Looking back on the master's Heritage and Religion

Hi! My name is Bethany Wong and I followed the master's programme Heritage and Religion , from which I graduated last year. For my bachelor’s degree, I studied Liberal Arts and Sciences , where I majored in Health and Life Sciences. During my third year, my exchange to the US got canceled because of COVID, so I took the Art and Religion minor at the University of Groningen.

A switch to Heritage and Religin

I have always liked going to museums and looking at paintings, so I thought it would be fun to take this minor. After completing the minor, I realized I liked the content more than the things I learned during my science bachelor's degree. Moreover, after doing some courses which involve lab work, I realized that going down the scientific path is not for me. Hence, for my master’s, I decided to switch to Heritage and Religion. 

I don’t think I had a very concrete expectation of the knowledge that would be taught, because back then I felt that l knew too little of the field to really understand the different aspects that could be taught. I was constantly surprised by the breadth and the depth of knowledge of the professors, even in areas where they are supposedly not an expert in.  The teachers also made extra effort to make the assignments interesting and to incorporate skills that we could use in the future if we were to work in the heritage field. 

Abrahamic Faiths

I enjoyed learning about heritage, both the more theoretical and practical side of things. The professors always taught interesting content and they put effort into making the assignments fun and they tried to apply them to real life situations. I also liked the obligatory internship as it forces you to reach out and approach professionals in the field. I completed my internship at Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken. I did preliminary research for an art project related to the Abrahamic Faiths, with a focus on three locations: Cordoba, Sicily, and Thessaloniki. All three places had a past history where Christians, Muslims and Jews coexisted together. The current plan is to sponsor artists to stay in these three locations, to live and interact with people of the three faiths in the local area and at the end create art pieces that would tour around Europe, spreading the message of religious tolerance. My research was to create a report which summarizes the field of the study of Abrahamic faiths, the history of the three locations when the people of the three faiths coexisted, and to make initial contact with professionals or locals who would be involved in the local Abrahamic scenery. The project is currently moving to the next phase and I am still involved in it.

A broad perspective

I have developed strong research and analytical skills that I use to locate and evaluate sources, and present findings in a clear and concise manner. Although the job I do now is not directly related to the heritage field, the knowledge I have gathered in the master’s helped as it gives me an understanding of cultural and historical contexts and their significance to different communities.

Original source: Bethany Wong