MLitt/PGDip Material Culture and Artefact Studies

Programme convenor: Dr Nyree Finlay

This programme is designed to provide a broad grounding in the fields of artefact and material culture studies. Students will be introduced to the specialist skills of archaeological finds analysis and related topics pertaining to artefact collections. In addition to a strong practical element, the programme also develops a theoretical awareness of the complexities of interdisciplinary material culture studies and related professional issues in the management and curation of cultural materials.

The programme offers specific training in research methods and skills, opportunities to develop individual research and access to work placements in a range of museums and other cultural organisations primarily within Scotland. Teaching will take the form of lectures, student-led seminars, field-trips and practical study sessions with first-hand analysis of archaeological and museum objects. Student work placements will also provide valuable vocational experience. The programme will benefit students who seek to pursue further research in aspects of archaeological artefact studies or a career in the heritage sector.

Aims of the programme

The overall aim is to prepare students to participate at both a practical and theoretical level within the field of specialist artefactual analysis as well as the demands of the cultural resource sector with respect to material culture. It also prepares promising MLitt students for further doctoral research whilst also providing students with valuable vocational experience in the cultural resource sector, including commercial contractors, museums and other heritage organisations.

Specific aims are:

• to provide instruction in the principles, methods and analysis of material culture studies concentrating on archaeological artefacts
• to encourage the development of professional awareness in the treatment, management and analysis of cultural remains
• to develop the students’ capacity to identify and research artefactual material within the wider context of theoretical, scientific and empirical interdisciplinary methodologies
• to develop an awareness of the issues surrounding education, access and communication with specialist and general audiences with respect to material culture

Programme Structure

The taught component of the MLitt course consist of three core modules and three optional modules, running over the first two academic terms. This is followed either by a work placement or a period of self-study towards the dissertation in the third term. The core modules introduce the student to the theoretical and practical demands of the material culture studies and artefact analysis. The optional modules offer the student the opportunity to explore and develop particular areas of more detailed study. There are two assessment streams for the MLitt, one based on a research dissertation and the other primarily composed of a work placement.

Semester 1

Students take the Arts Faculty Research Training course, plus the two core courses: Material Culture in Context, and The Process of Artefact Studies

Semester 2

Students must take 60 credits of optional courses. Not all options will be available in any one year, depending on operational factors such as patterns of study leave and the evolving research interests of academic staff.

Students must select a minimum of two courses from a range of core-options (each worth 20 credits). In addition to those shown on the right, and depending on availability of staff elsewhere, options in post-medieval and industrial artefacts and classical, eastern Mediterranean, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian artefact studies may also be available.

Students can also select one course (20 credits) from the following additional options, in agreement with the course convenor either from those offered within the Archaeology Department or other suitable courses in other University Departments where appropriate. Again, staff availability and minimum numbers will apply to these options. For example:

You may also choose one of the following options:

• Independent Study Project, a flexible option designed to facilitate specific research and/or practical skills in a particular specialist subject area and develop scholarly, critical and theoretical or applied knowledge via a seminar long assignment.
• A course drawn from other MLitt Archaeology programmes by agreement with the course convenor.
• A History of Art course such as Scientists, Antiquarians and Collectors or Collecting and Display: viewing Art in 18th century China.
• A course offered by the Humanities and Advanced Technological and Information Institute, for example: Multimedia Analysis and Design or 2D Digitisation.

Semester 3

After Easter, MLitt students undertake either a Dissertation (60 credits) or a Work Placement (with associated diary and portfolio) (30 credits), and a Research Report (30 credits). The dissertation pathway is intended for students preparing for postgraduate research; the work placement provides a more explicitly vocational alternative.

Work Placement (MLitt)

The Work Placement and Research Report pathway enables MLitt students to develop a range of more explicitly vocational skills associated with a particular cultural resource sector. The placement provides the student with the opportunity to work in a cultural heritage institution, developing their transferable skills and gaining valuable practical vocational experience in the workplace. It is evaluated through a Diary (incorporating self-reflective assessment of personal practice and development through the placement) and Portfolio (demonstrating a range of skills associated with report writing, critical evaluation, and an awareness of the ethical and professional issues surrounding the handling, analysis and presentation of material culture). The Research Report provides the opportunity to demonstrate a critical engagement with a body of material, leading to the analysis of a collection and the preparation of a professional standard report. Alternatively, if appropriate, a student may focus on the analysis and presentation of a body of material through an Exhibition Design. In both cases, a broad range of key subject-specific skills and knowledge are addressed, tailored to a student’s personal aspirations and the opportunities offered by the work placement.

Dissertation (MLitt)

The Dissertation pathway enables MLitt students to develop skills associated with formulating research questions linked to primary source materials, articulating the range of issues and concepts associated with them, and managing a sustained argument across a substantial piece of written work. This is particularly suitable for students wishing to develop specifically academic skills with a view to moving on to a research degree. The dissertation requires students to design, undertake and present a piece of original and independent archaeological research. Students will demonstrate substantial, detailed and informed first-hand knowledge of their chosen subject area, and present cogently and coherently the results of their research in a scholarly fashion, with illustrations and other documentation as appropriate. Overall length: 12000-15000 words.