Programme Specification for the 2023/4 academic year
BA (Hons) Archaeology with Employment Experience
1. Programme Details
| Programme name | BA (Hons) Archaeology with Employment Experience | Programme code | UFA4HPSHPS54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study mode(s) | Part Time Full Time |
Academic year | 2023/4 |
| Campus(es) | Streatham (Exeter) |
NQF Level of the Final Award | 6 (Honours) |
2. Description of the Programme
The BA (Hons) Archaeology with Employment Experience degree allows you to develop an in-depth knowledge about a range of periods and places, as well as the broad variety of techniques and skills that archaeologists use to engage with the past.
It does not matter if you do not have an A-level in Archaeology – most students come to Exeter without any prior experience in the subject. Introductory modules will quickly bring you up to speed with the key topics and principles that underpin all archaeological research and allow you to explore the history and prehistory of the world.
Archaeology at Exeter is characterised by a wide range of choice, both in the topics covered by modules and the opportunities offered for field work. Modules in the second and final years fall into two categories: themes such as Egyptology, medieval, Neolithic, Roman or Bronze Age archaeology; and hands-on techniques such as analysing artefacts, animal bones, human and plant remains or understanding the landscape through methods such as aerial survey.
You will have the opportunity to take part in field work locally, elsewhere in the UK and further afield. Field work opportunities for undergraduate students have included surveys and excavations of a late Saxon town and Norman castle in Oxfordshire, Bronze Age domestic settlements in Kazakhstan, a prehistoric Indian village in South Dakota, and the prehistoric ritual landscape at Stonehenge.
In your first year, the modules you take will give you a solid grounding in the techniques of archaeology and the key topics that archaeologists study in all periods, from the earliest times to the later Middle Ages. During the second year you will take one of the fieldwork modules then choose from a series of options. Optional modules give you the flexibility to tailor your degree to your particular areas of interest. Subjects are varied and may include specific historical periods or cultures, or examining human bones and artefacts. The only compulsory module in the third year is the Dissertation which many students find the most rewarding part of their degree. It gives you the chance to carry out independent research in an area of most interest to you. You will also choose optional modules which may include a work placement.
This programme is studied over four years. The first two years and the final year are university-based, and the third year is spent gaining employment experience at a suitable location in the UK.
This Employment Experience variant of the programme is a great way to incorporate graduate-level work placement or placements undertaken in the United Kingdom directly into your programme of study, to reflect critically upon these experiences, and for them to count towards the assessment of your degree. There is no better way to gain valuable employment experience that can be rewarded and recognised clearly by future employers. With preparation, support and approval from the College of Humanities, you can also demonstrate adaptability and resourcefulness by organising suitable placements in areas of employment related to your interests and potential future career.
You are required to find your own placement with suitable employers and organisations with preparation, support and approval from the College of Humanities. If you are taking this variant you are strongly encouraged to take HUM2000 or HUM2001 (Humanities in the Workplace) at stage 2 and must participate in the pre-departure briefing sessions for Humanities Employment Experience.
Advice and guidance on your programme can be sought from your personal tutor and programme director. All staff offer regular office hours that you can drop into without a prior appointment for this purpose.
3. Educational Aims of the Programme
You will acquire advanced competence in core academic, personal and key skills, providing a basis for career progression in the academic and professional worlds. You will be exposed to a variety of teaching and assessment methods within appropriate learning environments, supported by feedback and monitoring. You will also be given an opportunity to develop your independent study skills through a piece of individual research.
The programme provides an intellectually stimulating, satisfying experience of learning and studying, and forms a sound basis for further study in archaeology, or related disciplines. It aims to develop a range of subject-specific, academic and transferable skills, including high order conceptual literacy and communication skills of value in graduate employment. Archaeology, like other programmes offered within the College of Humanities, encourages you to become a global citizen, a productive, useful and questioning member of society, and provides thorough training for further study or a specialist career. You may utilise the skills you develop in a range of sectors, including heritage, museums, archaeology, consultancy, the Civil Service, education, teaching, research, and charities.
The programme is intended to:
- Encourage graduates to become useful, productive and questioning members of society.
