26 June 2025

Please note: Students currently enrolled in either specialisation will not be affected by this future change.

 The Faculty Board, after deliberation with the Education Committee, the Faculty Council, and following up on previous advice of the midterm visitation committee, has decided to request the joining of the two specialisations of the Bachelor in Archaeology per September 2026, with the goal of strengthening the programme.

The specialisations (World Archaeology and Heritage and Society) were once created to help students bring focus to their programme. The first held an emphasis on archaeological practice (i.e., fieldwork, laboratory work), the second on heritage research (i.e., museums, collections, and present-day heritage questions).

Most students showed a preference for the World Archaeology specialisation, while being interested in following individual courses from the Heritage and Society specialisation as electives. For this reason, it was decided to give students more flexibility in choosing their own programme. The cancellation of the specialisations does not mean that all related courses will no longer be taught, but rather that we will compose a new bachelor programme that combines the strengths of both former specialisations, to better reflect the reality of archaeological work as always encompassing heritage and societal questions.

In the week of June 23^rd the Executive Board of Leiden University greenlit the proposal, paving the way for uniting the specialisations by September 2026. Students already enrolled in either World Archaeology or Heritage and Society will not be affected by the change.