BA Museum Studies and Archaeology with International Foundation Year - September Entry

Compulsory modules

Academic Skills  

Acquire academic study and communication skills to support your International Foundation Programme and Undergraduate studies. You’ll develop confidence and abilities in these transferable skills through a range of in-class group activities and individual study tasks.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Revolutions and Transitions: The Human Journey from Six Million Years Ago to the Present Day

Discover how archaeological research has shaped our understanding and knowledge of the development of human society over the last 6 million years, from our earliest ancestors through to the present day. You’ll learn how archaeological methods are used to reconstruct the human past and identify major issues of debate in our history. 

Archaeology Today: Methods and Practice

Uncover the main methods and practices currently employed in modern archaeology, both in archaeological fieldwork and post-excavation analysis. You’ll gain essential knowledge on the variety of techniques used in modern archaeology and an understanding of current practice in the UK. 

Early Empires: Mesopotamia, Egypt and Rome

Discover the archaeology of the world’s early empires, dating from 2500BC to AD395, focusing on the great empires of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, and the Roman Empire. You’ll examine ideology, imperial cult, trade, urbanisation, warfare, agriculture and the everyday lives of imperial subjects, as you study the rise and fall of some of the greatest, most feared, socio-political entities to have existed.

Presenting the Past: An Introduction to Museum Studies

Delve into the past, present, and future of museums within a global context. You'll examine the origins of museums, collecting histories, social justice, repatriation, hidden voices, decolonisation, inclusivity, and the role of different audiences in curation, and learn through lectures, practical workshops, museum visits, and individual and group assessments.

Optional modules

Forensic Anthropology and the Archaeology of Death

Learn the archaeological methods and theories employed in the scientific study of the dead, both from the modern forensic and older archaeological contexts. Gain insight into how humans have buried their dead over the time, analyse skeletal remains, and conduct fieldwork in a cemetery survey.

Contemporary World Cultures: An Introduction to Social Anthropology

Gain a general introduction to social anthropology – the study of human societies and cultures. You’ll explore key themes in the discipline through the study of topics including kingship and marriage, gender and sexuality, the role of religion, ritual and witchcraft in social life, and contemporary hunting and gathering societies.

Optional Language Modules 

Learn one of ten languages offered by the University at a level appropriate for you.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Archaeology and Heritage: Past, Present and Future

Discover how and why archaeologists have excavated and interpreted the material remains of past societies over time. You’ll examine interpretations of the past through to the modern day, spanning the ancient Near East and Classical Greece and Rome. You’ll also examine the evolution of ideas, considering how wider society has changed archaeology and how it may continue to develop in the future. 

Ancient Objects: Materials and Meanings 

Learn the skills, techniques and interpretative frameworks specific to the study of artefacts, including how they’re recorded, analysed and interpreted. You'll be exposed to a wide range of artefacts covering two chronological periods as you explore methodological aspects and analyse data for your dissertation. 

Museum Learning and Engagement

Examine the learning role of museums in society. You'll become acquainted with learning theory, program and event management, as well as resource design, evaluation, and visitor research. You'll have the opportunity to learn from professionals involved in museum-based learning and engagement and to observe and assess learning resources and events. 

Curatorship and Collections Management

Explore the methods used by museum professionals to store, catalogue, research objects, and communicate their meaning to the general public. You'll gain a practical introduction to researching, cataloguing, interpreting, and displaying museum objects, working with items from the University of Reading's collections. 

Optional modules

Prehistoric Europe: The First Million Years

Uncover Europe’s pre-history, from the earliest Palaeolithic through to the Iron Age c. 1,600,000 – 800 BC), from Turkey and the Balkans to Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia. You’ll consider important research questions and themes such as technology, dietary strategies, life histories, hominin cognitive abilities, settlement and burial archaeology, ritual practice, and comparative anthropology. 

Archaeology Field School and Professional Practice

Gain a practical, hands-on introduction to field techniques and site recording methods used on both urban and rural excavations. You’ll spend four weeks on a departmental excavation and participate in site work including excavation, finds and sample processing, geophysics, survey and aspects, and geoarchaeology.  

Medieval Europe: Power, Religion and Death

Gain an understanding of the contribution that archaeological evidence, approaches, and interpretation have made to an understanding of Europe over the ‘Long Middle Ages’, c. AD 500-1600. You’ll learn to make thematic comparisons between different geographical, cultural, and temporal contexts in Europe and visit Winchester - one of the richest medieval urban landscapes in southern England.

Bioarchaeology

Learn the key methods employed in the examination of human and animal skeletal remains from archaeological sites and utilise skeletal collections held by the Department of Archaeology. You’ll gain insight into the roles of osteoarchaeologists and develop skills in identifying, recording, and analysing human and non-human skeletal remains. 

Changing the Face of the Earth: Past, Present and Future Sustainability

Examine how archaeology, environmental science and anthropology can provide a deep-time perspective on global challenges and sustainability and how they may contribute to future solutions. You’ll explore the historical emergence, sustainability, and collapse of communities and civilisations, alongside the role of humans in changing climate and ecosystems in the future. 

Summer Placement

Take the opportunity to complete a research or professional placement during the summer vacation preceding Part 2 or Part 3 of your degree. You can work alongside a member of staff on a current project based in the UK or internationally, or with a professional organisation, consultancy or government organisation.

Optional Language Modules 

Learn one of ten languages offered by the University at a level appropriate for you. 

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Display Design, Planning and Creation: Project Module

Experience the opportunity to put your knowledge from Museum studies into practice with a final exhibition. You’ll research, design, and install a museum exhibition using the University of Reading collections. You'll be assessed on a literature review regarding the subject matter of the exhibition, an exhibition diary, and a group mark for the final exhibition. 

Optional modules

Dissertation in Archaeology

Plan, organise and carry out an independent archaeological research project. You’ll undertake primary research as you critically assess previous approaches to a research question and identify or design methods relevant to its solution. 

The Anthropology of Heritage and Cultural Property

Learn about the historical development of politics and legal claims relating to heritage and cultural property in the contemporary world, including their social, economic, and environmental impacts, through various national and global institutions such as English Heritage and UNESCO.

Biological Anthropology

Learn to identify humans from non-human remains, assign biological sex, age at death, and stature to an individual skeleton, and identify common pathologies through hands-on and problem-based learning. You’ll also learn to identify bone fragments commonly encountered during archaeological excavation and post-excavation analysis. 

Post-excavation: Assessment, Analysis and Publication in the Profession

Learn advanced post-excavation techniques to complement your practical excavation and recording skills including creating a dated stratigraphic sequence, using a Geographic Information System (GIS), understanding the legal and planning policy framework of professional archaeology, preparing a Written Scheme of Investigation, and working with archaeological databases and Historic England Records. 

Emergence of Civilisation in Mesopotamia

Acquire a comprehensive understanding of Mesopotamia during the period between the late 4th to early 2nd millennium BC, and gain a critical understanding of the theoretical and methodological approaches used for studying early urban settlements and societies in this region, as well as in archaeology more broadly.  

The Archaeology and Anthropology of Food

Gain a better understanding of how investigating foodways contributes to archaeological and anthropological research, and learn about human populations in different cultural and historical contexts. You’ll analyse key debates in the field and gain insight into the relationship between evidence and interpretation.  

Optional Language Modules 

Learn one of ten languages offered by the University at a level appropriate for you. 

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.