Delivered by Swindon College, School of Art as part of the OBU Associate College Partnership.

This is a unique post-graduate programme operating in close association with English Heritage and The Association of Archaeological Illustrators and Surveyors.

The programme aims to extend the abilities of Archaeological or Art & Design graduates and/or practitioners with additional expertise as effective communicators and visual interpreters of historical and archaeological information

The graduates will have the critical sensibilities to practice in a specialist marketplace, sometimes as freelance practitioners or consultants or members of archaeological teams as Archaeological Illustrators, Graphic Artists, Scientific or Technical Artists/Officers, Post-excavation analysts

Additionally, graduates should be able to extend their abilities into related fields of endeavour including education, management, the media, heritage and cultural industries, museum display and historical and archaeological publication

The students will understand and be able to operate at the forefront of current academic and professional discipline, and question, extend or advance the boundaries of that knowledge through intensive examination and research.

This course is being delivered on the Swindon College Campus

Modules

Module 0: Induction - 0 credits

All postgraduate students will have an ‘Induction' period prior to the commencing of the formal sessions.
The purpose of this is to allow the student the opportunity to discover more about the way in which the course is to be delivered and assessed, the facilities, and the range of activities and services available to support study.

Module 1: Visual Studies (core) - 20 credits (assessment - 100% practical portfolio)

This Module is designed to enable the student to extend understanding and/or further develop an expertise in the application of a visual language. The student should be able to communicate through images with an exploration of appropriate graphic tools and media and to be able to analyse the effectiveness of the results.

Module 2: Research Studies (core) - 30 credits (assessment - 40% practical, 50% written, 10% oral)

This Module prepares and extends the student's capacity to undertake intensive analysis and critical review of topics associated with archaeological visualisation. It introduces the concepts of primary and secondary sourced research and contextualised reading, the interpretation of historical, contemporary and theoretical material and relevant methodologies to evaluate such references, establishing a balance between empirical, theoretical and practice-based elements. It aids the students in the processing of academic argument and the initiation and management of research tasks.

Module 3: Recording Studies (option A) - 40 credits (assessment - 100% practical portfolio)

This Module extends the student's expertise in the contexts of archaeological methods and requirements and their associations with the design process. Visual recording methods (either as drawings, mapping, sectioning, surveying or photographic) are developed, with the concentration on ‘finds' recording (wherein accurate and measured drawn records of artefacts are produced).

Module 4: Reconstruction Studies (option A) - 40 credits (assessment - 100% practical portfolio)

The visual interpretation of Man's activity based on archaeological and historical evidence forms the content of the work within this Module. Projects are negotiated between staff and students which concentrate on reconstructing the past in various ways (hand-crafted, computer drafted and/or 3D) and for various end-users - educational, scientific, journalistic, institutional, museum display and interpretation etc.

Module 5: Digital Applications (option B) - 30 credits (assessment - 100% practical portfolio)

Digital photography and computer aided imaging and drafting techniques constitute a major tool and media within archaeological research, evaluation and display. The uses of the computer and suitable software packages as an aid to archaeological illustration are investigated within this Module, from digital mapping to the 3D virtual animated ‘fly-through'.

Module 6: Information Design (option B) - 30 credits (assessment - 100% practical portfolio)

In this Module, students will look at the relationships between Archaeological Illustration and the contexts in which they are utilised / published / broadcast.

Module 7: Dissertation (option) - 60 credits (assessment - 10% practical, 90% written)

This part two option requires the student to undertake a research-based study, which represents an investigation in depth of one or more of the course themes. It is a requirement that the topic is focussed on a critical examination, through research and extended written work, of a subject, theme or issue which is of significance to the representation or interpretation of Man's activity in the past.

Module 9: Material Practice (option) - 60 credits (assessment - 70% practical, 20% written, 10% oral)

This part two option requires the student to undertake a research-based study (alongside an outside agency), which represents an investigation in depth of one or more of the course themes. The research outcome can be in the form of extended visual practice - in other words, Archaeological recording and/or reconstruction in suitable media, or novel extensions of digital imaging of archaeological/historical data. It is a requirement that such practical work adds to extant knowledge - that the ethos of ‘research' stipulates original discoveries or presentations.