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This interdisciplinary MA, unique in the UK, combines theory and practice to develop understandings of the challenges in developing archaeological concepts in screen media contexts. Students work in both the Archaeology and Anthropology Department and the Department of Drama: Theatre, Film, Television. An integral part of the programme is a placement with a Time Team production shoot.
The programme enables you to acquire archaeological research skills, and to examine how archaeology has been presented on television and related media, and through heritage centres and museums. You will also acquire video production and post-production skills, with the emphasis on archaeological thought and practice. Strands within the course address archaeology and screen research methods, script development and production and the potential of post-production. Each unit integrates an understanding of professional practice with critical reflection.
Presentations, written work and practice-based assessments provide a progressive evaluation of your abilities in archaeological research methods and in screen media skills. The emphasis is on individual/group project work, which may involve written output, audio-visual submissions or a combination of both. Dissertation placements are assessed through tutorial supervisions, pro-forma mentor's report and a student evaluation.
Graduates from this programme go on to work in the media industries, in both production and post-production. The programme also feeds into postgraduate research (MPhil/MLitt/PhD) through practice or by wholly written thesis.
Bristol is in a unique position to offer training in this interdisciplinary field. The Department of Archaeology and Anthropology is home to one of the largest British graduate schools in archaeology, also offering Master's in Landscape Archaeology, Mediterranean Archaeology, Historical Archaeology of the Modern World, Maritime Archaeology and History, and Social Anthropology. Many of the Department's staff have research interests in contemporary archaeology, heritage and archaeological representation. Meanwhile, the Department of Drama has a very strong tradition of Film and Television studies, and a proven ability to provide students with the professional skills to work successfully in the film and television industries, as well as considerable expertise in the field of practice-based research.
Student quotes (this page is in the process of being updated).
Examples of careers that students have entered after completing one or our MA courses (also in the process of being updated).
A normal learning load is 60 credits per teaching block. You will choose at least one of:
Methods and Theory in Archaeology (20 credits, Archaeology)
This unit is designed to provide a Master's level orientation to the discipline of archaeology, to include how material culture, sites and landscapes have been and interpreted, how ideas about past human societies have developed through archaeological research, how science has enabled new understandings and to include discussions of the role of archaeological theory and reception.
Investigating Landscapes and Seascapes (20 credits, Archaeology)
This unit provides research methods training into the basic techniques of understanding landscapes and seascapes through non-invasive methods (survey, geophysics, map regression, air photography, Geographical information systems), as well as ways of interpreting landscapes through study visits and practical fieldwork.
You will choose at least one of:
Production in Practice (20 credits, Drama)
The unit seeks to expose students to the basic issues involved in collaborative production of short-form narrative material, and to develop a coherent overview of each stage and area of the process. It is based on the collaborative production of short video documentaries, following a structured approach.
Screen Narrative Practices (20 credits, Drama)
As a foundation to the courses it serves, the unit seeks to develop an awareness of some of the key aesthetic and technical conventions and issues underlying screen-based material. This is achieved by means of a series of unsupervised individual and group-based practical exercises undertaken to a series of closely structured briefs. The product of these exercises is used as the basis for guided critical discussions led by the Unit leader.
A further option may be added:
Screen Histories: Documentary (20 credits, Drama)
This unit examines screen histories by focusing on a single topic: documentary. The emphasis will be placed upon situating this topic within the context of its history, and may also include situating the topic within a broader historical, social and cultural context. The unit will examine key debates in film historiography, the 'histoical turn' in film studies and the ways in which cinema has been seen as participating in broader social and cultural change. Students will engage with the use and interpretation of archival materials, as well as the examination of relevant contextual details for both cinema and a wider cultural field.
Performance Place/Space (20 credits, Drama)
This unit investigates the varied nature and relationships of space and place in performance, giving particular attention to the performative energies which articulate them to cultural change in particular historical periods. Different conceptions of space and place drawn from a range of disciplines, including archaeology, sociology, geography, cultural studies, theatre studies and performance studies itself, will be considered for their relevance to the efficacies of performativity in specific contexts of staged action. Practical exercises and fieldwork will extend understandings of the circulation of power - social, political, cultural, etc - in the performative transformations of space and place, particularly at sites of celebration and contestation.
Public History in Theory and Practice (20 credits, offered by Historical Studies)
This unit introduces students to the issue of Public History through a multi-layered approach. In the first instance students would study general debates over public history as well as notable case studies with staff in the department, for example, the controversy over the 'Enola Gay' exhibition in 1994-95 at the Smithsonian Institution, or issues raised by a recent Icon films production for BBC2's Timewatch series, 'White slaves, Pirate Gold@. Secondly, sessions with practitioners are held for students to learn about the tensions that inform the presentation of history on television together with issues involved in exhibition planning for museums. Students prepare either a TV proposal and treatment or an exhibit proposal using guidelines provided by the external partners.
You will take both:
Project Development (20 credits, Drama)
This unit is carefully structured to take all students through the conceptual and practical stages of project development. What are the necessary stages and processes to take a project from the point when it is decided to go ahead with it, to the actual shooting of it? How do these processes apply to projects? What are the most important issues to consider, how do I ensure they are given due weight, and how do I undertake the practical tasks required? The unit is based on appropriate tutorial guidance, preliminary exercises, master classes with industry professionals, and guided preparation on a per-project basis.
