Material Culture & Artefact Studies

Programme structure

The taught component consists of three core courses and three optional courses, running over the first two academic terms. For MLitt students, this is followed by either a work placement or a period of self-study towards the dissertation in the third term.

A Work Placement may be undertaken by MLitt students, which will enable you to gain valuable work experience in a museum, archaeological unit or other cultural institution. Partner institutions that have agreed to offer placements in principle include Glasgow Museums Service, the Hunterian museum and GUARD. The duration of work placement(s) will usually be around 10 weeks (40 days) with an additional period of self-study if developing a research report or exhibition proposal on material within the Institution.

The MLitt Dissertation may be undertaken as an alternative to the Work Placement. It represents a sustained piece of scholarly work on a topic to be agreed between the convenor and the student and undertaken between May and September.

Assessment is normally focused on written performance, but oral presentation skills and other modes of assessment offer the student to develop their writing skills in a number of formats. This is in addition to the practical emphasis on an ability to interpret and analyse artefacts. MLitt students can opt to follow one of two main assessment streams: either by means of a Dissertation or a Work Placement (assessed by Student Diary, Portfolio and either a Research Report or a Student Exhibition Design).