- UCAS course code
- PV40
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Film Studies and Archaeology
- Typical A-level offer: AAB
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBB
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBB
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 35 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL
Course description
Our BA Film Studies and Archaeology course will enable you to study film from a range of historical and theoretical perspectives while exploring archaeology from the Palaeolithic period to the recent past.
Film Studies
You will expand your experience of film through taught units and screenings that focus on both classical and contemporary films, covering a wide range of film cultures from around the world.
You will study mainstream and non-mainstream films in order to broaden your understanding of the history of film, as well as the debates and issues that are informing and generated by current practice in film and shaping its future.
As you enhance your skills of close analysis, you will also develop an understanding of how film engages with socio-cultural and political concerns, placing the films you study in their historical context as well as thinking about current debates and future challenges for cinema as a medium.
The course emphasises historical and theoretical approaches to studying film rather than practical production.
Archaeology
Combining insights from humanities and science, our Archaeology units offer the opportunity to explore humanity from its earliest origins right up to the impact of industrialisation and globalisation on society.
You'll consider the key challenges of modern society - from climate change and the impact of new technologies, to subtle understandings of gender, cultural identity and conflict - by examining the long-term record of our past.
You will also use scientific techniques to examine ancient objects, human remains and landscapes.
Fieldwork training is integral to all our courses: you will have the opportunity to dig for at least four weeks, with your first two weeks in year one, followed by a further two weeks in year two.
Aims
- Develop your understanding and awareness of the rich possibilities of Film.
- Expand your approach to Film from a range of historical and theoretical perspectives.
Special features
Fieldwork training is an integral part of our course throughout the degree, and you'll be introduced to excavation techniques by experienced archaeologists.
Placement year option
Apply your subject-specific knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year in your third year of study, enabling you to enhance your employment prospects, clarify your career goals and build your external networks.
Explore in-depth collections on campus
Discover artefacts, architecture, ancient texts and beliefs using our well-equipped laboratories, our own departmental teaching collections and the exclusive archives and curatorial expertise of Manchester Museum.
Learn from the experts
You will be taught by world-class researchers with archaeological specialisms in identity, landscapes, monuments, material culture and social complexity.
Connect with like-minded students
Join The University of Manchester Filmmaking Society, which provides a platform for aspiring filmmakers to meet, exchange ideas and create their own cinematic productions.
Join The University of Manchester Drama Society, which is for anyone with an interest in drama, be that acting, directing, writing, filmmaking, costume, set building, stage managing or just watching. One of the largest in the Student Union, the society has links with many of Manchester's award-winning theatrical venues, including the Contact Theatre and the Royal Exchange Theatre. Each summer the society showcases at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The Archaeology Society is open to anyone with an interest in archaeology, including students and the wider community.
Teaching and learning
In Film Studies, you'll attend film screenings, which are designed to enable you to advance your interpretive skills and better understand the distinctive qualities of film as a medium.
There is also emphasis on close analysis, through which you'll learn to interpret films and their discursive surround, including relevant paratexts (eg promotional material such as trailers and posters).
In Archaeology, a variety of teaching methods are used, including:
- tutorials
- seminars
- laboratory sessions
- lectures
- fieldwork
- one-to-one tutorials
- group exercises
- presentations
- reports
- original research guided by academic tutors.
Archaeology fieldwork includes one-day site visits as well as extensive periods of excavation in locations such as Herefordshire, Yorkshire and Scotland.
The University subsidises the cost of fieldwork.
Coursework and assessment
In Film Studies, assessment includes:
- essays
- seminar presentations and participation
- exams
- practical work.
In Archaeology, assessment includes:
- written examinations
- coursework essays
- research reports
- practical tests
- fieldwork workbooks
- individual projects
- oral presentations
- third year dissertation
- digital posters
- audio performances.
Archaeology field training involves a variety of assessment over a range of skills and techniques.
Course content for year 1
The Art of Film covers the core concepts and terminology in studying film. The unit addresses the distinctive properties of film as a medium and engages with debates about film's status as an art. Introduction to Early and Classical Cinema covers the origins of cinema up to the 1950s. Introduction to World Cinema covers a range of film cultures from different countries with an initial emphasis on the various new wave movements, which began to emerge around the world in the 1950s and 1960s.
Gain a broad-based understanding of archaeological history and the methods and theories involved in the interpretation of past societies.
Discover the process of archaeological fieldwork and the principles of excavation through lab-based study, artefact handling sessions, and hands-on field trips.
