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Ancient History
BA Ancient History and Archaeology with Study Year Abroad
BA Ancient History and Archaeology with Study Year Abroad

BA Ancient History and Archaeology with Study Year Abroad

  • ID:UoR440015
  • Level:4-Year Bachelor's Degree
  • Duration:
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Admission Requirements

Entry Requirements

English Requirements

IELTS 6.5, with no component below 5.5

Course Information

Our BA Ancient History and Archaeology with Study Year Abroad will enable you to understand the societies and people of the past. On this course, you will have the opportunity to explore ancient Greece and Rome, join an archaeological dig, and study abroad.

Ancient History is the study of the Greek and Roman worlds over a period spanning from 2000 BC to around 600 AD; it covers parts of modern Africa, Asia and Europe. You will learn about these ancient worlds in their political, literary, social, cultural and religious contexts. Your first year is about discovery and experimentation. You will address important modern questions and trace them back to their roots, exploring different periods of ancient history through both literary and material sources. You can enhance your knowledge of the ancient world through optional Latin and Greek language modules, or deepen your understanding through hands-on experience with artefacts from the Ure Museum.

At the University of Reading, our expertise in Archaeology starts with the earliest humans and spans up until the medieval period. We focus mainly on British, European and Near Eastern Archaeology, but explore other regions across the world. You will learn about burial archaeology, material culture, bioarchaeology (including human remains), forensics, past environments (including geoarchaeology), museums and gender archaeology. Core modules will provide you with a solid historical and archaeological grounding and optional modules will allow you to explore the different periods, cultures and countries that interest you. Popular modules taken by students on this degree include The Ancient World on Film and Rome's Mediterranean empire.

In the Department of Classics, our academics are at the forefront of their disciplines. Their research feeds directly into your studies, exposing you to the latest developments in the field. In 2019, we achieved a 95% satisfaction score for our teaching in the National Student Survey.

The Department of Archaeology is a research-intensive department, specialising in social and scientific archaeology. 97% of our research was judged to be of international standing in the Research Excellence Framework 2014. We also have an outstanding track record for student satisfaction, with scores consistently between 90%–100% for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey, 2010–2019.

If you are interested in studying abroad, you have the opportunity to spend a term at one of our partner universities in your second year, getting to know a new academic and cultural environment. You can also apply to study at the British School at Athens and the British School at Rome, which both offer summer school opportunities to University of Reading students.

Study year abroad

This four-year degree course includes a placement or a year's study at a university abroad in your third year, giving you the opportunity to develop valuable professional and international experience.

Opportunities are available working across the archaeological, heritage, planning and museum sectors including: research institutions, government organisations, local planning authorities, archaeological consultancies, field units, specialists and archivists. History teaching staff also have links to specific areas of interest such as Cliveden, Historic England, Reading Museum, Reading Borough Libraries and the Museum of Rural English Life (MERL). Alternatively you can choose a placement in a non-related business or industry, exploring different career options and enhancing your employability by drawing on the many non-vocational, transferable skills you obtain from an Ancient History and Archaeology degree.

Recent examples include:

  • Traineeship with Oxford Archaeology

  • Traineeship at the Field School

  • Archaeological science placement at QUEST, the University of Reading’s scientific consultancy company

  • Volunteering at the Ure Museum, Cole Museum of Zoology and the Museum of English Rural Life

  • Human remains placement

  • Mediterranean Palaeoclimate Project placement

  • Hominin Skeletal Morphology placement

  • Archaeological Graphics placement

  • Lithics Reference Collection placement

  • “Developing Experimental Archaeology for Research and Training” placement

  • “The Ecology of Crusading: Isotope Analysis and Faunal Remains” placement

  • Summer Enterprise Experience and Discovery internship scheme

Our Department has a dedicated member of staff in charge of placements, who can provide you with advice and support.

Students opting to undertake a standard three-year degree course will also have the opportunity to take a fully-credited placement or to spend a single term at one of our partner Universities abroad. Current options include the Universities of Malta, Aarhus (Denmark), and the University of Florida in Gainesville (USA).

