Master's Study Programme: Oral History and Contemporary History
The two-year Master Study Programme in Oral History and Contemporary History is intended for students interested in contemporary (European) history, in interviewing methodologies and in interpretative methods. Its main aim is to train students to conduct research through creating and analysing interviews, and developing fieldwork projects to address those historical and contemporary issues that require interdisciplinary investigation.
The Master is divided into two sections, the first covers contemporary (Czech and international) history and events, the second is methodological and focuses on various interviewing techniques through which we can study contemporary history. It binds together two general approaches of studying history, the macro and micro approaches, and enables a thorough understanding of recent events in history. The Master Study Programme in Oral and Contemporary History has practical applications in academic and university research, historic preservation and legal and human rights work.
Profile of a Graduate
The graduates have a chance to become not only narrowly specialized experts with employment in scientific field and in research activity in academia, but, thanks to their knowledge, skills and experience, they also have the option of applying themselves in the sphere of formal and non-formal education in institutions of the university and non-university type, as ordinary or directing staff in state and political administration at the central, regional or local level, in expert groups in the EU (European Union), in the UN (United Nations) agencies network, in the field of monument preservation and generally in the field of cultural heritage preservation (e.g. in historical institutions, museums etc.); furthermore, in the position of the modern archive managers and workers responsible for files in the national archives, but also in business and corporate archives.
Of course, they may find employment in the private sector as employees of non-profit organisations operating in the sphere of adherence to and the general protection of human rights, in the area of monitoring gender rights or the rights of minorities, or they may specialise in specific social support and counselling for selected individuals or groups of the population. Furthermore, the graduates can work as ordinary employees or as the managers, respectively, in the management of domestic, European and global political (or economical) institutions and organisations, such as creative workers of printed,electronic or audiovisual media or as professional analysts and experts in the consulting field.