Course units for year 1
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Discoveries and Discoverers: Sights and Sites | CAHE10281 | 20 | Mandatory |
Doing Archaeology 1 | CAHE10502 | 20 | Mandatory |
The Art of Film | DRAM10031 | 20 | Mandatory |
Introduction to Early Film Histories | DRAM13331 | 20 | Mandatory |
Introduction to World Cinema | SALC11002 | 20 | Mandatory |
Constructing Archaic Greek History | CAHE10011 | 20 | Optional |
Cities and Citizens | CAHE10232 | 20 | Optional |
Introduction to the History and Culture of Pharaonic Egypt | CAHE10651 | 20 | Optional |
Course content for year 2
You will be able to select from a range of specialist study options on specific issues in Film Studies and focus on aspects of American, British, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian or Spanish and Portuguese language cinema with a particular interest in questions of identity and representation - how have films perpetuated or subverted notions of gender, sexuality, national identity, ethnicity and class?
Explore the emergence of archaeology from antiquarianism, and the 'big ideas' from philosophy and theory - power and ideology, phenomenology and materialism - that help analyse past societies.
Course units for year 2
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Thinking Archaeology | CAHE20112 | 20 | Mandatory |
Doing Archaeology 2 | CAHE20501 | 20 | Mandatory |
Screen, Culture and Society | DRAM20041 | 20 | Mandatory |
Politics and Society in Classical Greece | CAHE20061 | 20 | Optional |
Introduction to Egyptian Hieroglyphs | CAHE20162 | 20 | Optional |
The Emergence of Civilisation: Palaces, Peak Sanctuaries, and Politics in Minoan Crete | CAHE20332 | 20 | Optional |
Artefacts and Interpretation | CAHE20362 | 20 | Optional |
Roman Women in 22 Objects | CAHE20531 | 20 | Optional |
Dealing with the Dead: The Archaeology of Death and Burial | CAHE20721 | 20 | Optional |
Contemporary British Cinema | DRAM20032 | 20 | Optional |
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Course content for year 3
Gain an understanding of the power of the past and the importance of heritage in the modern world, addressing the issues faced by archaeologists.
You can also choose to undertake an in-depth piece of solo research on the topic of your choice, whether in Film Studies or Archaeology
You may undertake a Dissertation in a film-related topic.
Course units for year 3
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology Dissertation | CAHE30000 | 40 | Optional |
The Emergence of Civilisation: Palaces, Peak Sanctuaries, and Politics in Minoan Crete | CAHE30332 | 20 | Optional |
Artefacts and Interpretation | CAHE30362 | 20 | Optional |
Dealing with the Dead: The Archaeology of Death and Burial | CAHE30721 | 20 | Optional |
The Roman Army and the North-West Frontiers | CAHE30881 | 20 | Optional |
Dissertation in Drama/Film (Semester One) | DRAM30001 | 20 | Optional |
Dissertation in Drama/Film (Semester Two) | DRAM30002 | 20 | Optional |
Docufiction Filmmaking | DRAM30061 | 40 | Optional |
Queer Bodies and the Cinema | DRAM30331 | 20 | Optional |
Social Lives of Cinema | DRAM30842 | 20 | Optional |
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Facilities
Study with us and you'll have exclusive access to award-winning learning resources, including some of the city's key cultural assets such as John Rylands Library, Manchester Museum and the Whitworth.
For Film Studies, the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama is a purpose-built creative facility that includes a flexible, fully equipped performance space, workshops, rehearsal rooms and screening rooms, as well as the Lenagan Library - our dedicated performing arts library.
In Archaeology, our dedicated archaeological laboratories contain a wide range of equipment you can use during your degree.
Get to grips with our extensive archaeological artefacts, ranging from the Early Palaeolithic to the 20th century.
Use microscopes, professional photography and measurement equipment, a 3D scanner and printer, and portable XRF to analyse and record artefacts.
Or try out our GPS equipment, total stations and drones when out in the field.
Learn how to combine these with software for digital illustrations GIS analysis of maps and spatial data and 3D digital models to enhance your analysis and understanding.
Throughout your degree, this equipment will be available for loan from our dedicated lab technician, who can also offer any extra training you need.
Our separate teaching and research labs are used for teaching thorough our degrees and are available for independent student study and research.
They also host our experimental archaeology group, which regularly meet to make and use types of artefacts from a range of archaeological periods.