- Produce graduates who are grounded in the main themes of archaeology through a combination of both broad and detailed focuses on particular aspects of the past, study of a range of time periods, and study of different geographical areas
- Produce graduates who understand the methods which archaeologists use to study the past; and who can analyse the development of past societies.
- Offer a coherent curriculum, balancing core elements with a wide range of choice to suit your individual aspirations and requirements.
- Develop your competence in the subject-specific skills required in archaeology through extended practical engagement with primary data, and competence in core academic and personal and key skills, providing a basis for career progression within the academic world and beyond.
- Expose you to different teaching and assessment methods within an appropriate learning environment, supported by feedback, monitoring and pastoral care.
4. Programme Structure
5. Programme Modules
The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme.
You may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.
You may take elective modules up to 30 credits outside of the programme in any stage of the programme as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.
Stage 1
90 credits of compulsory modules, 30 credits of optional modules
Compulsory Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC1010 | Themes in World Archaeology | 15 | No |
| ARC1020 | Essential Archaeological Methods | 15 | No |
| ARC1030 | Investigating British Archaeology | 15 | No |
| ARC1040 | Artefacts and Materials | 15 | No |
| ARC1070 | Practical Skills in Archaeology | 30 | No |
| HAS1905 | Employment Experience HASS | 0 | No |
Optional Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC S1 BA Arc SH opt 2023-4 | |||
| ARA1030 | Introduction to Islamic Archaeology | 15 | No |
| ARC1007 | Archaeological and Forensic Science Practicals | 15 | No |
| ARC1008 | Forensic Archaeology | 15 | No |
| ARC1050 | Objects: Contexts and Display | 15 | No |
Stage 2
30 credits of compulsory modules, 90 credits of optional modules (including HUM2000 and HUM2001 Humanities in the Workplace).
a You must take either ARC2003 or ARC2004 (you cannot choose both).
Compulsory Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC ARC2003-ARC2004 [See note a above] | |||
| ARC2003 | Archaeological Fieldwork Project | 30 | Yes |
| ARC2004 | Archaeological Fieldschool | 30 | Yes |
| HAS2905 | Employment Experience HASS | 0 | No |
Optional Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC S2 BA SH and CH opt 2023-4 | |||
| ARC2003 | Archaeological Fieldwork Project | 30 | No |
| ARA2014 | Regions and Empires in Islamic Archaeology | 15 | No |
| ARC2004 | Archaeological Fieldschool | 30 | No |
| ARC2012 | Monumental Changes: Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain and Ireland | 15 | No |
| ARC2120 | Things and Us: Ancient and Contemporary Material Culture | 15 | No |
| ARC2121 | Brooches, Beads, Swords and Shields: Early Medieval Material Culture | 15 | No |
| ARC2123 | Sustainability and Collapse in Past Societies | 15 | No |
| ARC2130 | Discovering the Past with Molecular Science | 15 | No |
| ARC2401 | Understanding the Landscape of Medieval Britain | 15 | No |
| ARC2406 | Medieval Castles in Context | 15 | No |
| ARC2408 | Romanisation: Interaction, Conquest and Change in Late Iron Age and Roman Dacia | 15 | No |
| ARC2504 | Zooarchaeology | 15 | No |
| ARC2514 | Forensic Anthropology | 15 | No |
| ARC2516 | Human Origins and Evolution: the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic | 15 | No |
| CLA2514 | Ancient Sources (Material Evidence) - Pompeii: Destruction, Discovery and Afterlife | 15 | No |
| CLA2517 | Ancient Sources (Material Evidence): Hellenistic Palaces in West Asia | 15 | No |
| HIH2002 | Uses of the Past | 30 | No |
| HIH2208A | Medieval Paris | 30 | No |
| HIH2234 | Sailors, Slavery and Piracy: The Atlantic World, 1600 - 1800 | 30 | No |
| HIH2592 | Science, Empire, and Natural History Museums: A Global Perspective | 30 | No |
| HUM HUM2000-HUM2001 | |||
| HUM2000 | Humanities in the Workplace | 30 | No |
| HUM2001 | Humanities in the Workplace | 15 | No |
| HUM HUM2004-HUM2005 | |||
| HUM2004 | Making a Career in Publishing | 15 | No |
| HUM2005 | Tales of Freedom, Necessity and Providence | 15 | No |
Stage 3
120 credits of compulsory modules
Compulsory Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| HUM3998 | Employment Experience UK | 120 | Yes |
Stage 4
30 credits of compulsory Dissertation, 90 credits of optional modules
Compulsory Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC3000 | Archaeological Dissertation | 30 | Yes |
Optional Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC SF BA SH and CH opt 2023-4 | |||
| ARC3003 | Professional Placement | 30 | No |
