BA Archaeology and Anthropology

About the Course

This degree in Archaeology & Anthropology encompasses the comparative study of people, culture and society in both the past and in the present.

Archaeology and Anthropology have usually been taught separately at British universities. However, recent developments in theory and method make this division look increasingly restrictive: Archaeology is progressively more interested in ideas about society, whilst Anthropology today looks at the past as comfortably as it has looked at the present.

This degree scheme offers an exciting opportunity to take part in this convergence between the two disciplines by offering specialised courses devoted to exploring the synergies between them.

Award
BA (Single Honours)

UCAS Code
LVQ4

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

Entry Requirements

You will be invited to visit the University to discuss the course. Entry is based on individual merit.

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 pointsand 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

  • Tourism/Heritage industry
  • Museum/Gallery exhibition officer
  • Human Rights, policy, campaigning, research
  • Race relations, social/youth work or researcher

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, professional archaeology, law, banking, local politics, marketing and advertising, community/social work, teaching, communication, business, tourism, caring professions

Campus

Lampeter Campus

Typical modules

  • Text and Society
  • Death and Burial
  • Cultural Politics
  • Human Evolution and the Origins of Human Behaviour
  • Excavation and Fieldwork
  • Anthropology in Context

Key Features

  • Lecturers have geographically wide fieldwork experience
  • Opportunity to develop independent research projects
  • Excellent library facilities
  • Includes teaching in small seminar groups with student presentations
  • Taught by lecturers with wide research interests and professional expertise

Programme Specification

Educational Aims

The aims of the Archaeology and Anthropology programme are to:

  • develop an awareness and understanding of the full range of human cultural diversity in the present and in the archaeological record.
  • develop an appreciation of the dynamic character of anthropology and its constituent disciplines.
  • develop practical research skills alongside a critical awareness of various theoretical perspectives.
  • develop the students’ ability to apply knowledge and understanding to the principles and methods of archaeology and anthropology and to demonstrate comprehension of the problematic and varied nature of research involving human subjects and human remains.
  • introduce students to the core areas of archaeological and anthropological theory and practice and to provide and opportunity for reflection on current practice and developments in the field.
  • promote the practice of life-long learning and equipping students with the ability to work autonomously.
  • acquire a range of transferable skills, appropriate for the workplace or postgraduate study, which might include project design, writing and presentation skills, basic IT skills, and the ability to analyse data and to evaluate and present reasoned arguments.

5. Programme Outcomes

The following outcomes are based upon the Archaeology and Anthropology Subject Centre Benchmarking Statements (both 2007). The QAA Benchmark Statement for Anthropology stresses that anthropology is both evidence-based and theoretical. As such, students achieving such awards are expected to be able to demonstrate a wide range of skills. On completion of the programme of study a student should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of social anthropology as the comparative study of human societies.
  2. Demonstrate broad and comparative knowledge of the archaeology of a number of geographical regions and a number of chronological periods
  3. Demonstrate a good understanding of the principles and methods by which archaeological data are acquired and analysed
  4. demonstrate knowledge and competence in archaeological field and laboratory skills, particularly in relation to the recording, description and analysis of primary data
  5. Show an appreciation of the importance of empirical fieldwork as the primary method of gathering data and as a basis for the generation of anthropological theory.
  6. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of specific themes in social anthropology and archaeology and the intellectual debates concerning them.
  7. Show an informed awareness of and sensitivity to human diversity, an appreciation of its scope and complexity and recognition of the richness of experience and potential it provides.
  8. Show an acquaintance with the theory and history of archaeology and anthropology.
  9. Display a familiarity with a range of methods of representing data.
  10. Show a reflexive awareness of ethical issues concerned with the study of social worlds and representation of others, of the nature of knowledge, the role of the anthropologist or ethnographer in the collection and presentation of data, and in dealing with human remains.

Intellectual Skills

  1. Understand how human beings are shaped by and interact with their social, cultural and physical environments.
  2. Use major theoretical perspectives and concepts in archaeology and anthropology.
  3. Provide ethnographic description and analysis.
  4. Apply classification and analytical skills in collating and categorising data
  5. Apply anthropological knowledge to a variety of practical situations, personal and professional.
  6. Plan, undertake and present scholarly work that demonstrates an understanding of both archaeological and anthropological aims, methods and theoretical considerations.

Transferable Skills

  1. Demonstrate independence of thought and analytical, critical and synoptic skills.
  2. Demonstrate communication and presentation skills (using oral and written materials and information technology).
  3. Display scholarly skills, such as an ability to make a structured argument, reference the works of others, and assess different forms of evidence.
  4. Show time planning and management skills.

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.