MA/MS in Colonial and Global History: Maritime History

This specialisation of the Colonial and Global History master examines maritime history through what is often called the 'Oceanic Turn': moving beyond economic, political and nautical themes to also study social, cultural and environmental dimensions of seafaring. Textual sources on global shipping are compared against visual and material culture, in cooperation with cultural heritage institutions across the Netherlands. Students explore why societies have taken to the sea, how different cultures have mastered it, and how oceans have connected or divided peoples, goods, values and ideas, linking shifts in global shipping to changes within colonial and post-colonial societies. An internship at a maritime museum or heritage institution is also possible.