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    MA
    2024 start September 

    Archaeology and Heritage

    Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Humanities

    Create a bespoke degree that reflects your unique interests and ambitions through one of our three pathways: Archaeology, Landscape or Heritage.
    A group of archaeology students at a large excavation site.

    Course description

    Each pathway provides a route into advanced study either for students with general interests (archaeology) or more focused interests (landscape or heritage).

    You'll create a bespoke course within a clear structure that allows you to engage your specific interests in period, region or approach while building on a strong foundation of understanding archaeology as a discipline.

    For all of these, you’ll choose between completing a research dissertation or developing employability through a work placement.

    You’ll develop the professional and transferable skills you need to progress to a career in this field. This course is excellent preparation for a PhD.

    MA students

    You'll also choose your own research project and complete a dissertation, or go on a work placement and complete a report as part of your placement experience.

    Modules

    We're revising the curriculum of this course for this year of entry and are in the process of confirming the modules. The information on this page gives you an idea of the areas we expect the course to cover. There may be changes before you start. From May of the year of entry, formal programme regulations will be available in our Programme Regulations Finder.

    Reinventing Archaeology

    This course will seek to understand how the structure of the modern practice of archaeology has come about and how changes in working methods and theoretical perspective may reconfigure the discipline. Reference will be made to the debates in method and theory and the relationships among certain specialisms. Students will develop, and to be able to express, their understanding of the discipline and the current and future position of their own ambitions.

    15 credits
    Research Design: Planning, Execution and Presentation

    This module provides students with the advanced understanding they need to design an effective research project that addresses a question relevant to current debate in archaeology, and in particular to plan a successful MA/MSc dissertation. It comprises six group seminar sessions and three seminars in which students from different courses are streamed to be taught and guided on subject-specific material by experts in the field. The module culminates in a research day during which students present their dissertation plans to their peers and staff assessors. Assessment is in two parts: a succinct Powerpoint presentation of the dissertation proposal and outline and a written dissertation outline and proposal.

    Students wishing to undertake a work placement will also find this module useful for planning their placement aims and objectives.

    15 credits

    And:

    Work Placement

    The placement scheme is designed to allow students to work alongside practitioners 'in the field', and to get consolidated hands on experience in a subject/technique of particular interest to them. Placements can be in any sphere of professional practice in archaeology or management of the historic environment. Students will be expected to spend a minimum of eight weeks on the placement. The assessment will have two elements: a short account of the placement, and a written project report resulting from an aspect of the work undertaken.

    60 credits

    Or

    Dissertation

    This module requires students to plan, execute and write up an original research project. This dissertation project is chosen with, and approved by, the designated supervisor, who may or may not be the programme director. Dissertation topics must be based on original research and on the students' own ideas: they must be worthwhile, affordable, manageable within time limits, be capable of supervision within the Department and related to the subject matter on the appropriate Masters.

    60 credits

    The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we'll consult and inform students in good time and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.

    Open days

    An open day gives you the best opportunity to hear first-hand from our current students and staff about our courses.

    Find out what makes us special at our next online open day on Wednesday 17 April 2024.

    You may also be able to pre-book a department visit as part of a campus tour.Open days and campus tours

    Duration

    • 1 year full-time
    • 2 years part-time

    Teaching

    You'll be taught through a mix of lectures, tutorials, seminars and field trips.

    Assessment

    Your assessments will include essays, portfolio work, practical work, exams, a dissertation or a placement report.

    Department

    Department of History

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    As a postgraduate history student at Sheffield, you'll continue to develop your skills and understanding of the past in a friendly and supportive environment.

    You’ll be taught by historians who are engaged in cutting-edge research in a huge variety of fields which range from 1000 BCE right up to the twenty-first century. This diversity feeds into a vibrant and varied curriculum which allows students to pursue their interests across both space and time, from the ancient Middle East to modern day Europe, and from fifteenth-century human sacrifice to twentieth-century genocide.

    You can tailor your chosen MA programme to suit you, exploring the areas of history that interest you most while expanding your historical research skills. You can also choose to develop your vocational history skills through our work placement and other public history modules. 

    You'll be joining a thriving postgraduate community with regular activities to share your ideas, challenge your thinking and broaden your understanding.

    Entry requirements

    Minimum 2:1 undergraduate honours degree in an arts, humanities or science subject.

    Your interest in and understanding of archaeology is more important than what you studied at undergraduate level: we may consider degrees in other subjects if you display an interest in archaeology in your application.

    We also consider a wide range of international qualifications:

    Entry requirements for international students

    Overall IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component, or equivalent.

    Pathway programme for international students

    If you're an international student who does not meet the entry requirements for this course, you have the opportunity to apply for a pre-masters programme in Business, Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Sheffield International College. This course is designed to develop your English language and academic skills. Upon successful completion, you can progress to degree level study at the University of Sheffield.

    If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the department.

    Apply

    You can apply now using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It's a quick and easy process.

    Apply now

    Contact

    archaeology-masters@sheffield.ac.uk
    +44 114 222 2900

    Any supervisors and research areas listed are indicative and may change before the start of the course.

    Our student protection plan

    Recognition of professional qualifications: from 1 January 2021, in order to have any UK professional qualifications recognised for work in an EU country across a number of regulated and other professions you need to apply to the host country for recognition. Read information from the UK government and the EU Regulated Professions Database.