Educational goals

The educational purposes underlying the Master’s degree course include: acquisition of the traditional methodological assets of a historical and philological nature in relation to the history of the arts from Greco-Roman antiquity to the modern age; language skills (written and oral) in a language of the European Community - preferably English, but without excluding French and German, based on subject requirements - with full command of the vocabulary of the historical-artistic disciplines; acquisition of general scientific skills (both theoretical and operational) in relation to the knowledge, enhancement and conservation of archaeological and historical-artistic assets, with a diverse curriculum trait, including with a view to research endeavours. The thesis, which concludes the course of study, consists of an original dissertation. It aims to encourage students to investigate aspects and problems of the cultural heritage of a specific historical period, according to rigorous scientific methodology and under the guidance of a lecturer. The curricular traineeship is highly professional in nature and, depending on the curricular option of the students, allows them to reach out to organisations engaging in the protection of archaeological, historical, artistic and archival assets. The range of course subjects taught at the university are extremely different from each other, yet all pertain to SSDs that form part of the core curriculum. These sectors have therefore also been included in kindred subjects to offer learners the possibility of further in-depth study and/or methodological consolidation. The educational path of the Master’s degree known as LM89 will consist of two curricula: archaeological curriculum and historical-artistic curriculum. The two courses at Pavia University share a solid educational foundation, covering classical art (L-ANT/07 - ARCH-01/D), medieval art (L-ART/01 - ARTE-01/A) and modern art (L-ART/02 - ARTE-01/B). They also include historical and cultural aspects ahead of the specific professional roles students may hold, such as those related to museology, artistic literature and art criticism (L-ART/04 - ARTE-01/D). The courses also provide basic information on the most technologically up-to-date methods for retrieval and selection of specialist bibliography (M-STO/08 - HIST-04/C). The two curricula are mainly intended to respond to the need for an adequate historical and cultural contextualisation and thus for a deeper knowledge of the artistic phenomenon in the areas of the ancient Greco-Roman world and medieval, modern and contemporary Europe, respectively. Study plans therefore tend to be parallel. The classical archaeology curriculum sets out to provide students with advanced skills in antiquity and general and institutional skills in medievalism and modernism. Conversely, the art history curriculum aims to provide students with advanced skills in medievalism, modernism and contemporary art, and general and institutional skills in antiquity. In both curricula, the first year is essentially geared towards the intensive acquisition of subject-specific skills. The second year includes a limited number of supplementary courses, a curricular traineeship and, of course, the drafting and writing of the thesis. With regard to the archaeology curriculum, the area of archaeology and the history of ancient art is intended to allow students to gain further critical and specialised insights into the historical development of figurative arts, craft production and architecture in classical antiquity (in the Greek, Etruscan-Italic and Roman context). The same area in the art history curriculum focuses on acquiring the basic cognitive skills needed to understand the various phenomena of continuity or revival of the ancient world that are to be found in medieval, modern and contemporary art. By the end of the two-year specialisation course, all graduates are expected to have a solid understanding of the historical context of ancient art. Those on the archaeology curriculum are expected in particular to demonstrate a high degree of independence in the stylistic classification and historical and critical evaluation of artefacts produced in antiquity. In the art history curriculum, the art history learning area is aimed at enabling students to gain further critical and specialised insights into the historical development of figurative art and architecture in the medieval, modern and contemporary West. Students on the archaeology curriculum, on the other hand, will acquire an adequate degree of relevant basic knowledge in order to understand how the late Roman artistic language transformed into the medieval, modern and contemporary language. By the end of the two-year specialisation programme, art history graduates are expected to have a solid understanding of the historical context of medieval, modern and contemporary art, and to be able to analyse and critically evaluate paintings, artefacts and monuments independently. The learning area of art literature includes various methodological aspects. From a classroom-based teaching perspective, focus is placed on the study of modern art literature in its descriptive and documentary and historical and critical aspects, as well as on understanding the main theoretical aspects of the musealisation of works of art and acquiring a broad knowledge of relevant examples. By the end of the two-year specialisation programme, graduates should be able to navigate art literature independently and critically. The archiving learning area focuses on gaining an understanding of the methods of sedimentation, sorting and preservation of documentary complexes from the Middle Ages to the present day. Practise sessions held conducted directly at archival fonds allow students to become familiar with their organisation, the problems associated with their management, and the workings of documentary research. By the end of the two-year specialisation course, graduates should have acquired an informed approach to archival sources, as well as the ability to evaluate documentary collections from a historical and critical perspective, and to use them for research purposes.

