Career prospects
Graduates of the Master’s programme in Cultural History and Heritage work in museums and heritage organisations, as well as in academic research, government, tourism, the media and journalism, and the private sector. Our students regularly secure their first job at the institution where they carried out their graduation project.
Our alumni possess socially relevant expertise at an academic level, which is applicable across a wide range of fields, such as:
- museums, heritage institutions, archives and other public history organisations
- consultancy, policy and management, both within government bodies at local, regional, national and European levels, and within internationally oriented companies
- journalism and media organisations, such as publishing houses and editorial agencies
- interest groups, knowledge institutions and the non-profit sector in general
You can also combine this Master’s programme with the educational Master's programme first-degree teacher in History.
Professional careers
Graduates of this programme have found job positions in which they can apply their knowledge of cultural history, for example as:
- Academic Librarian at Atria
- Senior Advisor at the National Cultural Heritage Agency
- Curator at Het Noordbrabants Museum
- Editor at Matrijs Publishers
- Museum instructor at the National Maritime Museum
- Museum instructor at the National Maritime Museum
- Historian at the Florence Nightingale Institute
- Editor at the Atlas of Cultural Heritage, Noordhoff Editors
Other graduates have found positions at, for example, the The Dutch National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden University, het Stedelijk Gymnasium Breda and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Alumni stories
- Louisa Niesen is a PhD candidate at the European University Institute in Florence.
Alumni on LinkedIn
Bjorn Storm
Junior Conservator at Slot Zuylen
Mara Kamerling
Senior Advisor Library and Archive Collections at Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed
Career development
Preparing for the job market
During the Cultural History and Heritage Master's, you will be exposed to the job market in the following ways:
- You will take part in study trips and field visits as part of the seminars
- You will attend guest lectures by cultural historians working at social institutions, such as the Rijksmuseum, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science or an opinion journal.
- The Cultural Career Seminar helps you to reflect on your professional future and supports you in exploring various career opportunities. As the CCS is integrated with the graduation project, the focus is on coaching during the project, networking and preparing for the job market. In this way, the CCS prepares students for their future careers as cultural historians and heritage professionals.
- Your graduation project, which you will develop in close collaboration with an organisation working in the field of heritage, public history or research.
Career Services
Career Services offers events, tests, coaching and training in and outside your MA program, related to professional self-analysis, career orientation and job application skills. You can find more information about career services on Career Services.
Other career events
- Your Perspective is a monthly career orientation meeting for students and alumni of the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University. Each month we explore a different field of work or theme that is relevant for students of various disciplines within the humanities.
- The Faculty of Humanities organises a Career Night Humanities with interesting partners who will illustrate the diversity in career opportunities for humanities graduates and give you possibilities to develop yourself by joining their projects or attending their services.
- Once a year Utrecht University organises a Career Day. This Career Day offers the opportunity to sign up for workshops and trainings, and to meet recruiters at the careers fair. It’s also possible to participate in a job application training or have your résumé checked.
Bring your knowledge to life in the classroom!
Do you want to inspire young people and do something that truly matters? Become a teacher by completing the one-year programme Leraar voorbereidend hoger onderwijs (LVHO) after your Master’s degree. You’ll be qualified to teach at all levels of secondary education (vmbo/havo/vwo), in mbo and in adult education. Please note that the programme is in Dutch.