BA Museum and Classical Studies

Program Overview

This interdisciplinary program blends Museum Studies with Classical Studies. Students explore the ancient Greek and Roman worlds while acquiring professional museum skills through hands-on experience in a museum environment. The curriculum focuses on the practical aspects of museology, such as exhibition design and cataloging, preparing graduates for careers in the heritage sector.

Program Outline

This joint honours course combines the contemporary theory and practice of museum studies with the study of the classical world through literature, material culture, and history. We are the only UK university to offer this exciting combination. Central to the course is the hands-on experience you will gain at our on-site museums. The University has three museums – including the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology – in which you can gain experience as a volunteer as you learn. As well as museums, we also have a number of archives and special collections of international importance. Your teaching staff are all practising professionals, including curators, conservators and archivists, and use a combination of problem solving and enquiry-based learning techniques to teach you. In the National Student Survey 2023, 96% of our students said that teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (96.43% of respondents studying in the Department of Classics). Guided by the Department of Classics, you will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to be a museum professional. Teaching will encourage you to research the environment that artefacts are displayed in, how they are catalogued, and the meanings they hold for different audiences. You will be given the opportunity to conduct your own research and, in your final year, you will design, create and evaluate your own exhibition. In Classical Studies, you will explore the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. You will have the opportunity to study different genres of ancient literature alongside your choice of modules in areas including history, art, and language. You can enhance your knowledge of the ancient world through optional Latin and Greek modules, or broaden your understanding by looking at the Classical past in film or through archaeology. We encourage you to gain direct experience of ancient sites through independent travel, for which travel scholarships are available. We also run our own study trips. British School at Rome, who both offer summer school opportunities to University of Reading students.

Outline:

Year 1

• Texts, Readers and Writers
• Greek History: War, Society and Change in the Archaic Age
• The Past in the Present
• Presenting the Past: An Introduction to Museum Studies

Year 2

• Museum Learning and Engagement
• Ancient Epic
• Greek History: Persian Wars to Alexander
• Greek Sculpture and Architecture
• My Mother's Sin and Other Stories

Year 3

• Display Design, Planning and Creation: Project Module
• Dissertation in Classics
• Independent Project in Classics
• Greek and Roman Painting

Teaching:

Your teaching staff are all practising professionals, including curators, conservators and archivists, and use a combination of problem solving and enquiry-based learning techniques to teach you. In the National Student Survey 2023, 96% of our students said that teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (96.43% of respondents studying in the Department of Classics).

Careers:

This course is designed with employability and specific career paths in mind, giving you a head start in the heritage sector. As a Museum Studies and Classics graduate you will develop strong transferable skills, and gain first-hand experience in handling objects, delivering presentations, and investigating other cultures in depth. You will think and research like a museum professional, and your three years’ experience of working within a multifaceted organisation will make you highly employable in any sector. Recent employers have included the Australian government, the National Trust and the Science Museum.

Other:

• You will volunteer and undertake a number of work placements to gain hands-on experience.
The Department has great connections with conservators, learning specialists and funding and policy specialists, as well as with a large number of museums, including local institutions such as the Reading Museum, and the Royal Berkshire Medical Museum.
• Additionally, the Classics Department has close links to overseas institutions.
If you would like to gain first-hand experience of life in another culture you can choose to study abroad for part of your degree.

Tuition Fees:

New UK/Republic of Ireland students:

£9,250

New international students:

£22,350