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Core modules:

Heritage, History and Identity

This module highlights the diversity of cultural heritage, ranging from cultural and 'natural' landscapes, through monuments to music, dress, cuisine, 'traditional' crafts, and language and dialect. It explores the role of these various forms of heritage in shaping local, regional and national identity; the extent to which they reflect or misrepresent local, regional and national history; the legal and ethical issues surrounding conservation and preservation of heritage; and how study of 'traditional' lifeways may contribute to understanding of history.

15 credits

Introduction to Critical Theories and Concepts in the Creative and Cultural Industries

This is a core module that introduces and defines what we mean by the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI), not least exploring their role in society. From theatres, to museums, to the music industry, to film, this module explores ideas around the purposes of, and changes and challenges to the CCI sector. The module provides an overview of critical theories and concepts within CCI, and seeks to equip students with the necessary knowledge and tools to assess critically the advantages and disadvantages of existing frameworks, and apply these to understand and research the Creative and Cultural Industries today.

15 credits

Heritage, Place and Community

The aim of this module is to introduce the theory and practice of heritage, conservation and public archaeology. The module will encourage debate on issues that affect how we define and apply the term 'heritage'. It also offers an opportunity to focus on the historic 'value' of a site or landscape, with an evaluation of how it is currently managed, and strategies for its future conservation and presentation.

15 credits

Research Design: Planning, Execution and Presentation

This module provides students with the advanced understanding they need to design an effective research project that addresses a question relevant to current debate in archaeology, and in particular to plan a successful MA/MSc dissertation. It comprises six group seminar sessions and three seminars in which students from different courses are streamed to be taught and guided on subject-specific material by experts in the field. The module culminates in a research day during which students present their dissertation plans to their peers and staff assessors. Assessment is in two parts: a succinct Powerpoint presentation of the dissertation proposal and outline and a written dissertation outline and proposal.

Students wishing to undertake a work placement will also find this module useful for planning their placement aims and objectives.

15 credits

Managing Museums and Cultural Heritage Sites

The module defines and critically appraises the concepts and dimensions of museums and heritage spaces and examines the politics and uses of such sites. It considers local museums, World Heritage Sites and 'Starchitecture' new builds such as the Guggenheim, Bilbao and the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It examines policy, funding and the day to day management of individual museums and heritage spaces against the background of national government agendas and inter-governmental agreements that underpin large scale developments. It looks at provision of such cultural spaces from both the operator and visitor management perspectives and includes site visits within the locality.

15 credits

Dissertation (Cultural Heritage Management)

This module requires students to plan, execute and write-up an original research project. Dissertation topics must be chosen with, and approved by, the Course Director; they must be based on original research; they must be academically worthwhile, affordable, manageable within the time limits, capable of supervision within the contributing Departments, and related to the subject-matter of the MSc in Cultural Heritage Management. Learning is supported by original research guided by ongoing individual tutorials.This module requires students to plan, execute and write up an original research project. This dissertation project is chosen with, and approved by, the Course Director. Dissertation topics must be based on original research and on the students' own ideas: they must be worthwhile, affordable, manageable within time limits, capable of supervision within the contributing Departments and related to the subject matter of the MA Cultural Heritage Management.

45 credits

Optional modules:
You can take a minium of 30 and a maximum of 60 credits from this group.

Landscapes in archaeology: methods & perspectives

This unit introduces the ways in which researchers have thought about landscape in archaeology and situates these perspectives within the methods that are commonplace in landscape research. Through a mix of lectures, seminars and practicals we will explore a variety of themes that together reflect the broad range of contemporary issues in landscape studies. These approaches will be applied through an analysis of a specific landscape using skills in observational survey, cartographic analysis, archival research and aerial photography gained during the practical classes. The emphasis is upon grasping both the methods and their application to specific archaeological questions.

15 credits

Digital Mapping for the Humanities

This module will introduce students to digital mapping as sources, as methods and as outputs for humanities research. Digital mapping offers a wide variety of analytical and interpretive methods that are put to use in many humanities disciplines. Maps and mapping allow us to recognise social constructions of place, visualise patterns, gaps, and changes across time and space. By combining spatial and temporal dimensions into visual representation, digital mapping can provide innovative approaches, methods, techniques, interpretive practices, and solutions to different stages of research, from data collection to science communication. The module will be delivered through both discursive and 'hands-on' classes and will draw on case studies from across the arts and humanities. Students will critically engage and analyse multidisciplinary examples in which digital mapping is a core aspect of research. They will also make use of multiple methods and tools on digital mapping platforms to create, visualise, analyse, disseminate, and communicate spatial and temporal data and knowledge.

15 credits

Accounting and Financial Management

This module is designed to provide knowledge and understanding of the roles of accounting and financial management in modern business organisations. The module will introduce students to the objectives, techniques and limitations of accounting for the purposes of external accountability and internal decision-making and control. The module will also introduce students to the objectives, techniques and limitations of financial investment appraisal and provision of financial resources.