| ARC3006 | Advanced Fieldwork Project | 15 | No |
| ARC3011 | Practicing Archaeological Science | 15 | No |
| ARC3012 | Monumental changes: Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain and Ireland | 15 | No |
| ARC3120 | Things and Us: Ancient and Contemporary Material Culture | 15 | No |
| ARC3121 | Brooches, Beads, Swords and Shields: Early Medieval Material Culture | 15 | No |
| ARC3123 | Sustainability and Collapse in Past Societies | 15 | No |
| ARC3401 | Understanding the Landscape of Medieval Britain | 15 | No |
| ARC3406 | Medieval Castles in Context | 15 | No |
| ARC3510 | Experimental Approaches to Forensic and Archaeological Investigations | 15 | No |
| ARC3516 | Human Origins and Evolution: the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic | 15 | No |
| ARC3611 | Funerary Osteoarchaeology | 15 | No |
| ARC3408 | Romanisation: Interaction, Conquest and Change in Late Iron Age and Roman Dacia | 15 | No |
| ARC3133 | Digital Pasts | 15 | No |
| HUM HUM3000s | |||
| HUM3002 | Aliens Abroad: Science Fiction in Global Literature | 15 | No |
| HUM3015 | The Place of Meaning: Gardens in Britain and China | 15 | No |
| HUM3016 | Book Publishing: Principles of Book Commissioning, Editing and Design | 30 | No |
| HUM3003A | Hacking the Humanities: How to Plan and Run Successful Digital Projects | 15 | No |
| HUM3003 | Hacking the Humanities: How to Plan and Run Successful Digital Projects | 30 | No |
| HUM3004 | Transforming the Tablet: Digital Approaches to Ancient Text and Artefact | 15 | No |
6. Programme Outcomes Linked to Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods
Intended Learning Outcomes
A: Specialised Subject Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
1. Understand basic archaeological techniques and appreciate their major advantages and disadvantages. | 1-3 are developed initially through ARC1020, ARC1040 and ARC1070 followed by ARC2003/4, and developed in increasing sophistication through fieldwork and professional placement options during the final stage. 4 and 5 are developed through ARC1010, ARC1030 and ARC1060, and then through various thematic options in the second and final stages. 6-8 are developed through ARC1020, ARC1040, ARC1050 and ARC 1070, and in stage 2 through ARC2003/4, and ARC3000 in the final stage. 9 is developed through the optional thematic modules taken across all three stages. The level of competence expected of you increases in each stage of the programme. Methodological issues area introduced through ARC1020 an ARC1070 and developed through ARC2003/4. The chronological and thematic framework is introduced in ARC1010, ARC1030 and ARC1060 in stage 1 and developed through many options in the second and final stages. ARC3000 in the final stage brings the methodological and thematic elements together in an independent research dissertation. | The assessment of these skills is through a combination of term-time essays, other written reports/projects, oral presentations, a fieldwork-related project, a dissertation and unseen examinations. |
Intended Learning Outcomes
B: Academic Discipline Core Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
10. Draw thematic comparisons between material from different sources. | These skills are developed throughout the degree programme, but the emphasis becomes more complex as you move from stage to stage. They are developed through lectures and seminars, written work, and oral work (both presentation and class discussion). | The assessment of these skills is through a combination of term-time essays, other written reports/projects, oral presentations, a fieldwork-related project, a dissertation and unseen examinations. |
Intended Learning Outcomes
C: Personal/Transferable/Employment Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
24. Undertake independent study and work to deadlines. | 24 is an essential part of the successful completion of the programme, notably the Dissertation (ARC3000). 25 is developed through the requirement that all written work be word-processed, and through use of the internet as a general research tool in all modules. There is further scope for developing IT skills through module options. 26 is developed through a variety of written assignments throughout the programme. 27 is developed through appraisals and the qualitative self-assessment involved in completing cover sheets for all assignments. 28 is initiated as group work and presentations at stage 1 and developed through group and individual presentations and class and small group-based debates and seminars in option modules in the second and final stages. The skills in 29-31 are developed through interaction in seminars and in discussion with tutors about essay work, and in response to critical comment, both collective and individual. There is also particular emphasis on 29-30 during fieldwork modules (ARC2003/4). 32 is developed through the Archaeology Fieldwork Project in stage 2 and dissertation work in the final stage (both of which have work towards an end-of-module deadline). 33 is developed through during fieldwork activities in ARC2003/4. | The skills in 24-26 are assessed in all modules. 26 is covered by the fact that you prepare written assignments of differing lengths. Formative assessment of group oral presentations (28-29, 31) occurs in ARC1030. 32 is covered by the dissertation. 33 is assessed through field and placement reports. 34 is specifically related to the module HUM3998 Employment Experience UK. |
