Description
The Master’s in History, Civilisations and Heritage includes theory-based, methodology-based and applied course units, whilst an important role is also given to research activity.
This Master’s programme comprises three subject pathways (‘Classical Literatures’, ‘Medieval Studies’ and ‘Ancient History’), which are geared towards professions in research, heritage and teaching. The subject pathways draw chiefly on the scientific output of university lecturer-researchers and of the researchers affiliated with the Université Bordeaux Montaigne joint research unit, Ausonius. This multidisciplinary research team, which is recognised internationally, brings together specialists in Hellenistic and Roman texts (literary specialists and philologists) with historians and archaeologists of Ancient and Medieval history. The specialised course units taught within the three subject pathways provide an in-depth study of the sciences from Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages, their specific interrogations and their unique methodologies. Moreover, students become familiar with research activity in these fields: they attend seminars and scientific events held by the Université Bordeaux Montaigne joint research unit, Ausonius. Students are sometimes also involved in the organisation of these events. Ultimately, one of this programme’s priorities is to encourage openness between these close and complementary disciplines and so some of the seminar units are merged with other programmes. It is this multidisciplinary approach that makes this Master’s programme – which is the only one of its kind in France – so original.
Objectives
The Master’s programme in Ancient History is one of the three possible subject pathways that can be chosen within the Master’s in History, Civilisations and Heritage. The programme aims to shape future specialists in the history of Classical Antiquity. In both the first and second year of this two-year programme, students study in greater depth the generalised learning they acquired during their undergraduate Licence degree. This is via research seminar units (Greek and Roman history) in which students learn about the key current research trends, the methods used and the interrogations currently underway. One of the objectives in the first year of this two-year programme is to give students direct contact with written sources so that they can progressively acquire a certain technical and intellectual autonomy. A course unit in Classical Languages is also offered as part of the core common curriculum, proposing either an introduction to Latin or Greek or the consolidation of skills already acquired in these two languages. In conjunction with these research seminar units, a workshop entitled Epigraphy provides a technical training that allows students to draw on a rich and constantly evolving collection of documentation.
Students of Ancient History also have the option of complementing their studies with an advanced and demanding introduction to the other sciences from Classical Antiquity. This is thanks to ‘taster’ seminar units: seminars selected from the other two subject pathways within this Master’s programme, or from the Master’s programme in Archaeology and Sciences for Archaeological Purposes. This is in keeping with the spirit of Classical Studies as practised elsewhere in Europe and North America. Students must produce a ‘pre-dissertation’ in the first year and a full dissertation in the second year. These projects represent a key learning process with regard to their research skills. In addition, students may attend colloquiums, study days and seminars run by the Université Bordeaux Montaigne joint research unit, Ausonius. In some cases students may also be invited to participate in the organisation of these events.
Training content
Two years of study: Master 1 (M1) and Master 2 (M2)
In Master 1, students on the ‘Ancient History’ pathway follow the organisation of the Master’s in ‘History, Civilisations and Heritage’ as a whole. There is a unit block (Course Choices M2) with four course units per semester. For the chosen discipline, this brings together the theoretical learning assimilated in the research seminar units with the technical and methodological training acquired via the workshops. ‘Taster’ seminar units allow students to gain training in neighbouring and complementary disciplines from the other two subject pathways within this Master’s programme, or from the Master’s programme entitled ‘Archaeology and Sciences for Archaeological Purposes’.
Four further unit blocks consolidate this interdisciplinary and methodology-based training. There is a block entitled Cross-disciplinary Skills (units include Documentation, with the backing of the Robert-Étienne library at the Maison de l’Archéologie; Modern Languages; ‘taster’ seminar units) and another entitled Common Core Curriculum (units include Methodology: Introduction to Scientific Writing; Classical Languages: Latin and Greek). The production of a ‘pre-dissertation’ in the first year and then of a full dissertation in the second year enables students to develop their skills in research and scientific writing. In the second year, course units are thus concentrated in the first semester. The second semester is reserved entirely for the completion of the research-based dissertation.
Master 1: First year of two-year Master’s programme
Other than the unit blocks entitled Cross-disciplinary Skills and Common Core Curriculum, which are the same for all three of the subject pathways, the programme of study in Ancient History is organised around a unit block entitled Course Choices M2. For each semester, this is composed of four course units. The first course is a research seminar unit corresponding to the axes of research underway at the Université Bordeaux Montaigne joint research unit, Ausonius (on Greek or Roman history, according to the semester). The second course unit is a workshop entitled Epigraphy (Greek or Latin). The third course unit is a workshop entitled Social and Economic Practices in the Mediterranean. Finally, the fourth course unit is a ‘taster’ seminar unit that looks at related academic disciplines within this Master’s programme and within the Master’s programme in Archaeology. The pre-dissertation in Master 1, which is evaluated at the end of Semester 2 as part of the Methodology and Common Core Curriculum unit blocks, explores a subject chosen by students in conjunction with their research supervisors. Students carry out an initial assessment of the sources, bibliography, research question and study axes. This ‘pre-dissertation’ enables students to lay the foundations for their full dissertation in Master 2.
Master 2: Second year of two-year Master’s programme
The second year sets aside more time for personal work and the first-hand study of documentation. This is formally evaluated via the completion of a research-based dissertation. The majority of these two semesters is thus spent on this dissertation. In addition, in the first semester of Master 2 and as part of the pathway-specific unit block, students follow two research seminar units (one seminar unit on Greek or Roman history and one cross-disciplinary seminar unit). These draw on research currently underway within the Université Bordeaux Montaigne joint research unit Ausonius, or alternatively may be the means of providing a historiographical response to a specific thematic question.
Access condition
Find information regarding enrolment procedures and the supporting documents to be provided, according to your profile and your level of studies :
Identifier ROME
- K2108 : Enseignement supérieur
Career pathways
By definition, professions related to higher education and research within universities and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) constitute key employment opportunities for students of all three pathways within this Master’s. But the programme of study also leaves students the option of moving into other professions, particularly those related to heritage and culture. This Master’s also constitutes an excellent scientific training for those students who wish to work in secondary education (particularly training for the competitive university examination for the recruitment of History teachers, known as ‘Agrégation’). Students wishing to continue along their chosen subject pathway with further study may enrol as doctoral candidates. This is provided that their marks throughout the Master’s programme are of a satisfactory standard (particularly for the dissertation element).
