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Programme
RELIC is a two-year international Erasmus Mundus Joint Master that prepares future professionals to engage critically, ethically, and inclusively with cultural and religious heritage in society. Inspired by the principles of the Council of Europe’s Faro Convention, the programme equips students with advanced analytical and leadership skills to support the responsible representation, governance, and sustainability of heritage in the public domain.
Delivered by a global consortium of universities in the Netherlands, Poland, Cyprus, Spain, India, and Mexico, RELIC offers a strongly interdisciplinary, research-informed, and practice-oriented curriculum. Students work closely with local communities, heritage institutions, and public authorities, with particular attention to the policy, legal, ecological, and digital dimensions of heritage.
Mobility is mandatory and fully integrated into the curriculum. Learning outcomes and ECTS are automatically recognised across partner institutions, ensuring coherent academic progression without loss of credits.
An international programme with Two Mobility Pathways
All students begin the programme together in Groningen (Netherlands), where they acquire a shared foundation in heritage theory, methods, and policy frameworks. From there, students follow one of two international mobility pathways, each offering distinct linguistic, geographic, and thematic perspectives.
Mobility Pathway 1 – English Track
Groningen (Netherlands) → Kalady (India) → Krakow (Poland)
The English Track is taught entirely in English and focuses on the interdisciplinary exploration of the relationships between religion, culture, and the environment. Courses draw on Religious Studies, Heritage Studies, and Environmental Humanities, equipping students to critically analyse how religious traditions, spiritual practices, and ecological systems shape human cultures.
SEMESTER 2
India (SSUS)
Students encounter critical heritage perspectives rooted in South Asian intellectual and cultural contexts. Through electives, site visits, fieldwork, and GIS-based digital training, they gain hands-on experience analysing the interplay between religious practice, environmental thought, and community heritage.
SEMESTER 3
Poland (Jagiellonian University)
Students explore interreligious encounters and ecological heritage in a Central and Eastern European context. Courses emphasise comparative perspectives on belief systems, cross-cultural exchange, and the role of heritage in mediating intercultural coexistence
Mobility Pathway 2 – Spanish–English Track
Groningen (Netherlands) → Guanajuato (Mexico) → Barcelona (Spain)
The Spanish–English Track is taught in English in Groningen and Cyprus, and in Spanish in Mexico and Spain. It focuses on the intersection of community engagement, law, technology, and culture in heritage preservation and governance.
SEMESTER 2
Mexico (Universidad de Guanajuato)
Students deepen their understanding of the legal and sociocultural dimensions of heritage management, particularly in Latin American contexts. Courses combine academic study with fieldwork and applied heritage interventions, examining how legislation shapes cultural policy, identity, and the rights of marginalised communities.
SEMESTER 3
Spain (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
The focus shifts to digital heritage and cultural technologies, combining digital humanities, art, anthropology, and critical heritage theory. Students develop practical digital skills while critically assessing their ethical, epistemological, and political implications
A Shared Flagship Experience:
Intensive Immersion Course (Cyprus)
At the start of the fourth semester, all students from both tracks reunite at the Cyprus Institute for the compulsory Intensive Immersion Course (5 ECTS).
This two-week, practice-based course uses Cyprus as a living laboratory for studying contested heritage, religious coexistence, conflict, and environmental transformation. Through excursions, interdisciplinary workshops, laboratory sessions, and collaborative research projects, students experiment with advanced scientific and digital methods for heritage analysis. The course also provides an opportunity to develop thesis ideas connected to Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Final Semester:
Thesis, Training, and Internship
The remainder of the fourth semester (25 ECTS) is dedicated to:
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the Master’s Thesis (20 ECTS), and
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an optional internship or applied training (5 ECTS).
Students may complete the final semester at any RELIC partner institution, depending on academic interests and supervision availability. Each thesis is jointly supervised by academics from at least two partner universities, reinforcing the programme’s international and interdisciplinary character. Theses are written in English or Spanish and defended orally at the end of the programme.
Responsible Leadership Skills:
A Core Feature of RELIC
A distinctive feature of RELIC is its integrated Responsible Leadership Skills component. Across the programme, students develop competencies in five transversal areas:
1. Religion and Heritage in a Globalised World
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Project management in international, multi-stakeholder contexts
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Collaborative, interdisciplinary research and practice
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Translating critical theory into practical heritage strategies
2. Communities and Inclusive Heritage
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Reflexive awareness of positionality and power
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Intercultural communication across religious and cultural traditions
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Participatory and community-engaged methods
3. Ecology and Sustainability
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Eco-heritage and systems thinking
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Climate adaptation, resilience, and environmental justice
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Indigenous and local ecological knowledge
4. Governance, Law, and Policy
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International conventions and heritage law
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Cultural and human rights frameworks
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Multi-level heritage governance
5. Digital Heritage
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Digital documentation and preservation
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Ethical and critical digital humanities
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Data governance, intellectual property, and consent
These skills are developed through dedicated courses, fieldwork, digital labs, and the Intensive Immersion Course.
