Image Analysis specialisation deepens students’ training in interpreting images, taking into account their historical context;

• The Museums and Conservation of Movable Heritage specialisation gives students a deep insight into the theoretical, ethical and practical issues associated with the conservation of a country’s movable heritage and its management in museums.

With contributions from other fields of human sciences and pure sciences, it provides graduates with a qualification demonstrating their ability to tackle the many tasks arising from the need to update, analyse and interpret mankind’s heritage.

This Master is the only one of its kind in the French-speaking region of Belgium. This is due to a number of factors:

• the diverse range of periods and geographical areas studied;

• the adaptable and in-depth nature of the skills developed in the fields of art and archaeology;

• the wide range and high renown of the archaeological sites managed by the department’s archaeologists, and to which students are directly associated;

• the active collaboration between ULB and major museums in Brussels, in the French-speaking community of Belgium, and in Europe, enabling students to familiarise themselves with the challenges related to conserving a country’s heritage.

The practical aspects of the course are emphasized, both in archaeology or in “museumology”, and in terms of expertise and conservation-restoration of works of art. In Belgium and in several foreign countries, the ULB is conducting archaeological excavations (Spain, Italy, Greece, Syria, Egypt and Peru) and ethno-archaeological research (Niger). These missions provide students with work placement opportunities of great interest. The staff also maintain close contacts with several museums and research laboratories in Belgium and abroad.

The ULB is also ideally located in a town packed full of libraries, museums, cinemas, cultural centres, and exhibition and conference halls.