Master study (Mgr.)

Study programme: Archaeology

Field of study: Historical Sciences

Degree of study: Master

Form of study: full time form

Standard length of study: 2 years

Granted academic title: Master (Mgr.)

Possibilities of employment at the labour market for the graduates provides: Archeological Institute of SAS (Slovak Academy of Sciences), the monuments boards (The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, Regional monuments boards), museums (Slovak National Museum, regional and city's museums, national history museums), universities, Urban Conservation Institute Bratislava, The Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Rebuplic, local governments and private archaeological sector. The graduates are qualified for applying for archaeological positions abroad (e.g. Austria, Czech republic etc.).

A list of the achievements of our graduates is complicated due to their various home and abroad activities and lack of feedback. However, it is important to emphasize, that after 1989, many of our graduates covered or still cover the chief positions not only in field (directors of museums and monuments boards), but in the government structures too (first Deputy prime minister of the Slovak Republic, Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic etc.).

The master degree education in field of archaeology integrates two basic approaches: systematic (chronological) and sectional (topical). They correspond to the courses of a common base, whereby they are structured in a way, that a graduate would be able to manage wide theoretical knowledge about the periods of the cultural development, to know the specifications about a development of the particular regions of Europe and to find one's way in the main cultural phenomena.

Besides that, a graduate of the master study programme is able to use all methods and skills, essential for carrying out an archaeological excavation, in a destructive or non-destructive way. The structure of the programme complement the special aimed courses with an accent on a theoretical-methodical extension and an issue of interdisciplinary cooperation. A graduate is then highly competent to solve the stated scientific problems.

Another themes incuding core knowledge of master study programme, contained in the option-oriented courses, provide a space to improve knowledge about the key issues related to economic, social and cultural development in a wider historical-geographical context. Selection of one of two blocks of compulsory elective courses (Prehistoric archaeology; Protohistoric and historic archaeology) enables the student of the master degree to further specialize (e. g. courses Eneolithic in Europe, Life and culture in the medieval Europe). During the seminars, a student is guided to practice the special skills necessary for performing his/her own research and to gain a capability to produce various types of scientific reports (abstracts, studies, posters, presentations etc.). Integral part of training is a study of three dimensional material gatherd in the collection of Department of Archaeology (evenutally in the museum depositories).

An exclusive place in the master study programme belongs to a compulsory course "Professional Practice". Within the frame of this course, a student get a space to test his/her theoretical knowledge during an excavation, analysis and documentation of archeological context. The professional practice is performed either as the rescue excavations, or by specialised excavations for the scientific purposes.

Within the conception of master study is from the total number of 120 credits allocated 38 credits for compulsory courses, 46 credits for second and 6 credits for third block of compulsory elected courses. 3 credits are reserved for compulsory courses.

Study programme

Common characteristic of the graduate

A second degree graduate (Mgr.) of the archeology study programme has the wide-spread theoretical knowledge about the particular periods and cultural phenomena in pan-European context. On a required level he/she can manage all methods and skills, needed for perfoming an archeological excavation and elaborating its results. He/she can demonstrate his/her high level of a methodical competence through the solving of the posed scientific issues. One of the main demand is an orientation in field's literature (material, analytical and synthetical works) and mastering of a quoting technique. Matter of course is a deepening of language background, first of all in german and english language (special terminology). The part of a graduate profile is an overview in the legislative aspects of the archaeological work in Slovakia.

Theoretical knowledge

A second degree graduate (Mgr.) of  the archeology study programme:

• disposes of knowledge about cultural development and settlement of a wider central-european area from the Palaeolithic to the Postmedieval Period;
• focuses on issue of the cultural phenomena, which form the elements of a development of the societies within investigated area;
• discovers and presents own solutions coming out from a basic komplex research  in field and works with the published sources;
• is aware of the newest documentation methods, descriptions of  archeological context and the movable artifacts;
• opened to a wide interdisciplinary co-operation (for example geophysical researches, anthropology, history and associated historical sciences, ethnology, history of art etc.);
• uses in an active way the inovative interdisciplinary methods for verification of hypotheses;
• handles the possibilities of computer applications in archaeology.
  
  

Practical abilities and skills

A second degree (Mgr.) graduate of the study programme archaeology acquires the competentions to:

• apply acquired knowledge in practice - across the museums, institutions of science of SAS, monuments boards, state and public administration;
• methodically manage and guide a team of workers during an archaeological excavation and elaborate (evidence, documentation, lab works) a find collection;
• present the results of an archaeological research through the publications (studies, monografies, catalogues), as well as to be an active member of both home and abroad conferences;
• management of musem exhibitions and archaeoparks;
• be a principal investigator and a leader of a grant task.
  
  

Additional eruditions, knowledge and skills

A second degree graduate (Mgr.) of the study programme archaeology is prepared to:

• organize the cultural and scientific events as an active participant;
• keep and apply a valid legislative in the sphere of cultural heritage protection;
• extend individually own knowledges whithin field and maintain an overview about a development of the discipline, respectively of the specialization.