Case studies
Emma Norris graduated with a joint honours degree in classics and archaeology and she shares her career path since leaving the university.
Emma Norris, Membership and Events Coordinator, The Heritage Alliance
What is your current role and what does it involve?
I currently work as the membership and events coordinator at The Heritage Alliance (THA), a membership organisation that brings together and advocates for the UK’s heritage sector. My role has two main areas of responsibility.
For membership, I lead on maintaining personal and supportive relationships with THA’s 200+ member organisations, the recruitment of new members, and collaborate on the creation of business strategies for the team.
For events, I coordinate a series of sector and member events including two flagship events Heritage Day and Heritage Debate. Part of my role also includes representing THA at various sector events which has taken me across the country to London, Birmingham, Derby, Bath, to name a few.
I’m also a newly appointed Trustee at the Black Country Living Museum, which is allowing me to develop my experience in a board-level leadership role.
How did your Nottingham degree support your career ambitions?
Through my heritage-focused degree at Nottingham, I was able to develop a solid understanding of the sector and its wider context. My dissertation delved into international relations and conflict studies, through which I discovered a real interest in the intersection of heritage and politics – which led me to my current role and organisation.
My degree also helped foster a sense of ambition. Before starting my final year, I discovered the academic awards offered by the School of Humanities and set myself the goal of winning one. I went on to receive both the Dissertation Prize and the Third Year Archaeology Prize, which showed me what I could achieve with clear focus.
My current role wasn’t entry-level or designed for graduates, and I believe the ambition and self-confidence I developed during my studies have been pivotal in getting me to where I am now, just a year on from graduating.
What knowledge or skills from your degree to you use in your current job?
I feel quite lucky to have studied something at university that I genuinely loved. Classical civilisation for both the mythology as well as the more hard-hitting aspects including politics and attitudes towards women and the disabled. Archaeology for its breadth, with my modules taking me from the origin of humanity right up to recent global conflicts.
The sector knowledge I gained through my degree has been key — I now work closely with archaeological organisations, museums, universities, and heritage sites, so understanding their context and challenges has been essential. It also helps when organising events, as I’m familiar with the key voices, organisations, and topics that matter in the sector.
I also regularly use skills I developed at university, including written communication (through essays and social media posts), creative design (from coursework projects), public speaking (through society involvement and during assignments), and time management (balancing academic work with extracurricular roles).
These all now feed into regular tasks such as writing mass communications, creating marketing materials, chairing sector-wide events, and leading a busy events team.