Archaeological Practice (MA) - 2012/2013 entry

This programme introduces you to the major techniques, principal bodies of evidence, research themes and concepts deployed in the discipline of archaeology. From this, you will develop a critical understanding of how contemporary archaeologists think, draw and write about archaeology. The curriculum addresses the perceived divide between theory and practice in archaeological fieldwork and cultural resource management. It aims to produce a new kind of professional, who is theoretically aware while grounded in the craft of archaeology. In doing so, the programme will develop your capacity for interdisciplinary and innovative research in the field, based on a more critical and integrated study of landscape, architecture and material culture. Context, and an engagement with its material and historical conditions, is crucial to this work-based training.

London is key to the history of archaeology in Britain, and this programme explores that history from the public outcry for archaeological intervention after Second World War bomb damage, to modern developer-funded archaeology. Practice-based teaching will focus on the archives of the Museum of London and the collections held in The British Museum. You will further learn through practice on field trips and on a tailor-made Birkbeck excavation programme, ‘Buried Humanities’. The curriculum is linked directly to the prehistoric past and will extend outwards from the city in order to compare and contrast the detailed accounts of Thames Valley to East Anglian Fenland archaeology. It is therefore well placed to examine differences in the kinds of knowledge of prehistory produced in site-reports, the regional knowledge of monographs, and the works of synthesis more popular in the academy. A crucial subject is the value of archaeology in the world and the kinds of community that participate in its practice. Birkbeck students will be equipped to implement more creative and productive projects with the communities that live in the landscapes archaeologists study.

By the end of the programme, you will have developed your own research agenda in dealing with archaeological evidence. You will have a confidence in context gained from your skills in reading and interpreting primary evidence, allowing you to break open the materials in archives, collections, excavation, and the landscape itself.

• Offers an opportunity for independent study and research related to your own interests.
• Flexible entry routes to postgraduate study for applicants from different levels and subject areas.
• The syllabus is designed to foster acquaintance with a broad range of texts, visual sources, and material culture from the archives and collections of the Museum of London, British Museum, and perhaps more crucially those of Developer-funded Archaeology. Practice-based teaching gives you the ability to engage creatively and analytically with this material.
• Taught by specialists engaged in critical research of empirical evidence in Britain, Europe and the Mediterranean region. The distinctive expertise of Birkbeck departmental staff is one that brings the archaeology of the developer-funded world into the academic programme.
• Watch our video on studying in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology.

The core module taken in the first year familiarises you with the principal themes and concepts of current research in archaeology practice, and addresses the perceived divide between theory and practice in archaeological fieldwork and cultural resource management. The module will develop the capacity for interdisciplinary and innovative research in the field, based on a more critical and integrated study of landscape, architecture, and material culture.

You will study three option modules (part-time study is two modules in your first year and one in your second), on such diverse subjects as:

• From Temples to Museums: Post-Classical Encounters with Classical Antiquities
• The Edge of Empire: Archaeology of Roman Frontiers
• The City of Rome: Ancient to Medieval
• Geographical Information Systems for Archaeologists
• Frameworks for Archaeology: Curatorial Archaeology in England
• Archaeological Architecture.

You will also write a dissertation on a subject of your choice, under the guidance of experienced academic staff.

The programme makes extensive use of archaeological sites, monuments and resources in London and Southern England. We are located five minutes walk from the British Museum and there is an easy connection with the British Library and Museum of London. Other nearby specialist centres of research include the Institute of Archaeology, which has an internationally renowned library collection and offers regular seminars on research areas covered by the department.

If you are interested in further research, we offer a PhD/MPhil in Archaeology.

The programme will extend the critical scope of our students and widen the prospects open to them during their future careers as postgraduate and vocational researchers, and as employees in developer-funded archaeology, the heritage management sector or education.