Archaeology for Screen Media (20 credits, Archaeology)
This Unit aims to provide students with awareness of different historical and contemporary approaches to the representation of archaeology in the media. It also provides a critical overview of audio-visual representations of archaeology and material heritage. The Unit ranges from addressing archaeology in popular visual culture and contemporary art, to the use of sound and image in museum display, fieldwork and as part of public and professional archaeological discourse. The benefits, restrictions and implications of each approach will be discussed and students will become familiar with corresponding practical, analytical and theoretical frameworks. The Unit invites visiting professional and industrial teachers from the media and heritage industries.
A further option may be added:
Heritage Management (20 credits, Archaeology)
This unit provides an outline as to how the heritage assets are managed in the UK and internationally, looking at systems of protection and designation, their conservation management, and interpretation, both within a landscape and museum context. The special role that World Heritage Sites have will be examined.
Visual Anthropology (20 credits, Archaeology)
Visual Anthropology has two core focuses: the historical and contemporary use of visual media by anthropologists and others, and the creation and use of visual systems within societies themselves. The unit will engage with both these aspects, and also present a number of examples of research carried out using visual media. Lectures will also involve the screening of ethnographic films, followed by discussions. The unit is supported by Blackboard.
Production Skills: Writing (20 credits, Drama)
This unit provides an introduction to core skills in creative writing for performance that are common to a range of media, including live and recorded performance; feature, short and documentary film. A range of approaches to creative writing will be examined both in principle and practice, and may include: creating stories; research; analysis of style, genre and form; narrative story structure; outline & treatment writing; screenplays and shooting scripts; the creation and development of characterisation, dialogue, pace and rhythm; read-throughs; working in rehearsal; re-drafting. Students will be expected to produce a substantial piece (or number of smaller pieces) of original creative writing for a performance medium.
Production Skills: Directing (20 credits, Drama)
The unit seeks to develop an understanding of the elements of mise-en-scene and other aspects of visual form in screen narrative. Screen time, and the relation between shots within characteristic sequences, with emphasis on the function of rhythm, is explored. The unit also seeks to develop skills in working with actors for screen performance. In particular this is designed to provide an appropriate foundation for those who will work as directors on dissertation projects on appropriate pathways. The unit develops on understandings derived from mandatory units and is based around practical workshops and exercises supported by substantial group and individual work.
Production Skills: Producing (20 credits, Drama)
The unit offers an introduction to the skills, disciplines and industrial understanding appropriate for small-scale independent producers, including both the entrepreneurial and line-management functions of the role. The former include business analysis, finance and marketing, media law, and the preparation of business plans. The latter include budgeting, scheduling and production management. In the section of the unit devoted to line-management issues, emphasis is placed on the skills necessary for successful completion of MA dissertation projects.
Television Forms (20 credits, Drama)
This unit will identify a single television genre or set of televisual forms as a focused entry point for the critical study of television and its programmes. The genre or forms under consideration may vary but in most cases the unit would focus on the contextualised study of programmes, drawing on historical, industrial, and audience research as appropriate. Sub-genres may be used to explore critical debates about, say, realism or authorship. The unit will also explore the ways in which television practices reflect and relate to contemporary social concerns and/or are situated within policy and economic imperatives.
Supervised Individual Study (20 credits, Drama)
This unit will enable students to pursue a defined and focused specialist practical, historical, methodological, and/or conceptual interest under the guidance of a member of the academic staff. Through this unit, students have the opportunity to explore particular topics in more depth than is offered within existing taught units. Students who are appropriately qualified or trained may develop a practical project as a Supervised Individual Study. Thus, this unit allows greater flexibility within the MA programmes, so that the department can respond to students’ special interests.
Summer Term (ending 15 September). You will take one of:
Dissertation: Written (60 credits)
A written thesis of 15,000 words.
Dissertation: Practical and Written Element (60 credits)
The unit involves devising a realisable topic, which has the potential to contribute to knowledge of the subject. It would normally be expected that this topic would arise from work already undertaken on the programme, creating an opportunity to explore a specialist area in more detail. Research will be conducted through a screen practice together with a critical written element (7,500 words). Practice may take a variety of forms: moving image, web-based, interactive, installation. The title, scale and form of each piece of work will be negotiated through supervision. The practice and written element together provide the means for advanced research into concepts through realisation and reflection.
Dissertation: Industrial Placement and Written Element (60 credits)
The optional unit will provide a structured and supervised opportunity for students to pursue independently an agreed topic of interest, arising from a placement within an appropriate organization. The student will conduct appropriate tasks under the guidance of a nominated mentor from the host organization and under the supervision of a teacher from the Department. The placement is accompanied by a 7,500-word critical reflection. It would normally be expected that this project would arise from work already undertaken on individual programmes, creating an opportunity to explore a specialist area in more detail. The title, scale and form of each piece of work will be negotiated through supervision.
There are no formal examinations for this MA, but presentations, written work and practice-based assessments for each unit provide a progressive evaluation of student's abilities in both archaeological research methods and in media skills. The emphasis throughout the programme's teaching and learning is on individual project work, which may involve written output, but may also include audio-visual submissions or a combination of both. The placement is assessed through tutorial supervisions, pro-forma mentor's report and a student evaluation. Dedicated first class facilities and technical supervision for the production of audio-visual materials are available for those working on the programme.
For further information on life as a postgraduate in Bristol, visit the Graduate School of Arts and Humanities