MA in Archaeology for Screen Media

In this unique, interdisciplinary MA, you will develop a critical understanding of, and practical skills in, representing archaeological concepts in screen media.

The Departments of Archaeology and Anthropology, and Drama: Film, Theatre, Television offer core and optional units that explore a wide range of screen media forms including television, documentary and ethnographic film, artist film and video, museum- and heritage-based media, installation, web-based moving image and social media. You will also have opportunities to undertake placements with professional heritage and media organisations to develop practical and critical-creative skills.

Graduates from this programme go on to work in the media industries, in both production and post-production, and in professional archaeology and heritage settings. The programme also feeds into postgraduate research through practice or by wholly written thesis.

The degree programme is structured so that you develop skills and knowledge cumulatively through a sequence of complementary stages while each unit integrates an understanding of professional practice with critical reflection.

In Teaching Block 1 you will gain foundational knowledge and skills in archaeological research methods. You will also develop understandings of representation and video production and post-production. A mandatory unit taught by visiting professionals surveys historical and contemporary approaches to archaeology and the moving image. A wide range of specialist units focus on video production, archaeological methods and theories, documentary histories, TV cultures, and performance and place. At the end of this teaching block, you will be able to produce research designs, programme proposals, and short films.

In Teaching Block 2, your compulsory practice-based unit, Making Short Documentary, is complemented by specialist options, including heritage management, visual anthropology, and national cinemas. By the end of this stage, you will be able to realise practical projects across the disciplines, with an understanding of the full range of expectations and best practices demanded within professional archaeological and media contexts.

Presentations, written work and practice-based assessments provide a progressive evaluation of your abilities in archaeological research methods and in screen media skills. You will also be expected to submit a dissertation which can take the form of:

• a 15,000-word written dissertation that addresses a topic connecting media and archaeology;
or
• a practice-led audio-visual submission that encourages exploration of archaeological and media concepts through innovative use of forms, structure and style, with supporting documentation and 7,500-word critical analysis;
or
• a professional placement case study that allows you to explore a professional working environment of your choice with supporting documentation and 7,500-word critical analysis.