Courses at the Master's Program in Conservation

Study plan

At the beginning of your studies, you will establish an individual study plan in consultation with the program coordinator. The plan's purpose is to guide you through your studies and includes a time plan, your selection of courses, and your area of specialisation.

Individual courses

The individual courses offer a great opportunity for in-depth studies in a specific area of interest. They can also be used as complementary studies increasing orientation into a broader context.

The individual courses are normally given as literature-based courses but could also be designed as project courses in combination with field studies or internships. They are offered on several occasions throughout the program. 

If you are interested in producing a research-intensive report in a specific area, you have the opportunity to write your master's thesis during the full second year. 

Year 1

Built environments and management of change, 7,5 credits

Course code: KUA701
Syllabus

The course offers an in-depth understanding of basic concepts and theoretical issues in the field of conservation through historical and international perspectives. You learn how to position yourself in relation to contemporary conservation approaches, while independently and critically referring to relevant concepts and theories.

Advanced methods for documentation and analysis of built environments, 15 credits

Course code: KUA702
Syllabus

In this course, you examine the built environment as a dynamic resource with economic, social, and cultural value, where preservation and transformation require critical analysis and deep understanding. The course gives you knowledge and practical skills in documentation and analysis methods, focusing on data collection and interpretation of material, structural, and spatial properties. The course also prepares you to develop informed strategies for conservation and sustainable transformation. It covers measurement, drawing, 3D documentation, digital visualisation, and scientific analysis of materials, craftsmanship, and structures. Heritage planning methods for site analysis and value assessment are also introduced.

Built environments and contemporary challenges, 15 credits 

Course code: KUA703
Syllabus

The course explores the complexities involved in the professional practice of conservation, with a focus on the sustainable management and development of built environments. A range of external challenges, including climate change, large-scale urban development, and industrial developments, but also mass tourism, neglect or underuse of historic environments, affect both the need for and the outcomes of conservation efforts. In this course you learn how to effectively respond to such challenges by using transdisciplinary approaches and collaboration across professional fields and stakeholder groups.

Space, place and landscape, 15 credits

Course code: KUA704
Syllabus

The course focuses on the spatial dimension of the cultural environment. By exploring the historical, ecological and cultural processes that together shape and transform places and landscapes the course provides training in examining the same environment from multiple perspectives, supported by the various scholarly approaches that converge in the field of conservation (in Swedish: kulturvård). With a main focus on environments beyond the most densely populated urban centres, the course explores relationships between nature and culture, urban and rural, the material and the immaterial, and how such boundaries can be understood and shifted. During the course you learn how interdisciplinary perspectives can be applied to interpret, care for and protect the values of places and landscapes. Field studies are a central part of the course, and assignments are carried out both individually and in groups.

Research methods in cultural heritage conservation, 7,5 credits

Course code: KUA410
Syllabus (PDF)

The course provides you with the knowledge and skills required to perform independent research in cultural heritage conservation. The course includes the following research topics: ethics; archival and bibliographical methods; data collection methods (case studies, experimental research, surveying, and statistical studies); different approaches (comparative, exploratory, prescriptive and normative); design; and the presentation of research results.