Career opportunities

Expert in Ancient Art. The knowledge acquired will enable graduates to: - Work in collaboration with and to be part of archaeological service societies and cooperatives; - Work in organisations and study and research organisations engaged in the conservation of archaeological, artistic, documentary and monumental assets, in public (but not state-owned) organisations and institutions, such as municipalities, provinces, regions, and private entities (e.g. foundations); - Take part in archaeological fieldwork (surface exploration and excavations) subject to authorisation and on behalf of the conservation authorities, including as part of professional associations; - Conduct scientific communication activities on archaeological topics, using both print and multimedia tools. - Participate in public exams to qualify as a tourist guide; - Specialisation schools, Doctorate programmes and Master's programmes. As mentioned above (“function in a work context”), it should be noted that, according to Italian law, in order that graduates may hold inspection and management positions in state-owned museum institutions and organisations involved in the protection of archaeological sites and monuments, a postgraduate diploma and/or PhD in archaeology are required in addition to a Master's degree. This requirement must also be met in order to pursue an academic career in this field. Art Historian. With regard to the public administration, art historians can find employment with institutions engaging in the conservation of artistic and historical heritage, superintendent’s offices, museums, galleries, picture galleries, subject to obtaining a postgraduate diploma and/or PhD. In the private sector, they can find employment with publishing and auction houses, galleries, tourist agencies, companies or foundations responsible for preserving, cataloguing and studying works of art, artists' archives. Graduates may continue their studies at the third level of university education (Specialisation schools or Doctorate programmes or Master's degree). Under applicable legislation, graduates who have sufficient credits in the relevant subject groups will be eligible to take the secondary education teaching training admissions test. Art Expert. They can find employment as art critics, fine arts experts and art historians, in a freelance capacity, for the evaluation, communication and dissemination of art events. Museum Curator and Conservator. Museum curator, museum director, art gallery manager at public and private institutions. Researchers and graduate technicians in the sciences of antiquity, philology, literature and art history. In a university environment, achieving researcher status is the first milestone in a university career. According to current legislation, only fixed-term researcher may be employed (subject to passing an exam). Researchers can also find employment in research institutions (e.g. CNR) and companies where research activities are promoted to foster innovation.

Admission requirements

To be admitted to the Master's degree course, students must hold a Bachelor's degree or a three-year university diploma, including those obtained under the regulations in force prior to Ministerial Decree 509/1999, as amended, or another qualification obtained abroad recognised by the relevant bodies of the University. Admission also requires compliance with the curricular requirements specified below and an adequate basic, methodological and historical background acquired in the previous course of studies in linguistics, literature, history of philosophy and art history. The Teaching Regulations applicable to the course set out procedures intended to assess the adequacy of the student's background. To be admitted to the Master's degree course, student must hold a Bachelor's degree in one of the following classes: pursuant to Ministerial Decree 270/2004: L-1 Cultural Heritage L-3 Disciplines of Visual Arts, Music, Performing Arts and Fashion L-10 Humanities DAPL10 (First-Level Academic Degrees, Art Education, Equivalent Degree Class L-3) pursuant to Ministerial Decree. 509/1999 5 Humanities 13 Cultural Heritage Sciences 23 Science and technology in the Visual Arts, Music, Performing Arts and Fashion 41 Technologies for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage - or degree obtained under the previous system (prior to Ministerial Decree 509/99) in: Disciplines of Arts, Music and Performing Arts History and Conservation of Cultural Heritage Students who have obtained a Bachelor's degree in subjects other than those indicated must demonstrate an adequate level of general knowledge in the fields of history and literature, or history and art. This can be proven by meeting the following curricular requirements: a minimum of 36 CFUs accrued in the following SSDs. 24 CFUs L-ART/01 (ART-01/A) - History of Medieval Art; L-ART/02 (ART-01/B) - History of Modern Art; L-ART/03 (ARTE-01/C) - History of Contemporary Art; L-ART/04 (ARTE-01/D) Museology and Art and Restoration Criticism L-ANT/07 (ARCH-01/D) Classical Archaeology L-ANT/08 Christian and Medieval Archaeology (ARCH-01/E Christian, Late Antiquity and Medieval Archaeology) 12 CFUs L-FIL-LET/10 (ITAL-01/A) - Italian Literature and/or L-FIL- LET/11 (LICO-01/A)- Contemporary Italian Literature L-ANT/02 (STAN-01/A) - Greek History L-ANT/03 (STAN-01/B) - Roman History; M-STO/01 (HIST-01/A) - Medieval History; M-STO/02 (HIST-02/A) - Modern History;