More information: click here

Year 1

Core modules include:

  • Archaeology today: methods and practice

  • Ancient empires: Mesopotamia, Egypt and Rome

  • Greek history: war, society, and change in the Archaic Age

  • Roman history: the rise and fall of the Republic

 

Optional modules include:

  • Revolutions in human behaviour: 4 million years BC to the present

  • Forensic anthropology and the archaeology of death

  • Contemporary world cultures: an introduction to social anthropology

  • Ancient Song

  • Texts, Readers, and Writers

  • Economy, politics and culture in the Roman world

  • Introduction to Quaternary science

  • Museum history, policy and ethics

  • Presenting the past

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

 

Year 2

The second year is made up of a number of compulsory modules that will give you a strong background in the subject, as well as optional modules that let you explore your own interests.

Modules include:

  • Prospects for classicists and ancient historians

  • Work placement for classicists and ancient historians

  • Ice and fire: the European palaeolithic

  • Medieval Europe: power, religion and death

  • Rome's Mediterranean empire

  • Archaeology fieldschool joint honours

  • Artefacts in archaeology

  • Museum learning and engagement

  • Curatorship and collections management

  • Archaeologies: past, present and future

  • Forensic archaeology and crime scene analysis

  • Archaeological science

  • Bioarchaeology

  • Summer micro-placement

  • Summer placement

  • Late Quaternary environmental change and human activities

 

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

 

Year 3

Study year abroad

Year 4

In your third academic year, the course is made up of a number of compulsory modules that will give you a strong background in the subject, as well as optional modules that let you explore your own interests.

Core modules include:

  • Dissertation

 Optional modules include:

  • Preparation for dissertation in Classics

  • Independent third year project

  • The archaeology of crusading

  • The Neanderthals

  • Emergence of civilisation in Mesopotamia

  • Archaeology of the city of Rome

  • Human activities in settlements and landscapes

  • Biological anthropology

  • Coastal and maritime archaeology

  • Vikings in the west

  • Summer placement

  • Tropical rainforests, climate and lost civilisations

  • Hidden heritage: investigating and interpreting historic buildings and landscapes

  • Ancient Greek 1

  • Latin 1 (C)

  • Anatolia and the Aegean

  • Archaeology and topography of ancient Greece

  • British school at Rome undergraduate summer school

  • Gender in classical antiquity

  • Late antique Egypt

  • Saints and holy men

  • Hidden histories: investigating and interpreting historic buildings and landscapes

  • Urban life: the archaeology and anthropology of Roman cities

  • Pioneers of classical archaeology

  • Transformations of Helen

  • History, culture and society in the time of Nero

Please note that all modules are subject to change

 

Year 5

In your fourth academic year, core modules include:

  • Urban life: the archaeology and anthropology of Roman cities

  • Pioneers of classical archaeology

  • Technology in the ancient world

  • Transformations of Helen

Please note that all modules are subject to change

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Pre Courses

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

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Pathway Courses

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Career Opportunity

Career Opportunity

 

This joint degree can lead to a variety of careers. The course is an ideal foundation to begin your career in commercial archaeology, planning, heritage management and research, as well as disciplines such as teaching, business, publishing and marketing.

You will gain a broad range of subject-specific and transferable skills spanning the humanities and sciences. Employers consistently rank attitudes and aptitudes for work higher than any other factor, according to the CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey report 2019. Our curriculum is designed with this in mind, giving you not just knowledge in subjects you are passionate about, but also the qualities that employers really care about – qualities that are transferable to a diverse range of careers.

We have long-established, excellent relationships with employers within the archaeology, heritage and related sectors. Archaeology and Ancient History graduates from the University of Reading are represented among the staff of major employers such as Oxford Archaeology, Wessex Archaeology, Museum of London Archaeology, Natural History Museum, Environment Agency, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, GCHQ, University of Oxford and Sotherby’s. Some of our graduates have progressed into roles in the civil service and in teaching at both primary and secondary levels. Each year a number of graduates pursue further, higher study following graduation.

Ability to settle

Overseas Student Health Cover

Health Insurance_fee:£300/year

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