The Master of Arts in Development Studies offers a solid academic and professionally relevant training in theory and methods for development studies. It is designed for those wishing to start or continue their professional careers in the area of development. In the MA program, you learn about the most recent theories and debates. You will also learn to apply this knowledge to practical issues of development and social change.

MA students are encouraged to develop a critical understanding of major debates, theories, and strategic interventions and of the skills to analyze the issues and to design and assess interventions aimed at tackling these issues. An essential part of this process is to develop skills in research methodology, which will be applied in a research paper prepared as a requirement for the Master's degree.... [-]

The Master of Photography is a two-year, full-time program. It offers ambitious artists a critical context in which they can deepen their practice and lay the foundation for a long-term, sustainable career in the arts.

As the only master’s program in the Netherlands dedicated to photography, we operate from the broadest possible definition of the medium. The documentary discourse and lens-based media theory are starting points for an unorthodox variety of cultural production. Students and faculty work in a wide range of contexts, including film, performance, writing, activism and curation.

At the core of the program is the student’s self-directed research and studio practice. A strong theoretical component, combined with mentoring from a faculty of renowned artists, guides students towards the development of process-based approach to artistic production. The qualities and problems specific to lens-based media are explored from within the conceptual realm.... [-]

The Master of Graphic Design is a two-year, full-time program. It offers ambitious designers the opportunity to deepen their practice and lay the foundation for a long-term, sustainable career in the field of design.

The program centers upon a thorough understanding of the process of design and is research-oriented. You will be trained in media and graphic design theory, as well as the communicative and ethical skills essential to the visual interpretation of information in today’s technology-based society. Tutors and guest lecturers are professionals with rich and active practices, allowing us to keep our finger on the pulse of the ever-shifting design world.... [-]

The Master of Fine Art is a two-year, full-time program. It offers ambitious artists the opportunity to deepen their practice and position themselves firmly within the historical and contemporary discourse.

The artist’s role in society is changing. At AKV|St.Joost, you will learn not only how to respond to the current challenges and opportunities, but also how to shape this new reality. The program is deeply involved with new models of self-organization, alternative networks, and artist-initiated activities. All tutors have practices engaged in these modes of working, and together with them, you will explore your own position within the contemporary landscape.

The Master of Animation is a one-year, full-time program. It offers ambitious animators the opportunity to broaden their expertise and lay the foundation for a long-term, sustainable career in the creative sector.

Animation professionals work within an increasingly wide range of contexts. The program helps students navigate animation’s expanding field, which includes the essential role it has long played in the cinema, but also exciting new applications in design, games and interactive media. Students are challenged to find novel ways to enter these areas and to establish their own position within them.

The student’s self-directed research and studio practice are at the center of the program. We work with you to create substantial professional growth, based on your background, research path and ambitions. The program is geared towards animators and designers who have experience with the moving image.... [-]

The MA History program Global History and International Studies focus on how the circulation of people, goods and ideas across the globe developed over time and shaped the world as we know it today. Courses deal with a range of subjects, from the “Great Divergence” between industrial development in China and Europe to unfree labor in a global perspective, the circulation of racial theories and global migrations. In specialized courses, you learn from our experts about the most recent trends. The choice of subject for your master’s thesis is free.

More than just the past

The program combines approaches from history and the social sciences, especially anthropology, economics and international relations. Courses deal with a range of subjects, from the “Great Divergence” between industrial development in China and Europe to unfree labor in a global perspective, the circulation of racial theories and global migrations. In addition to archival sources, students will acquire a basic notion of field research and the use of online sources such as diasporic social media and learn to work with digital databases in the field of economic and social history. Students can also improve their knowledge, network and skills by participating in activities of research institutes such as the center for Environmental Humanities and CLUE+. The link between history and contemporary political debates on migration, nationalism and ethnicity is discussed throughout the program.... [-]

The interdisciplinary MA program History: Medical and Health Humanities combines the history of health and medicine with a wide array of arts and humanities approaches. Classes explore the different ways that bodies and minds have been investigated and understood, and how these various ways of knowing shape everyday life, medical practice, and public health policy. Participants learn to contextualize medical ideas in the time and culture, and to analyze a diverse range of sources, including historical artifacts, comics and films, medical texts and health journalism. Drawing on methods from across the disciplines, students will broaden their tools of investigation beyond the written word to also consider the sounds, smells, and the look and feel of the past and its lessons and legacies in the present day.... [-]

The MA History program Religion and Society focusses on understanding the changing role of religion(s) in society from Antiquity up until the present. Courses deal with questions such as: what is the relationship between religion, politics and society since Antiquity? How can we understand the gradual separation of Church and State and new forms of worship, dissent and devotion since the western Middle Ages? And what has been the impact of broader processes such as secularisation, globalization and colonialism?

