Contemporary Issues and Debates in Archaeology

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• how contemporary social, political and economic contexts influence contemporary theory-building and archaeological practice;
• a range of current inferential, social and critical archaeological thinking;
• the links between archaeology and other disciplines including anthropology, philosophy, sociology, human geography, postcolonial studies and behavioural science.
• the nature of archaeological practice as an often contested activity in the present;

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• demonstrate written communication skills;
• gather information from a variety of sources, analyse and evaluate it critically.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• identify appropriate theoretical tools to plan and carry out research for the dissertation in Year 3;
• undertake data collection, synthesis and presentation.
• employ analytical skills appropriate to the study of social archaeology;

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• apply aspects of current archaeological thought to archaeological examples;
• critically interrogate the social and political role of archaeological practice;
• demonstrate written communication skills;
• appreciate the contested nature of the past, the variety of values placed upon it, and the sensitivity of academic research.
• critically evaluate key themes and debates in social archaeology;

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.