Course director: Dr Aleksandra McClain
The MA in Medieval Archaeology is one of the most established post-graduate courses offered by the Department and lies at the heart of its research initiatives. It is designed to offer flexible learning for graduates of a range of disciplines, reflecting the material, sources and potential of the subject. It offers a wide range of opportunities for those who wish to extend and deepen their understanding and research experience of the medieval period. In addition to the detailed exploration of many aspects of material culture, students will also have the opportunity to study the buildings and landscapes of Britain and Northern Europe. The Department of Archaeology at York was one of the first to specialise in the medieval period and it continues to promote innovative approaches and research and this is reflected amongst staff in the department :
- Steve Ashby: specialises in artefacts and small finds, with particular interest in the Viking Age in Scotland, England, and Scandinavia, and a specialty in artefacts made of bone and antler. He is generally interested in the use of dress accessories in constructing identity, and biographies of artefacts.
- Tania Dickinson: specialises in the archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, with particular interests in burial practice and artefacts.
- Jonathan Finch: specialises in landscape studies and church archaeology. He has published articles on medieval and post-medieval landscapes, as well as commemoration and the construction of social identities.
- Kate Giles: the York Minster Archaeological Research Fellow, reponsible for carrying out and encouraging research on the standing fabric of the Minster and its estate. She specialises in the archaeology of buildings, particularly medieval and early modern 'public' architecture.
- Aleks McClain: specialises in the archaeology of churches, funerary monuments, and late-Saxon and Norman England. She has general interests in medieval northern England, elite social identity, and the relationships between landscape and religious material culture.
- Julian Richards: Head of Department, is a specialist in the archaeology of Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age England, especially mortuary behaviour and settlement evolution. He has recently completed a series of excavations at the Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian "productive" site at Cottam, and the Scandinavian cemetery at Heath Wood, Ingleby.
- Steve Roskams: particular interests in Roman and post-Roman archaeology, urban archaeology, and stratigraphic analysis.
- Soren Sindbaek: BEGINS JANUARY 2009. Specialises in the Viking Age in continental Europe and Scandinavia.
The programme also benefits from its involvement with the Centre for Medieval Studies, which is the foremost interdisciplinary research centre for the medieval period, and from ties with the internationally renowned Borthwick Institute for Historical Research, now attached to the University's J.B. Morrell Library.
The MA is structured around two compulsory, signature modules, which relate to the early and late medieval periods; two supplementary modules, which reflect the research interests of the staff within the Department and are drawn from other related masters programmes, such as Archaeological Information Systems, Buildings Archaeology, Field Archaeology, Historic Landscape Studies and Zooarchaeology; and four short (4-week) research skills modules, which are drawn from a list of options and are designed to enhance knowledge of theory, methods and practical skills; and the dissertation, with associated preparatory teaching. Some elements of the programme are delivered as lectures, but most teaching is conducted in small groups, seminars and tutorials, giving each student the opportunity to develop within a supportive and friendly environment.
The City of York is renowned for its rich medieval archaeology and, together with the varied resources of the surrounding countryside, which includes the many deserted medieval sites on the Yorkshire Wolds such as Wharram Percy. The architecture and landscape of York and Yorkshire offer a marvellous environment for the teaching of medieval studies.
Last updated by ANM; October 2008