You will be helped to develop advanced research skills in both disciplines in order to prepare you for your third-year dissertation project.
You’ll have at least 10 hours of timetabled contact a week through lectures, seminars and tutorials.
Archaeology: Theory and Practice
Archaeological knowledge is built through analysing material remains. We then use theory to create research questions, building interpretations of those remains. Together, these two elements act as evidence for societies in the past and present.
In this module, you will focus on the relationship between concepts, interpretive approaches and analytical frameworks in the design and implementation of archaeological research projects.
We introduce the development of archaeological theory and interpretation. Special attention is given to the paradigms put forward over the last 30 years, and the resulting debates.
Topics include:
- uniformitarianism
- ethnography
- typology
- ‘New Archaeology’
- processualism and post-processualism
- economic archaeology
- neo-Marxist paradigms
You will develop your knowledge further through in-depth studies of key issues and themes. You will also explore archaeological research in a wide range of different areas and projects.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Communicating the Past
Get creative and build your knowledge on an aspect of Classics or Archaeology which interests you.
Your aim in this module is to communicate your chosen topic to the general public. How you choose to do that is entirely up to you. You might explore different types of writing, perhaps for children or in the style of a magazine, or you might experiment with a different medium of communication, such as video, website or phone app.
For example, past students have:
- Created a museum exhibition
- Reconstructed an ancient artefact
- Designed a new public engagement strategy for a historic site
- Developed a board game
- Created a marketing campaign
The module convenor will support you to design an appropriate topic and format for your project.
You will develop vital research, project design and communication skills, which are excellent preparation for a range of careers, as well as your third-year dissertation.
This module is worth 20 credits.
“I designed several T-shirts and hoodies which conveyed information about the site’s art and architecture, history, and its eventual ruination by ISIL in 2015. I wanted to combine my interest of fashion with my love for the classical world, and this project gave me the opportunity to do so.”
- Alexander Gadd, Created a clothing brand based on Palmyra
Read more student experiences about this module
Themes in Near Eastern Prehistory
You will critically examine themes in Near Eastern Prehistory. The themes take you from the development of agriculture, pastoralism and sedentism to the appearance of the first cities, states and writing. Drawing directly from current research, you will use case studies to examine these themes. You will use archaeological evidence to understand how these developments are reflected in social, religious, economic and political organisations of the prehistoric Near East. You will attend weekly lectures and seminars. After appropriate guidance, you will take part in learning activities includes:
- setting readings
- presenting
- running classroom discussions.
You will receive feedback on these participatory activities. You will write an essay for your formal assessment.
The Silk Road: Cultural Interactions and Perceptions
This is a discipline-bridging cross-campus module, involving colleagues from across the School of Humanities.
The Silk Road will be presented as a range of archaeological, historical and scientific themes. Broad cultural themes will be balanced with the presentation of specific case studies, such as:
- The definitions of the Silk Roads
- Byzantine, Islamic and later medieval Silk Roads
- Luxury production
- Trade and exchange from the Roman and later periods
- Ming Dynasty links with the West
Scientific techniques for the analysis of materials, and their role in the interpretation of trade and exchange along the Silk Roads, will also be considered. This could be between, for example, China, central Asia, Scandinavia and the Middle East.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Britain in the Later Roman Empire (c. 250-450)
This module examines Britain in the later-Roman Empire. It is a fascinating period of prosperity, integration, and sophistication. Yet it is also marked by rebellion, civil war, and the sundering of the links that had bound Britain to the continent so deeply for so long.
We will cover from the crisis that marked the middle years of the 3rd century, to the disappearance of Roman power in the early 5th, and the rapid economic collapse and social transformation that followed.
You will take an interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeological and historical evidence, and will be expected to familiarise yourself with a wide range of evidence.
We will examine:
- the political framework of the later-Roman Empire
- the textual and archaeological evidence for Britain’s society and economy
- the barbarian peoples who threatened and interacted with it
- the question of how it ended up leaving the Roman Empire
You will also consider the integration of different types of source material, thinking about Britain’s place in the wider world in a broader context.
This module is worth 20 credits.
The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England
This module considers the archaeology of England from the end of the Roman occupation until the Norman conquest. You will explore the question of the Romano-British survival and the formation of new Anglo-Saxon societies, evidence of pagan beliefs and the conversion to Christianity; on the development of town and rural settlement patterns, on the role of the church in society and on the Viking incursions and Danish impact on England.
The Origins and Rise of Aegean Civilisation
In the early 20th century, British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans’s excavations at the site of Knossos on the island of Crete uncovered the remains of the earliest palatial civilisation in Europe. Knossos, the home of the mythical king Minos and the monstrous Minotaur, became the landmark of a new culture termed as ‘Minoan’.
Based on a combination of lectures and workshops, this module introduces students to the origins of the Aegean complex societies from the late 4th millennium BC and to the rise, apogee and fall of the Minoan palatial, state-level societies of the 3rd and early 2nd millennia BC.
Urban Geography
This module introduces you to urban geography, including the:
- historical development of urban geography as a sub-discipline
- key thematic areas of contemporary urban geography, including research in the social, economic and cultural and historical geographies of cities
- theoretical underpinnings of approaches to urban geography
- importance of cities in understanding social difference, cultural landscapes and economic development in the Global North and South
- work of key figures from the sub-disciplines past and present
Spatial Decision Making
This module provides a consideration of the following:
- Introduction to GI science/systems/studies/services
- Spatial data types and sources
- Vector processing algorithms
- Raster processing algorithms
- Spatial analysis and decision making
- Professional training in ArcGIS
Economic Geography
This module will cover the following topics:
- Changing economic geographies of the world economy during the 20th and 21st centuries
- Global cities, financial geographies and advanced producer services
- Alternative economies and labour resistance
- Economic geographies of the Global South
- Economic geographies of forced labour and migration
- Feminist economic geography
Techniques in Physical Geography
This module presents the opportunity for hands-on experience of laboratory, field and surveying techniques in physical geography appropriate to the domain of interest of the participants. To achieve these aims all students participate in field projects on a residential field course, some of which are completed in the laboratory back in Nottingham, leading to an individual project.
In addition, you choose further laboratory techniques to investigate in the second semester. The ethical, safety and fieldwork limitations of geographical work are also considered.
Techniques in Human Geography
This module allows you to understand and experience human geography research methods through participation in three practical projects. The module covers methods for: arts and humanities research (such as archival research, visual and textual analysis); social science research (such as interviewing, questionnaires and discussion groups); and quantitative human geography research (such as mapping and visualisation).
If you are planning to write a geography dissertation in year 3, then your 40 credits of optional modules must be used for: