MSc Archaeology
Dublin, Ireland
DURATION
1 up to 2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
EUR 22,600 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
Blended
* full time for non-EU students |fee per year EUR 9300 for EU students | part time fee per year EUR 11300 for non-EU students |fee per year EUR 5170 for EU students
Key Summary
Introduction
UCD School of Archaeology's MSc/GradDiploma in Archaeology is designed for students interested in the challenges and opportunities of 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, cultural heritage and archaeological management and conservation, museums and curation, academic research 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 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.
Ideal Students
Who should apply?
Full-Time Option Suitable For:
- Domestic (EEA) applicants: Yes
- International (Non-EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region: Yes
Part-Time Option Suitable For:
- Domestic (EEA) applicants: Yes
- International (Non-EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region: Yes
Admissions
Curriculum
Stage 1 Core Modules
- ARCH41390 | Masters Dissertation (2 Trimester duration: Spring-Summer)
- ARCH41170 | Material Culture
- ARCH41310 | Land / Landscape
- ARCH41270 | Archaeological Field Methods
Stage 1 Options - A) Minimum 2 of:
Students are required to take 30 credits in Options modules - 10 credits in Autumn Trimester and 20 credits in Spring Trimester. This can include Level 3 modules in Lists B & C, but no more than 10 credits at Level 3 within the MSc overall.
- ARCH41180 | Experimental Archaeology: Making, Understanding, Storytelling
- ARCH41240 | Heritage Management Challenges
- ARCH41250 | Nature & Culture: A Bridge
- ARCH31000 | Archaeology, People and Cultures in Extreme Environments
- ARCH31030 | Archaeology of Communities
- ARCH40850 | Practical Experimental Archaeology
- ARCH41340 | GIS, Cultural Heritage and Spatial Thinking
- ARCH41410 | Presenting & Managing Heritage
Stage 1 Options - B) Minimum 0 of:
Students may select a maximum of 10 credits from Level 3 modules in Lists B & C (if not previously taken). Due to capacity restrictions, registration for ARCH31010 is not available online - if you wish to take this module please contact the School of Archaeology using this Google Form.
- ARCH31010 | Human Osteoarchaeology
Program Outcome
The MSc Archaeology also offers students the opportunity to design their programmes from our diverse Level 4 modules in addition to selected modules from our L3 programme. This provides a pathway whereby students who remain undecided about 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 throughout human history.
On completion of this programme, a student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the distinctive challenges and opportunities of using archaeological methods and approaches to studying the past in its global context.
- Critically assess archaeological interpretations of different datasets.
- Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of key theoretical approaches and the history and context of archaeological interpretations.
- Understand how different field and laboratory skills and methods can be employed to answer key research questions in archaeology.
- Appropriately select and apply discipline-specific archaeological skills and approaches to resolve research problems and develop our understanding of past societies.
- Work within large or small teams and independently, leading and being led as appropriate.
- Formulate and conduct successful independent archaeological research.
- Effectively communicate archaeological knowledge using a variety of different approaches and platforms.
- Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of how archaeological knowledge is relevant to key contemporary issues.
- Be aware of the potential role of other disciplines in the sciences and humanities (e.g. historical sources) in studying and understanding the archaeology of the past.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
The MSc in Archaeology will provide you with the skills required to develop a career in the archaeological profession or the cultural heritage sector or to go on to further academic study. Transferable skill sets such as critical thinking and project design, management and completion will also provide you with an excellent grounding for future employment in other sectors. Graduates of this programme may progress to careers in:
- Further research, whether academic or professional
- Commercial archaeology and Cultural Resource Management (CRM)
- The Heritage sector
- State sector bodies (Museums, Archaeological Monuments Management)
- NGOs
- Education (Primary, Secondary, University/Higher Education institutions)
- Tourism and Public Engagement