BA Ancient Civilisations

About the Course

Field Trip to Naples From Greece to China and from Egypt to Mesoamerica, the Ancient Civilisations degree provides you with a thorough grounding in civilisations from around the globe.

The interdisciplinary nature of this course provides you with the skills and knowledge to pursue the career of your choice.

In the first year, you will explore the variety and diversity of ancient societies, through their archaeology, texts, histories and mythologies in a series of introductory modules. Museum trips and research projects allow you to investigate these cultures first hand.

In the second and third year, you will deepen your knowledge of these civilisations through a combination of wide-ranging modules and more focused specialist modules.

You will investigate how the past is captured, interpreted and communicated through visits to archives or museums and through an examination of various case studies and or analyses of film, TV and other media.

You will be encouraged to develop your specific interests within three major areas, choosing from a range of options specialising in ancient religions, ancient texts or life and death in the ancient world.

The combination is extensive and covers all tastes and preferences from, for example, Armies and Navies: Studies in Ancient Warfare, the Ancient Novel, Women in Judaism and Christianity, Dreaming the Past: Classical Receptions in Modern Culture, and the History of Ancient Egypt from Menes to Cleopatra.

The culmination of the degree is the dissertation, where students are free to pursue a topic of their choice, and the special subject, based upon the tutor’s own research and publication specialism. Teaching generally takes place in small groups allowing for interaction, discussion and close support from tutors.

Award
BA

UCAS Code
V901

Course Length
3 years full-time; part-time study available

Entry Requirements

The School has a dedicated Admissions and Recruitment officer who deals with all UCAS application, liaises with the various Programme Coordinators and arranges visits, and Open Days. The programme requirements are between 240 and 260 points and above or Access to HE Foundation Degree. However we are keen to judge each application on its merits, and thus will also look at non traditional routes though here entry may require an interview.

Career Opportunities

  • Teaching
  • Heritage (library, archives, museum, tourism)
  • Postgraduate research
  • General administrative and management posts; civil service

You will develop powers of analysis, logical thought and argument within a supportive and encouraging environment. It will be these skills of communication, understanding, analysis and self-management that provide you with a passport into employment. Types of employment could include museum and archive work, journalism, law, banking, local politics, all types of administrative work, marketing and advertising, and teaching.

Campus

Lampeter Campus

Typical modules

  • Pharaohs, Phoenicians and Peoples of the Sea
  • Heaven and Hell and the Bit in Between: and Introduction to Classical Mythology
  • Approaches to Antiquity
  • Funerary Beliefs in Ancient Egypt
  • Religions in Antiquity
  • Celtic Religion
  • History and Civilization of Traditional China
  • Chinese Religion and Culture
  • Bronze Age Society in the East Mediterranean
  • Rise of Rome
  • Islam and the West

Key Features

  • Small classes with interactive learning
  • Training in historical and archaeological research methods
  • Use of museum resources
  • Wide range of modules

Further Information

Assessment methods

Assessment methods for the course draw upon a range of different forms and approaches that include a variety of written formats from essays (ranging from 1500 words up to 3500 words in length), to book reviews, short 1000 word analyses, document or ‘gobbitt’ work, oral presentations delivered both in a group and individually, and both seen and unseen examinations.

In addition to summative assessments the programme also undertakes a range of formative assessments that may include one or more of the following: peer assessed work, quizzes, group presentations, reflective journals, field reports, internet searches, document analysis, and bibliographic exercises.

Learning and Teaching methods

Teaching methods are designed to provide interest, variety and academic curiosity. Seminars, workshops and small group work are our principal means of teaching, though supported by lectures, field trips, revision and study groups. We are also offer one-to-one tutorials in which you can discuss aspects of your on written work such as help with the structuring of essays, or writing technique or feedback advice on a specific assignment.