BA in Archaeology and History
Queen's University Belfast
Key Information
Campus location
Belfast, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
3 - 6 years
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 18,800 / per year *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Request info
* international fee
Introduction
This course offers a Joint Honours degree programme examining the human past from a broad humanities-based perspective, drawing on both physical and textual evidence, and including the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in working with archaeological material and undertaking fieldwork.
Archaeology explores a wide range of evidence that documents the human past – from artefacts, monuments and settlements to entire landscapes – and from these interprets how societies have adapted and developed. Modules focus on different periods of World, European and Irish/British archaeology, from human origins to modern times and heritage. Queen's University Belfast is one of the best places to study Archaeology in the UK, scoring scoring third place for student experience in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022 and, once again, first place for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide 2022.
History at Queen's offers students a wide choice of modules. Courses span a long chronological period from Ancient History through to the Contemporary History of the late twentieth century. The modules on offer also cover a wide geographical area that includes Ireland, England, Scotland, Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. Students can choose modules that focus on gender, social and cultural history, colonial history, politics, religious and economic change.
The combined disciplines progressively develop general and specific knowledge and skills, through excavation, fieldwork, overseas fieldtrips, laboratory and practical work. A wide range of career options are available to our graduates including careers in commercial archaeology, survey, heritage management and many more, both within and beyond the heritage sector.
As well as the Joint Honours BA in Archaeology and History, Queen's offers Single Honours degrees in Archaeology (BA) and Archaeology-Palaeoecology (BSc) along with other degree programmes which combine Archaeology (the study of past human activities) with other subjects (Languages and Geography). All of those Single Honours and Joint Honours degrees offer a module pathway that is fully accredited by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) and University Archaeology UK (UAUK).
Archaeology And History Degree Highlights
Global Opportunities
- Students on this programme benefit from a broad range of study-abroad and international placement opportunities, e.g. in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain.
- Students are also eligible to apply to the University’s Study USA and Study China programmes.
World Class Facilities
- The School boasts the internationally renowned 14CHRONO Centre for Radiocarbon Dating, the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, departmental collections and laboratories for study of artefacts, human, animal and plant remains and other scientific materials and instruments, access to GIS, laser scanning and specialist teaching laboratories.
- The University’s McClay Library holds one of the most comprehensive collections of resources on Irish, British, European and World Archaeology in Ireland and the UK, and provides state-of-the-art study facilities. The McClay Library also holds a wide collection of resources for the study of Ancient, Medieval and Modern History.
Internationally Renowned Experts
- On this programme you will be taught by academics who are internationally renowned experts at the top of their respective fields.
Student Experience
- Archaeology at Queen’s stands out for its sustained excellent teaching record, having scored 95% overall student satisfaction in the UK National Student Surveys 2019 and 2021, and 100% overall student satisfaction in the UK National Student Surveys 2017, 2018 and 2020.
- 3rd place for Student Experience (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022)
- 1st place for Student Satisfaction (Complete University Guide 2022)
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
How do I fund my study?
There are different tuition fees and student financial support arrangements for students from Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales (Great Britain), and those from the rest of the European Union.
Scholarships
Each year, we offer a range of scholarships and prizes for new students.
International Scholarships
Curriculum
Course Structure
Introduction
All students normally take six courses per stage (a stage equals one academic year of full-time study), each covering a distinct theme. Single Honours students normally take at least five Archaeology/Palaeoecology courses. Students on Joint Honours degree programmes normally take three Archaeology/Palaeoecology courses, in addition to three courses from their second subject.
Students enrolled in this program have the opportunity to undertake an optional additional year of study, either between Stages 2 and 3 or after completing Stage 3, spent studying abroad or on a work placement.
At the end of Stage 3, students with very good performance also have the opportunity to switch to our undergraduate Masters's program (MSci). In the MSci, Stage 4 courses enable students to deepen their theoretical knowledge, gain additional practical experience, and further broaden their skills base.
Note: some modules may be subject to change
Stage 1
Themes covered in Stage 1 include an introduction to world archaeology and to exploring history.
Stage 1 Optional Courses
Optional courses at Stage 1 explore, amongst other themes, the relationship between history and historians, European prehistory, archaeological fieldwork techniques, and the historical archaeology of Europe.
Stage 2
In Stage 2, students explore in more detail the themes introduced in Stage 1 and develop both their theoretical background knowledge and their practical skills, with some scope for specialization. In particular, Stage 2 courses provide competencies and concepts necessary for the dissertation that is normally taken at Stage 3, and for future employment in Archaeology, History, and a wide range of other fields.
Stage 2 Optional Courses
Optional courses at Stage 2 are generally survey modules seeking to convey a sense of the principal events, trends, and developments in a particular region over a fairly long time span, including Ireland from prehistory to the 20th century, the Ancient World, Europe during the Middle Ages, and the Americas. Other optional modules in Stage 2 focus on archaeological, palaeoenvironmental, and geospatial techniques.
Stage 3
At Stage 3, students dedicate a substantial part of their time to their chosen dissertation project, building on the knowledge and skills they have acquired through Stages 1 and 2.
Stage 3 Optional Courses
Students at Stage 3 have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of optional courses focusing on specialist themes, ranging in time from the evolution of early humans to the Middle Ages, and covering fields as diverse as population studies, ritual and religion, prehistoric monuments, ancient cities, the rise of Christianity, the American Civil War, working-class communities in the United Kingdom and Thatcher's Britain.