15 credits

Cultural Marketing

Cultural Marketing aims to develop students' understanding, knowledge and analytical skills in relation to marketing and consumption practices within the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCIs), and specifically in relation to the CCI business context, types of CCI organisations and marketing management practices. The module content includes theoretical approaches to marketing and consumption practices in a range of CCI sectors, for example, film, fine art, music, literature, and heritage.

15 credits

Digital Cultural Heritage: Theory and Practice

This module examines the theoretical and methodological advances in Digital Cultural Heritage and their
broader implications in fields concerned with the interpretation and presentation of the past. We will draw on
theoretical readings as well as analyse the potential benefits and drawbacks of certain digital and online
approaches. Topics include: principles and theories underlying Digital Cultural Heritage, understanding
processes of creating digital surrogates, establishing principles for user experience, and exploring digital
narratives for public dissemination. A major component of this module will be a semester-long project that will
require the development of a proposal for a digital cultural heritage project.

15 credits

Heritage, Museum and Field: Archaeology in Practice

This module introduces graduate students to the field-based research skills necessary for the completion of their MA dissertation in archaeology. Students will undertake a two week placement (2 x 6 working days) in a museum, archive, laboratory, or excavation, the choice of which must be approved by the course director. The placement must link directly to the dissertation, and will involve the acquisition of research skills necessary to complete the dissertation, and may also involve the collection of research materials for the dissertation.

15 credits

Digital Cultural and Creative Industries

This module aims to develop students' understanding of the relationship between digital technologies and cultural and creative industries, looking at production, distribution, audience measurement and future trends. Students will synthesise knowledge from CCI theory, up-to-date industry examples and guest speakers who work at the forefront of these digital transformations. Students will be equipped with the skills to critically evaluate the use of technologies in CCIs, to address their opportunities, risks and potential harms.  

Firstly, we will explore how cultural and creative production is facilitated by different technological innovations and developments. We will look at how CCIs such as game design, museum curation and music have been shaped by numerous technological innovations. We will also examine how digital production influences work and consumption within contemporary CCIs.  

Secondly, we will look at the ways in which CCI distribution is facilitated by digital intermediaries. We will look at social media platforms, streaming services and livestreaming platforms, and examine industries related to social media content creation, influencer culture and the promises of 'DIY' production. We will particularly focus on how the algorithmic distribution of cultural products has shaped cultural and creative industries. We will also examine how digital intermediaries shaped the funding models of CCIs, and what impact this has on the sector. 

Lastly, we will look at how digital media has shaped the sustainability and futures of cultural and creative industries. We will look at how technologies such as VR and AI could end up transforming how we access, and work in CCIs - both now and in the future.

15 credits

Managing Festivals, Events and Creative Performances

This module explores the growth development, characteristics, issues and influences relevant to international art fairs, festivals, artistic performances and events and their impact on localities in terms of income generation, providing added value to tourist spaces, and their role in showcasing cultures and cultural products and places. It is primarily concerned with management of those art fairs, exhibitions and events that either showcase cultures or are located within the broad field of Creative and Cultural Industries, providing access to cultural products and cultural capital.

15 credits

Branding

This unit engages students with different theoretical perspectives on the nature of brands, their management, and the relationship between brands and their socio-cultural context. The learning process exposes the students to a wide range of brand examples. Students draw on the theoretical perspectives to write an analytical critique of a specific leisure brand.

15 credits

Cultural and Creative Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is vital to a flourishing cultural and creative sector. This module bridges the gap between creativity, culture, and business by enabling learners to develop techniques that move their creative and critical thinking to entrepreneurial thinking. The module equips those who have previously studied or engaged with an area of creative or cultural practice, such as music, media, theatre and performance, heritage, craft, design, or digital games, to start a new business arising from existing or new creative and cultural practices, to manage a portfolio of loosely connected projects in the cultural and creative industries, and to develop intrapreneurial skills for innovation in existing organisations in the cultural and creative industries. It enhances learners' skills as creative leaders who can respond to emerging trends and opportunities to realise value in the creative economy.

15 credits

Wikipedia and History

Wikipedia is today probably the world's chief source of historical knowledge. Every day, its pages on history are read by many thousands of people. Yet professional historians tend to avoid engaging with it. This course seeks to change that. As well as discussing critical perspectives on Wikipedia, students will receive practical training in creating or editing a page on a historical topic. They will then apply their studies in a hands-on way to improving the encyclopedia's historical coverage, and reflect on the kind of historical knowledge of the period it promotes and disseminates.

15 credits

You can also select 30 credits of modules from across the Department. The following modules represent an example of these options.