Overview of all courses offered
Semester 1: University of Groningen (Netherlands)
Common to All Students (30 ECTS)
Name of the course | ECTS | Status |
|---|---|---|
Creative Heritage: Connecting Communities and institutions
| 5 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
Museums and Religion: Critical Approaches
| 5 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
Dark Heritage: Memorialising Death and Disaster
| 5 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
Fragments and Ruins: Heritage and Historical Approaches to the Past
| 5 | Compulsory |
Material Religion
| 5 | Compulsory |
Uses of the Past
| 5 | Compulsory |
Semester 2: Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (India)
Mobility Pathway 1 (English Track) (30 ECTS)
Name of the course | ECTS | Status |
|---|---|---|
Decentring Heritage: Critical Perspectives on Cultural and Natural Heritage | 6 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Interdisciplinary Approaches in Heritage and Religious Studies | 6 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
India and Indology: An Introduction to Critical Heritage Studies | 6 | Compulsory |
Every academic year, SSUS will offer a different basket of elective courses.
Basket 1 of elective courses
Name of the course | ECTS | Status |
|---|---|---|
Co-creating Heritage: Memory, Politics, and Social Movements | 6 | Elective |
Origin Stories: Textual Heritage and Communities in South Asia | 6 | Elective |
Geographical Perspectives on Heritage: Culture, Ecology, and Sustainability | 6 | Elective |
The Kerala Heritage of Vedic Transmission: Oral, Ritual and Textual | 6 | Elective |
Basket 2 of elective courses
Name of the course | ECTS | Status |
|---|---|---|
Eco Philosophy in Indian Religious Tradition | 6 | Elective |
The Syrian Christians along the Malabar Littoral: Texts, Traditions and Transformations | 6 | Elective |
Heritage Preservation and Activism | 6 | Elective |
Impact of Religious Developments on Sanskrit Grammatical Approaches | 6 | Elective |
Philosophical Trajectories of Mīmāṁsā in Kerala | 6 | Elective |
Basket 3 of elective courses
Name of the course ECTS Status | ECTS | Status |
|---|---|---|
Experiencing Religion: Exploring New Religious and Caste Identities | 6 | Elective |
Architectural Corridors to Religious Activities in South Asia | 6 | Elective |
Sacred Echoes: Exploring Folk and Tribal Religion through Art and Performance | 6 | Elective |
Performing The Past / Managing Intangible Heritage: Indian Theatre | 6 | Elective |
Semester 2: Universidad de Guanajuato (Mexico)
Mobility Pathway 2 (Spanish-English Track) (30 ECTS)
Name of the course | ECTS | Status |
|---|---|---|
Régimen Jurídico del Patrimonio (Legal Regime of Heritage) | 6 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
Trabajo de campo y patrimonio (Fieldwork and Heritage/Intervention Practice) | 6 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
Legislación y pueblos originarios y afro mexicanos (Legislation and Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples) | 6 | Compulsory |
Memoria colectiva y diversidad cultural (Collective Memory and Cultural Diversity) | 6 | Compulsory |
Derecho Internacional sobre desarrollo sustentable (International Law on Sustainable Development) | 6 | Elective |
Seminarios Métodos y Fuentes de Estudios Culturales (Methods and Sources of Cultural Studies) | 6 | Elective |
Seminario Transversal: Sociología, Derecho y Políticas Públicas (Cross-curricular Seminar: Sociology, Law, and Public Policy) | 6 | Elective |
Semester 3: Jagiellonian University (Poland)
Mobility Pathway 1 (English Track) (30 ECTS)
Title | ECTS | Status |
|---|---|---|
The Heritage of Inter-religious Debate: Key Concepts in the Story of Encounter | 6 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
Eco-Heritage and Religion: A Central European Perspective | 6 | Compulsory |
Religious Heritage in Poland | 6 | Compulsory |
Heritage of Contemporary Paganism | 6 | Elective |
Intellectual Heritage of Sanskrit Religious Traditions between Europe and Asia | 6 | Elective |
Visual Heritage and the Study of Religion - Master Proseminar | 6 | Elective |
Religious Heritage and Migration | 6 | Elective |
The Heritage of Encounter: India and Europe through History | 6 | Elective |
Semester 3: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain)
Mobility Pathway 2 (Spanish-English Track) (30 ECTS)
Name of the course | ECTS | Status |
|---|---|---|
Patrimonio Cultural Digital (Digital Cultural Heritage) | 6 | Compulsory - Leadership Skills Course |
Comunicación y Aprendizaje: Experiencias de Uso de la Tecnología (Communication and Learning: Experiences in the use of technology) | 6 | Compulsory |
Tecnologías Digitales para las Palabras y el Sonido (Digital Technologies for Words and Sound) | 6 | Compulsory |
Tecnología, Humanidades y Cultura (Technology, Humanities and Culture) | 6 | Compulsory |
Seminario en Investigación del Patrimonio (Seminar on Heritage Research) | 6 | Compulsory |
Semester 4 (Start): Cyprus Institute (Aglantzia, Cyprus)
Intensive Immersion Course (5 ECTS) — Compulsory, pillar of the Leadership skills courses
The Intensive Immersion Course is a two-week, practice-based module that brings together all RELIC students from both mobility pathways for a shared learning experience. Hosted in Cyprus, the course explores the complexity of cultural and religious heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean, using the island’s divided political and cultural landscape as a living laboratory.