Long-standing tradition of expertise

The History department of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has a strong tradition in teaching and analyzing the role of religion throughout history. Religion is studied in its societal and political contexts and from a long-term perspective, which makes our program unique. Students are trained in the latest interdisciplinary approaches to study religion, including history, cultural anthropology, archaeology, philology and digital humanities. They can improve their knowledge, network and skills by participating in activities of research institutes such as the Amsterdam Centre for Religious History and CLUE+. The program has great societal relevance as topics such as clashes between religion and secularism, the entangled relations between politics and religion and the future of religious heritage are discussed.... [-]

Contemporary Art History is a specialization focusing on visual, process-based, and digital art since the 1960s. Far from being restricted to the classical art forms of painting, sculpture, and graphics, today’s art includes installation art and site-specific projects, digital or new media art (interactive installations, locative media works, software art, networked art, electronic art and video art), performative and activist projects and artistic research.

What unites these art forms is that they directly address the complexity of today’s society, within which information technologies and globalization play an ever-increasing role, leading to networked forms of artistic practice that transgress national and cultural borders. At the same time, artists are very aware of the heritage they build upon, deconstructing, commenting on, or appropriating art history, leading to various attempts to describe contemporary art with terms such as post-modern, post-conceptual, post-medium, and more recently even post-internet and post-digital – and post-contemporary...... [-]

Master in Design Cultures

The MA program Design Cultures is all about the study of product design, graphic design and fashion in a broad diverse cultural context. The focus is on both the designer as ‘author’ and the complex chain of production, sale, consumption, and criticism in which design operates and derives its many different meanings. Design Cultures restores design as the core object of academic interest without detracting from the cultural and material context in which it operates. The program combines a generalist, comparative approach to design with a clear focus on history and theory.

Career Prospects

The Design Cultures course is taught in English. It is an internationally oriented course which has close ties with real-life practice. Besides studying the theoretical and historical background of design, students get a chance to do their graduation project in association with key players in the design world. Students of Design Cultures can look forward to careers in cultural institutions (editor, project manager), museums (researcher, curator), media, (author, critic, producer), government (administrator, advisor), design agencies (researcher, consultant) and educational and research institutes (teacher, researcher).... [-]

Our academic calendar is based on a quarter system (1 quarter = 10 weeks). Because of the program's flexible structure and modular design, multiple starting dates are available at the start of every Quarter and of every Term, in October, November, January, February, April, May, July, and August. All campuses follow the same academic calendar.

Full-time students can earn a Master degree in 1 academic year of 9 months, for a total of 3 quarters of 20 credits each, or within 12 months when spreading the workload.

Part-time students can earn a Master degree in 2 to 3 academic years, depending on the number of courses attempted per quarter, the course selection and the course planning; earning half the typical number of courses equals twice the duration of the full-time program.... [-]

Our academic calendar is based on a quarter system (1 quarter = 10 weeks). Because of the program's flexible structure and modular design, multiple starting dates are available at the start of every Quarter and of every Term, in October, November, January, February, April, May, July, and August. All campuses follow the same academic calendar.

Full-time students can earn a Master degree in 1 academic year of 9 months, for a total of 3 quarters of 20 credits each, or within 12 months when spreading the workload.

Part-time students can earn a Master degree in 2 to 3 academic years, depending on the number of courses attempted per quarter, the course selection and the course planning; earning half the typical number of courses equals twice the duration of the full-time program.... [-]

Our academic calendar is based on a quarter system (1 quarter = 10 weeks). Because of the program's flexible structure and modular design, multiple starting dates are available at the start of every Quarter and of every Term, in October, November, January, February, April, May, July, and August. All campuses follow the same academic calendar.

Full-time students can earn a Master degree in 1 academic year of 9 months, for a total of 3 quarters of 20 credits each, or within 12 months when spreading the workload.

Part-time students can earn a Master degree in 2 to 3 academic years, depending on the number of courses attempted per quarter, the course selection and the course planning; earning half the typical number of courses equals twice the duration of the full-time program.... [-]

Our academic calendar is based on a quarter system (1 quarter = 10 weeks). Because of the program's flexible structure and modular design, multiple starting dates are available at the start of every Quarter and of every Term, in October, November, January, February, April, May, July, and August. All campuses follow the same academic calendar.

Full-time students can earn a Master degree in 1 academic year of 9 months, for a total of 3 quarters of 20 credits each, or within 12 months when spreading the workload.

Part-time students can earn a Master degree in 2 to 3 academic years, depending on the number of courses attempted per quarter, the course selection and the course planning; earning half the typical number of courses equals twice the duration of the full-time program.... [-]

Our academic calendar is based on a quarter system (1 quarter = 10 weeks). Because of the program's flexible structure and modular design, multiple starting dates are available at the start of every Quarter and of every Term, in October, November, January, February, April, May, July, and August. All campuses follow the same academic calendar.

Full-time students can earn a Master degree in 1 academic year of 9 months, for a total of 3 quarters of 20 credits each, or within 12 months when spreading the workload.

Part-time students can earn a Master degree in 2 to 3 academic years, depending on the number of courses attempted per quarter, the course selection and the course planning; earning half the typical number of courses equals twice the duration of the full-time program.... [-]