Geoarchaeology

This module introduces the ways in which archaeologists reconstruct past environments. Through a combination of different learning experiences (lectures, student-led seminars, practical classes and directed independent study) students will explore a variety of contemporary and ancient environments as well as enhance their understanding of the methods and professional standards of environmental reconstruction. Seminars and assessments will encourage students to apply the concepts and methods introduced in the module to their specific areas of interest. Emphasis is upon the most common analytical techniques. The intent is to provide a working knowledge of many techniques, and awareness of others, which require a more extensive practice to master and apply successfully.

15 credits

Bronze Age Worlds

The module introduces the prehistory of Britain and Ireland during 2500-750 BCE. This period witnessed dramatic and lasting changes in the constitution of society, the formation of the landscape, and the meanings of material culture. These changes included transformations in agriculture, the construction of major ceremonial monuments such as Stonehenge, the flourishing and decline of novel burial rites, the development of metallurgy, and the widespread enclosure of the countryside into field systems. Through seminars and field trips we will consider the major themes, sites and artefacts that have dominated archaeological narratives of the period. Along the way we will review many of the less well-known regions and assemblages, and debate new ways of interpreting social change. The module includes field trips to visit key later prehistoric landscapes in our region.

15 credits

Society and Culture in the Later Middle Ages

This module provides an introduction of the archaeology of later medieval Europe(c. AD 1100-1500), focusing on the regions of north-western Europe, but occasionally drawing on material from the lands around the Mediterranean. It explores many of the important theoretical issues relevant to early medieval archaeology, and also a range of problem-solving strategies within the discipline. The module consists of two elements: a series of lectures introducing important themes and debates within the medieval archaeology, and series of seminars that consider specific case-studies and key sites.

15 credits

Egypt in the Age of the Empire.

This module provides the student with a detailed knowledge of the archaeology of Dynastic Egypt during the New Kingdom, between 16th and 11th centuries BC (18th - 20th Dynasties).  The module embeds Egypt in its late prehistoric Mediterranean and Near Eastern context and traces the development of Egyptian society, dynastic rule, societal structures and the relationship of Egypt with its neighbours. The module will use archaeological, textual and scientific evidence to explore how society is shaped by ideology, belief, power and conflict alongside the natural world.

15 credits

GIS for Archaeologists

Introduce the principles, methods and data structures employed in the analysis and reconstruction of archaeological landscapes using spatial technologies. Provide hands-on training in the application of ArcGIS in archaeological research and professional practice. Enable students to develop skills in interpretation and problem-solving using GIS. Develop students' critical understanding of how spatial technologies are used in archaeological research.

15 credits

Human Evolution: Theory and Practice in Research

This seminar module will present both historical and current issues in the study of human evolution, including new hominid fossil descriptions, debates over interpretations and explanatory models of primate and hominid palaeobiology, theoretical and philosophical topics in evolution, and practical and technological advances in early hominid fossil and archaeological interpretation. In some weeks, students will be required to prepare materials to lead the seminars, and occasional group work exercises will be introduced. The seminar topics will change from year to year to reflect new research, staff projects, guest lecturer availability, and student interests.

15 credits

Applied Bioarchaeological Science

This course acquaints the student with a number of scientific analytical techniques and methods which are pertinent to the interpretation of key questions in bioarchaeology. These include histology and microscopic, chemical and isotopic techniques, ancient DNA analysis, lipid analysis and proteomics. It provides a theoretical introduction as well as some practical experience in sample preparation methodologies, data collection and analysis. The potential and limitations of methods are discussed through specific case studies.

15 credits

Funerary Archaeology

This module provides an advanced level exploration of human responses to death in societies around the world. Delivered through a series of themed lectures and seminars, case studies focus on the nature and interpretation of the burial record, and survey the methods of analysis, theoretical underpinnings and material residues of funerary ritual helping the student to develop a broad knowledge of burial rites and a nuanced understanding of the discipline of funerary archaeology.

15 credits

The Dawn of Modernity in the Late Middle Ages

This module seeks to reassess the picture of the late Middle Ages as an age of crisis and decay to be replaced by the Renaissance and modernity. It aims to show how groups of innovative people invented a new world characterised by international capitalism, man-centred subjectivity and claims of communal participation, and why their new world(s) became the dominant framework of European history for the centuries to follow. The first modern European colonies in the near Atlantic Ocean were both a laboratory for, and a crucial step to, the successful establishment of a new world within and without Europe.

15 credits

Wikipedia and History

Wikipedia is today probably the world's chief source of historical knowledge. Every day, its pages on history are read by many thousands of people. Yet professional historians tend to avoid engaging with it. This course seeks to change that. As well as discussing critical perspectives on Wikipedia, students will receive practical training in creating or editing a page on a historical topic. They will then apply their studies in a hands-on way to improving the encyclopedia's historical coverage, and reflect on the kind of historical knowledge of the period it promotes and disseminates.

15 credits