Through site visits, expert meetings, interdisciplinary workshops, laboratory sessions, and collaborative research projects, students examine how heritage is experienced, contested, preserved, transformed, or erased. Working in international teams, participants apply scientific, digital, and humanities-based methods to real heritage challenges and present their findings at the end of the course. The Intensive Immersion Course counts towards the fourth-semester study load and also provides an opportunity for students to develop or refine ideas for their Master’s thesis.
Semester 4 (Remainder): at any partner institution (25 ECTS)
The students will be able to choose where to carry out the fourth semester which includes the thesis preparation and writing, together with additional training and/or internship. The Master’s Thesis (20 ECTS), is co-supervised by academics at two partner universities.
Learning outcomes
RELIC learning goals correspond to EQF Level 7:
1. Knowledge (EQF: Advanced and highly specialised knowledge)
Graduates will be able to:
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Demonstrate advanced and critical knowledge of cultural and religious heritage as socially embedded, contested, and dynamic phenomena, informed by global, comparative, and decolonial perspectives.
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Analyse the intersections between religion, heritage, ecology, law, and digital technologies, understanding how these domains shape cultural governance, representation, and sustainability.
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Critically engage with theoretical frameworks relevant to heritage studies, including critical heritage theory, religious studies, environmental humanities, legal theory, and digital humanities.
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Understand the normative frameworks and policy environments governing heritage, including international conventions, cultural rights regimes, environmental law, and ethical standards for heritage practice.
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Explain the role of technology and digital infrastructures (e.g. GIS, digitisation, data science, visualization, AI-based tools) in documenting, analysing, and mediating heritage in diverse cultural contexts.
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Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of regional and transnational heritage contexts, gained through structured mobility across Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Skills (EQF: Advanced problem-solving and innovation skills)
Graduates will be able to:
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Apply advanced analytical and research skills to investigate complex heritage-related problems, integrating qualitative, quantitative, legal, ecological, and digital methods.
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Design and implement independent and collaborative research projects, including fieldwork, digital projects, and practice-based interventions, in intercultural and interdisciplinary settings.
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Employ digital tools and methodologies (e.g. GIS, digitisation, data analysis, digital storytelling, visualization) critically and ethically for heritage research, management, and dissemination.
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Conduct participatory and community-engaged research, demonstrating competence in co-creation, dialogue facilitation, and reflexive engagement with diverse stakeholders.
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Communicate complex ideas and research findings clearly and effectively to academic, professional, and non-academic audiences across linguistic, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries.
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Integrate ecological and sustainability considerations into heritage analysis and practice, addressing climate change, environmental justice, and heritage at risk.
Responsibility and Autonomy (EQF: Managing complexity, ethical judgement, and leadership)
Graduates will be able to:
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Exercise responsible and inclusive leadership in heritage-related contexts, demonstrating ethical judgement, cultural sensitivity, and awareness of power relations.
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Take responsibility for decision-making in complex and unpredictable environments, including transnational, post-conflict, and legally plural heritage settings.
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Work autonomously and collaboratively within international and multi-stakeholder environments, managing projects, deadlines, and institutional expectations across borders.
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Reflect critically on their own positionality and professional practice, showing self-awareness, accountability, and commitment to ethical standards.
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Contribute to the development of innovative, sustainable, and socially inclusive heritage strategies, bridging academic knowledge and real-world practice.
Demonstrate readiness for professional practice or doctoral-level research, including the ability to define research questions, select appropriate methodologies, and produce an original Master’s thesis that meets international academic standards.
Master thesis
The fourth semester is dedicated to the preparation of a Master thesis realised under the supervision of one of the six RELIC universities, and under the (remote) co-supervision of at least one EU RELIC university.
The thesis must be submitted in written form in English or in Spanish and defended orally by the student at the end of the 4th semester.