7. Programme Regulations
Programme-specific Progression Rules
To progress to Stage 2 you must normally achieve an average mark of at least 50% in Stage 1. If you do not achieve an average mark of 50% in Stage 1, you will be interviewed to determine whether you can continue on the Employment Experience programme; if you do not succeed in that interview you will be required to transfer to the three-year programme. This is to ensure that only those students who are likely to succeed in their Employment Experience are selected. If you are unsuccessful in your application for Employment Experience, you will be transferred to the three-year programme.
HUM3998 Employment Experience UK counts as a single 120-credit module and is not condonable; you must pass this module to graduate with the degree title of BA Archaeology with Employment Experience. If you fail the Employment Experience your degree title will be commuted to BA Archaeology.
Classification
Full details of assessment regulations for all taught programmes can be found in the TQA Manual, specifically in the Credit and Qualifications Framework, and the Assessment, Progression and Awarding: Taught Programmes Handbook. Additional information, including Generic Marking Criteria, can be found in the Learning and Teaching Support Handbook.
8. College Support for Students and Students' Learning
All students within Archaeology have a personal tutor for their entire programme of study, whom they meet at least three times a year, and who are available for at least two hours a week. Personal tutors also conduct a Personal Development Planning (PDP) interview in January when students discuss a pre-completed self-appraisal with their tutor, and agree an 'action plan' to consolidate and improve performance over the coming year.
Programme handbooks and other useful information can be accessed via the student intranet: http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/humanities/studying/taughthandbook/ .
Other useful information and student resources can be accessed via the Exeter Learning Environment (ELE): http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/login/index.php , which has specific information on library skills, essay writing and research skills.
9. University Support for Students and Students' Learning
Please refer to the University Academic Policy and Standards guidelines regarding support for students and students' learning.
10. Admissions Criteria
Undergraduate applicants must satisfy the Undergraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.
Postgraduate applicants must satisfy the Postgraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.
Specific requirements required to enrol on this programme are available at the respective Undergraduate or Postgraduate Study Site webpages.
11. Regulation of Assessment and Academic Standards
Each academic programme in the University is subject to an agreed College assessment and marking strategy, underpinned by institution-wide assessment procedures.
The security of assessment and academic standards is further supported through the appointment of External Examiners for each programme. External Examiners have access to draft papers, course work and examination scripts. They are required to attend the Board of Examiners and to provide an annual report. Annual External Examiner reports are monitored at both College and University level. Their responsibilities are described in the University's code of practice. See the University's TQA Manual for details.
14. Awarding Institution
University of Exeter
15. Lead College / Teaching Institution
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS)
16. Partner College / Institution
Partner College(s)
Not applicable to this programme
Partner Institution
Not applicable to this programme.
17. Programme Accredited / Validated by
0
18. Final Award
BA (Hons) Archaeology with Employment Experience
19. UCAS Code
V402
20. NQF Level of Final Award
6 (Honours)
21. Credit
| CATS credits | 480 |
ECTS credits | 240 |
|---|
22. QAA Subject Benchmarking Group
[Honours] Archaeology
23. Dates
| Origin Date | 25/07/2017 |
Date of last revision | 01/09/2021 |
|---|