Supplement – Optional Additional Year
Students enrolled in this program have the opportunity to undertake an optional additional year of study, either between Stages 2 and 3 or after completing Stage 3. The additional year can be spent studying abroad at one of our international partner universities or on a UK or international workplace placement. Depending on the chosen option, the degree title awarded will then be ‘BA Archaeology and History with International Study’, ‘BA Archaeology and History with Placement’, or ‘BA Archaeology and History with International Placement’.
Learning and Teaching
At Queen’s, we aim to deliver a high-quality learning environment that embeds intellectual curiosity, innovation, and best practices in learning, teaching, and student support to enable each student to achieve their full academic potential.
Within Archaeology and History, we do this by providing a range of learning experiences that enable our students to engage with subject experts, develop attributes and perspectives that will equip them for life and work in a global society and make use of innovative technologies and a world-class library that enhances their development as independent, lifelong learners. Examples of the opportunities provided for learning in this course are:
E-Learning technologies
Information associated with lectures and assignments is often communicated via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Canvas. A range of e-learning experiences are also embedded in the degree through, for example interactive group workshops in a flexible learning space; IT and statistics modules; podcasts and interactive web-based learning activities; opportunities to use IT programs associated with web design in practicals and project-based work.
Lectures
Introduce basic information about new topics as a starting point for further self-directed private study/reading. Lectures also provide opportunities to ask questions, and gain some feedback and advice on assessments (normally delivered in large groups to all year-group peers).
Personal Tutor
Undergraduates are allocated a Personal Tutor who meets with them on several occasions during the year to support their academic development.
Practicals
Where students will have opportunities to develop technical skills and apply theoretical principles to real-life or practical contexts. Many Archaeology and Palaeoecology modules have associated practical classes, ranging from 3 to 9 hours of study per week, depending on the module content.
Self-directed study
This is an essential part of life as a Queen’s student when important private reading, engagement with e-learning resources, reflection on feedback to date, and assignment research and preparation work is carried out.
Seminars/tutorials
Significant amounts of teaching are carried out in small groups (typically 10-20 students). These provide an opportunity for students to engage with academic staff who have specialist knowledge of the topic, to ask questions, and to assess their own progress and understanding with the support of peers. Students should also expect to make presentations and other contributions to these groups.
Supervised projects
In the final year, students will be expected to carry out a significant piece of research on a topic or practical methodology that they have chosen. They will receive support from a supervisor who will guide them in terms of how to carry out research and who will provide feedback on a number of occasions during the write-up stage.
Work Placements and Field Classes
Students gain practical fieldwork experience through the teaching excavation at Stage 1 and will normally have the opportunity to build further experience through volunteering on staff-led field projects throughout Stages 2 and 3. Students enrolled in the MSci are offered the opportunity of gaining fieldwork experience at an advanced level at Stage 4.
Assessment
Details of assessments associated with this course are outlined below:
The way in which students are assessed will vary according to the learning objectives of each course. Some courses are assessed solely through project work or written assignments. Others are assessed through a combination of coursework and exams. Details of how each course is assessed are explained in the general course catalog and in the handbook for each individual course available to students.
Feedback
As students progress through their degree course at Queen's they will receive general and specific feedback about their work from a variety of sources including lecturers, module coordinators, placement supervisors, personal tutors, advisers of study, and their peers. University students are expected to engage in reflective practice and to use this approach to improve the quality of their work. Feedback may be provided in a variety of forms including:
Feedback is provided via formal written comments and marks relating to work that students, as individuals or as part of a group, have submitted.
Face-to-face comment. This may include occasions when students make use of the lecturers' advertised office hours to help address a specific query.
Placement employer comments or references.
Online or emailed comment.
General comments or question-and-answer opportunities at the end of a lecture, seminar, or tutorial.
Pre-submission advice regarding the standards should aim for and common pitfalls to avoid. In some instances, this may be provided in the form of model answers or exemplars which students can review in their own time.
Feedback and outcomes from practical classes.
Comment and guidance provided by staff from specialist support services such as Careers, Employability, and Skills or the Learning Development Service.
Once students have reviewed their feedback, they are encouraged to identify and implement further improvements to the quality of their work.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Studying for an Archaeology and History degree at Queen’s will assist students in developing the core skills and employment-related experiences that are valued by employers, professional organisations and academic institutions. Graduates from this degree at Queen’s are well-regarded by many employers (local, national and international) and over half of all graduate jobs are now open to graduates of any discipline, including Archaeology and History.
Employment Links
We regularly consult and develop links with a large number of employers including, for example, the Historic Environment Division at the Department for Communities, National Trust, and Ulster Wildlife Trust, who provide both snapshot advice on their work, as well as run more in-depth advice sessions, the latter often at taught Masters level. We also run a careers seminar programme with guest speakers employers and further-study coordinators (teacher training, Masters's and PhD degrees).
We benefit greatly from housing the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork in the School. This self-funded private unit obtains commercial work from the Department for Communities, the police and civil engineering companies, thus exposing students to employers, but also providing the teaching with information on what the current employment market requires from Archaeology and History graduates.
Prizes and Awards
In addition to the prizes and awards available to all QUB students, a number of prizes and scholarships are available specifically to undergraduate students in Archaeology and Palaeoecology; normally these are awarded on an annual basis:
The Basil Wilson Prizes
The Kerr Fieldwork/Visit Award
The Kerr Final Year Dissertation Prize
The Kerr MSci Prize
The Kerr Meritorious Performance Prize
The Kerr Prize (one each at Stages 1, 2, and 3)
The Kerr Undergraduate Scholarship
Degree plus award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised by a world-leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
English Language Requirements
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