A04 Store Room, Humanities Building, University Park

Archaeology and History

University Park Campus, Nottingham, UK

Course overview

From the first hunter-gatherers to the rise of modern societies, this Archaeology and History degree offers a unique blend of studying the past through not just texts and images but also material remains.

You will explore the broadest range of periods through complementary disciplines. By combining the scientific study of material remains with historical research, writing and debate, you will cover the key ways in which we study the past. You will also deepen your knowledge of history through theory and practice, covering a range of periods from the Palaeolithic to the recent past.

 

Indicative modules

Mandatory

Year 1

Discovering History

Mandatory

Year 1

Studying the Human Past

Optional

Year 1

Exploring the Medieval World, c. 500-1500

Optional

Year 1

Exploring the Early Modern World, c. 1500-1800

Optional

Year 1

Exploring the Modern World c. 1800-2000

Optional

Year 1

Becoming a Historian 1

Optional

Year 1

Becoming a Historian 2

Optional

Year 1

Themes in Heritage and Museums

Optional

Year 1

Introduction to Practical Archaeology

Optional

Year 1

Interpreting Ancient Art and Archaeology

Optional

Year 1

Comparative World Prehistory

Optional

Year 1

World Historical Archaeology

Optional

Year 1

Arts Engaged in Health (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

Data, Culture and Society (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

Digital Projects: Data and Text (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

Digital Projects: Sound and Vision (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

Disease and Society (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

Exploring Digital Arts (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

Exploring Sustainability (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

Sustainability Action (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

The Critical Citizen: Modes of Thinking in Contemporary Society (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 1

Writing and Being: Academic, Activist, Professional, Creative and Personal (Engaged Arts)

Mandatory

Year 2

Archaeological Theory

Mandatory

Year 2

Analysing Archaeology

Mandatory

Year 2

Interpreting History

Optional

Year 2

Communicating the Past

Optional

Year 2

Conquerors, Caliphs, and Converts

Optional

Year 2

Osteology

Optional

Year 2

Exile and Homeland: Jewish Culture, Thought and Politics in Modern Europe and Palestine, 1890-1950

Optional

Year 2

The Victorians: Life, Thought and Culture

Optional

Year 2

A Protestant Nation? Politics, Religion and Culture in England 1558-1640

Optional

Year 2

Archaeological Finds

Optional

Year 2

European Fascisms, 1900-1945

Optional

Year 2

Imagining Britain: Decolonising and Repopulating the Mythology of the British Isles

Optional

Year 2

Rule and Resistance in Colonial India

Optional

Year 2

The Tokugawa World c. 1600-1868

Optional

Year 2

Soviet State and Society 1917-1991

Optional

Year 2

Environmental Humanities: Nature and People on a Changing Planet since 1850

Optional

Year 2

Afro-Futures of the Black Past

Optional

Year 2

At Home with the Greeks and Romans

Optional

Year 2

Comparative Colonial Encounters 1600-1900

Optional

Year 2

Early Medieval England in the Age of Bede

Optional

Year 2

Health and Society in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Optional

Year 2

A ‘Holiday from History’? Ideas in Britain since 1992

Optional

Year 2

The Past in the Present 1

Optional

Year 2

The Past in the Present 2

Optional

Year 2

Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean c. 500-1500 CE

Optional

Year 2

Medieval Lives

Optional

Year 2

Mediterranean Prehistory

Optional

Year 2

The Heartland: Ukraine and the Russian Imperial Project 1569-1785

Optional

Year 2

The Lived Experience of the Second World War: Went the Day Well?

Optional

Year 2

The Lives of Ancient Objects

Optional

Year 2

The Russian Empire 1855-1917

Optional

Year 2

The Stranger Next Door: Jews and Christians in the Middle Ages

Optional

Year 2

Applying the Digital Humanities (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 2

Arts Work Placement Module (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 2

Community Engagement and Social Impact (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 2

Decolonisation and Justice (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 2

Employing the Arts (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 2

Issues in the Health Humanities (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 2

Living and Working in a Multi-Lingual World (Engaged Arts)

Optional

Year 2

Made in Nottingham (Engaged Arts)

Mandatory

Year 3

History Special Subject

Optional

Year 3

Ancient Metallurgy

Optional

Year 3

Heritage and the Media

Optional

Year 3

History Dissertation

Optional

Year 3

Classics Research Project

Optional

Year 3

Coins, Cults and Cities

Optional

Year 3

Ideas and Ideologies 1

Optional

Year 3

Ideas and Ideologies 2

Optional

Year 3

Everyday Life and Culture 1

Optional

Year 3

Everyday Life and Culture 2

Optional

Year 3

Empires 1

Optional

Year 3

Empires 2

Optional

Year 3

Crisis, Revolution and Rupture 1

Optional

Year 3

Crisis, Revolution and Rupture 2

Optional

Year 3

Peace and Conflict 1

Optional

Year 3

Peace and Conflict 2

Optional

Year 3

Life and Death in the Medieval City

Optional

Year 3

The Bronze Age Aegean

Optional

Year 3

Voices from the Margins 1

Optional

Year 3

Voices from the Margins 2

Information Icon

About modules

The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. This content was last updated on Tuesday 6 May 2025. Due to timetabling availability, there may be restrictions on some module combinations.

You will be taught via a mixture of large-group lectures and smaller, interactive seminars.

You will also have practical teaching:

  • In our suite of archaeology labs – dedicated to the study of materials, bones, zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, and isotope preparation
  • Out in the field – via practical training at nearby Wollaton Hall and through an optional archaeological fieldwork placement

Support

You will be assigned a personal tutor and a joint-honours adviser. Together, they will oversee your academic and personal welfare.

In year one, your personal tutor will teach your weekly seminars on our 'Discovering History' module. In year three, your personal tutor will teach your weekly special subject seminars. As a result, our students often develop highly supportive and collaborative relationships with their personal tutor.

Peer mentoring

All new undergraduate students are allocated a peer mentor, to help you settle into life at Nottingham. Find out more about support on offer.

Teaching quality

100% of our class of 2022 graduated with a 1st or 2:1 degree classification. Source: UoN student outcomes data, Annual Monitoring (QDS) Analyses 2022.

Nine academics from the Department of Classics and Archaeology have received Advance HE recognition for their contribution to education, becoming Teaching Fellows.

Teaching methods

  • Lectures
  • Seminars
  • Tutorials
  • Workshops
  • Field trips
  • Lab sessions

Your assessments will vary according to the topic studied. Assessments comprise of coursework and exams where forms of coursework may include:

  • essays
  • individual or team presentations
  • group projects
  • student-led seminars
  • interpretation of document sources or images
  • poster presentations
  • reviews and reflections on the process of study
  • independently-researched dissertation

Assessment methods

  • Essay
  • Portfolio (written/digital)
  • Presentation
  • Reflective review
  • Written exam
  • Dissertation

You’ll have at least the following hours of timetabled contact a week through lectures, seminars and workshops, tutorials and supervisions.

  • Year one: minimum of 11 hours
  • Year two: minimum of 9 hours
  • Final year: minimum of 7 hours

Your tutors will also be available outside these times to discuss issues and develop your understanding.

We reduce your contact hours as you work your way through the course. As you progress, we expect you to assume greater responsibility for your studies and work more independently.

Lectures on our largest module, 'Discovering History', are typically attended by up to 350 students, whereas the corresponding seminars are typically no bigger than 15. Other popular optional module lectures may be attended by up to 75 students, with 15 to 25 in each seminar group. The Special Subject groups are limited to a maximum of 20.

As well as scheduled teaching, you’ll carry out extensive self-study such as:

  • reading, researching and note taking
  • analysing primary sources
  • planning and writing essays and other assessed work
  • collaborating with fellow students

As a guide, 20 credits (a typical module) is approximately 200 hours of work (combined teaching and self-study).

As an Archaeology and History graduate, you will have gained the following key transferable skills:

  • critical thinking
  • data analysis
  • constructing logical arguments
  • communication
  • teamworking
  • presentation

Read our Department of History and Department of Classics and Archaeology student and alumni profiles. Find out more about the range of skills you will gain, as well as the careers which our graduates go into.

You can learn more about subject-related careers opportunities from our Careers and Employability Services:

Average starting salary and career progression

78.8% of undergraduates from the Faculty of Arts secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual starting salary for these graduates was £23,974.

HESA Graduate Outcomes (2017 to 2021 cohorts). The Graduate Outcomes % is calculated using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.

Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take.

Throughout your time with us, our Careers and Employability Service can work with you to improve your employability skills even further; assisting with job or course applications, searching for appropriate work experience placements and hosting events to bring you closer to a wide range of prospective employers.

Have a look at our careers page for an overview of all the employability support and opportunities that we provide to current students.

The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (Ranked in the top ten in The Graduate Market in 2013-2020, High Fliers Research).

Undergradute student studying in the George Green library, University Park. November 5th 2021.

The reason I chose Archaeology and History combined is that it gave me the opportunity to study a wide range of history right from the prehistoric. This incorporates both archaeological skills and techniques as well as historical analysis. The course has given me a wide range of knowledge and has been such a fascinating and interesting combination. Plus, all the staff on both history and archaeology are always extremely helpful and kind.  

Hope White

Archaeology and History BA

Course data

Open Day June 2022