Programme Overview:
- Duration:
- 1 Years
- Attendance:
- Full Time
- Mode of Delivery:
- Blended
- Next Intake:
- 2024/2025 September
- Contact Name:
- Stephen Davis
- Contact Number:
- 01 716 8534
- Fees:
- Fee Information
UCD School of Archaeology's GradDiploma in Archaeology is designed for students interested in the challenges and opportunities in studying the human past.
Archaeology is the discipline of things, exploring how people in the past created unique societies through their construction, use and perception of landscapes, plants, animals and things. Archaeology can explore the origins and character of past societies, population migrations, and the relationship between human behaviour, landscapes, material culture and climatic and environmental change. Archaeology holds many opportunities for an interesting and rewarding career, in archaeological practice, in cultural heritage and archaeological management and conservation, in museums and curation, in academic research and in public engagement and education.
Your learning will be built around engaging and training in key archaeological skills, such as Landscape Archaeology, Artefact and Material Culture studies, Environmental Archaeology, Geographical Information Systems (G.I.S.), LiDAR and Remote Sensing and Archaeological Field Practice. You will also have the opportunity to take specific modules and design and complete an MSc Dissertation so as to specialise in particularly chronological or cultural periods (e.g. Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age/Roman, Early Medieval, Medieval, Historical/Post-Medieval). You will complete your MSc Dissertation on a chosen topic, supervised by an expert in the field.
UCD School of Archaeology has an international reputation in the study of prehistoric archaeology, with one of the largest groups of researchers in this field anywhere in the world. You will be part of a dynamic, friendly and international postgraduate community in a School with a 160-year history of exceptional archaeological research. Our approach is global in perspective, but you will also be able to explore and study first-hand Ireland’s extraordinary cultural heritage. You will benefit from UCD’s proximity to some of the best-preserved and most spectacular prehistoric monuments and landscapes in Europe as well as to key cultural institutions such as the National Museum of Ireland with its outstanding prehistory collections.
You will learn to combine innovative archaeological and scientific approaches with current theoretical perspectives to examine the material remains of prehistoric societies, developing a sophisticated understanding of how different field and laboratory methods can be employed to answer key research questions in prehistory. You will gain skills in project design and independent research, data analysis and interpretation, and communicating the past to different stakeholder groups.
Curricular information is subject to change
Full Time option suitable for:
Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. Yes
GD in European Prehistories: Deep-Time Social Perspectives
Programme co-ordinator: Professor Joanna Brück
Contact: joanna.bruck@ucd.ie
The Graduate Diploma in European Prehistories will be taught by UCD School of Archaeology experts working at the cutting edge of current research on prehistoric monuments and material culture, landscapes and lifestyles. You will explore and investigate the prehistoric past though lectures, seminars and practical projects and you will benefit from the School’s excellent field facilities and laboratories.
The GDip programme (60 credits) is structured around a series of core modules with thematic options. The core modules comprise two 10-credit specialist modules in Prehistoric Archaeology, one in trimester 1 (Ritual, society and identity in prehistory) and one in trimester 2 (Landscape, mobility and environmental change in prehistory), and a 10-credit module on Material culture. These modules provide you with the critical and reflective skills required to understand how archaeologists analyse and interpret prehistoric objects, sites, bodies, monuments and landscapes.
Options are based on School thematic strengths in prehistoric archaeology; landscape archaeology; experimental archaeology; and world heritage management. These will help you to deepen your practical and analytical skills in specific areas. The programme is taught through a diversity of teaching methods and innovative assessment types by experienced professionals and gives you the opportunity to really develop your knowledge and skills in archaeological investigations, in a creative, inspiring and enjoyable setting. Classroom activities such as lectures, seminars and workshops will be supplemented by fieldtrips and lab-based teaching for specialist modules. Depending on the modules taken, coursework may include essays, projects, posters, oral presentations, scientific analysis and the preparation of formal reports.
The GDip Archaeology also offers students the opportunity to design their own programmes from our diverse Level 4 modules in addition to selected modules from out L3 programme. This provides a pathway whereby students who remain undecided which aspect of archaeology they wish to specialise in can study archaeology and heritage more broadly.
Our MSc and GDip courses respond directly to two of UCD’s key strategic themes: ‘Empowering Humanity’, which foregrounds the importance of ‘Understanding what shapes human thinking and motivates behavioural change’, and ‘Creating a Sustainable Global Society’, which requires an understanding of the diversity of ways in which people have interacted with the natural world over the course of human history.
Students who achieve an average of GPA of 3.1 within Semester 1 can apply to upgrade to the MSc Programme.
On completion of this programme, a student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate understanding of the distinctive challenges and opportunities of studying our prehistoric past in its global context.
2. Critically assess archaeological interpretations of different datasets.
3. Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of key theoretical approaches, and of the history and context of archaeological interpretations.
4. Understand how different field and laboratory methods can be employed to answer key research questions in prehistory.
5. Appropriately select and apply discipline-specific archaeological skills and approaches to resolve research problems and develop our understanding of prehistoric societies.
6. Work within large or small teams and independently, leading and being led as appropriate.
7. Effectively communicate archaeological knowledge using a variety of different approaches and platforms.
8. Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of how archaeological knowledge is relevant to key contemporary issues.
The GDip will provide you with the skills required to develop a career in the archaeological profession or the heritage sector, or to go on to further academic study. Transferable skillsets such as critical thinking and project management will also provide you with an excellent grounding for future employment in other sectors. Graduates of this programme may progress to further academic study or careers in:
• Commercial archaeology and CRM
• The heritage sector
• State sector bodies
• NGOs
• Education
• Tourism
Core modules:
• Ritual, Society and Identity in Prehistory
• Landscape, Mobility and Environmental Change in Prehistory
• Material Culture
Optional modules:
In discussion with the Programme Coordinator, students will be advised to choose their options from one thematic area available in our other graduate programmes:
• Archaeology
• Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology
• Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture
• World Heritage Management
GradDip Archaeology (W493) Full Time
EU fee per year - € 7000
nonEU fee per year - € 15070
***Fees are subject to change
Tuition fee information is available on the UCD Fees website. In terms of higher education, notwithstanding Brexit, UK students will still be eligible for the EU fee rate.
- entry to MSc based on an Upper Second Class Honours (2H1) undergraduate degree (GPA 3.2, NFQ Level 8, or the international equivalent) in archaeology or anthropology, or other cognate disciplines (to be discussed with programme coordinator)
- entry to GradDip based on a Lower Second Class Honours (2H2) undergraduate degree (GPA 2.7, NFQ Level 8, or the international equivalent) or equivalent experience) in archaeology or anthropology, or other cognate disciplines (to be discussed with programme coordinator)
- If English is not your native language, proof of proficiency in English will be required, unless you took your primary degree through English. The minimum acceptable score on the TOEFL Internet Based Test is 90, on the IELTS system it is 6.5
The following entry routes are available:
* Courses will remain open until such time as all places have been filled, therefore early application is advised