Archaeology in UCD

Jay Pentatonic

Hey, I was doing landscape architecture in ucd last year, but that didn't really work out.
I'm now gonna do archaeology in Sep, but now I'm having second thoughts.
Yeah, it looks really interesting & everything, but i'm not sure if I'll be any good at it. I mean, I didn't even do History for the L.C. :eek: but I did do classical studies & got a B3...just essay writing was never a huge strong point for me
So, should this be a thing I should be doing?

I'd also like to know people's experience with this course as well, & what you thought of it, that'll help a bit

Oh yeah, how do you exactly get started off after it?

moretothegirl

Jay1989 wrote: »

Hey, I was doing landscape architecture in ucd last year, but that didn't really work out.
I'm now gonna do archaeology in Sep, but now I'm having second thoughts.
Yeah, it looks really interesting & everything, but i'm not sure if I'll be any good at it. I mean, I didn't even do History for the L.C. :eek: but I did do classical studies & got a B3...just essay writing was never a huge strong point for me
So, should this be a thing I should be doing?

I'd also like to know people's experience with this course as well, & what you thought of it, that'll help a bit

Oh yeah, how do you exactly get started off after it?

hi there, i have just finished my final year in ucd studying archaeology as a joint major degree. first off, the fact you didnt do history will have absolutely no bearing on this degree. i did history for the leaving cert and it is completely different. the modules focus in on ancient history, so your classics might help you out but history wouldnt have!
in first year you do it along with 2 (or possibly 3) other subjects, so by all means you could take classics (greek and roman civilisations) along with archaeology and see how you find that as well!

if your worried about it i suggest getting in contact with the department, they are pretty nice people in there and most of the lecturers are down to earth and would be happy to advise you on anything.

have you read about the different modules you will be taking yet? if not you can read up on them here : https://myucd.ucd.ie/programme_info/archaeology.ezc

the only thing that might cause slight trouble is the fact that you say your not good at essays because most of the modules do involve essay submissions, but if i was totally honest with you i would say that i dont think it is a problem for you. first year offers great guidance about how to approach archaeology essays and you have great tutors available to help. similarly, i went into archaeology with a great ability to do english and history leaving cert essays, but because i was used to approaching them with a very functional attitude (i used to literally break them up paragraph by paragraph and apply a certain structure to all my essays) i ran into difficulty and had to reframe my mind regarding essay writing. basically, if anything i think you will be better off!

hope this makes sense and actually helps !

IxM

In fairness iv always wanted to do Archaeology, but doing it in UCD was the best move iv ever made. The course is excellent and everyone starts on an equal footing, leaving cert. history means nothing at all in fairness:D
The past year we've gone on field Trip's to Tara, there's a project you have to undertake in the national museum, its just really a hands on course, especially when you spend a tutorial viewing Weapons from hundred's/thousands of years ago:)
As for essays, in 3 of the modules i took you had 2 essays in each to do. But tutors and lecturers practically push the necessary reading towards you for them and help you along with you're progress. They tend to be only around 1500 words Max. and youve around 4/5 weeks to prepare them (or 4 or 5 nights if youre in club xxi's too much )
Anyway cant wait for second year to come up

Jay Pentatonic

Thanks for the info!:) it seems a little less intimidating now, I just have another quick question,

Is it true it's going to be VERY difficult to find a job in archaeology in Ireland in a matter of years? So, that means I'd have to travel a lot? that's not a bad thing ( it's an extremely good one for me in fact). but it's just the course seems to be very heavily focused on the whole celtic area...would that sort of limit me in travelling elsewhere?
I mean, I'm sure being an expert on celtic Ireland wouldn't be much use in areas like asia & south america...

Yeah, I know, that's a bit of a tough question. If you can't really answer just let me know some time soon, & i'll just ask the people in UCD on Monday.

Thanks anyway!

IxM

Archaeology in UCD is global, in fairness you'll learn from the start there's only a bit that Ireland comes in use for, mainly celtic/Viking/Middle Ages. But like this year 2 of my Modules we're heavily based on Europe, some even stretching to the middle east and one module deals with evolution from Africa to China/Europe.
Also as for job's, thats the arguement my folks are giving me at the minute, but commercial archaeology is only getting popular the past 2 decades, plus as soon as theres another boom in the economy every bit of land being turned into a motorway etc has to be evaluated by archaeologists. In fairness i'd say im looking into leacturing/specialising in a topic anyway

moretothegirl

im so glad your a bit more reassured about it now as i completely believe if you want it you should just go for it! as i said, iv just graduated now and to be honest most of the modules do focus in on europe, i guess thats natural as the modules are taught by lecturers who are specialising in that certain area and i guess we are more open to european lecturers etc. to be honest europe has such a strong archaeological past that i dont think you would have a problem because i can only imagine all degrees in archaeology need to deal with europe no matter where the college is. europe really has an abundance of archaeology. having said that, there is such a great choice between modules for second and third year that im sure you could find modules on different areas also.

with regards to your question on employment, i have to say that there are really no jobs anywhere at the moment which is why im such a firm believer in riding this recession out as a student and gaining as much education as possible so that when the economy does recover we will be in a better position anyway.
i believe that there will definitely be a pick up in jobs by the time you graduate in the commercial sector once the economy picks up as it is very tied in with the construction industry. also, there is a huge problem within archaeology that lies with the fact that because we have had such a boom over the last decade, we are left with a huge backlog of reports etc that need to be written and evidence that needs to be studied. because of this i think that there will be a great amount of jobs created to sort this problem because it will eventually just become to late, which would mean we will lose decades of work.

the ba is a great degree as it gives you a great comprehensive degree in general archaeology, but dont forget that once you have graduated you are open to many masters courses across the country (or globe). its really at masters level that you can truely pick an area of interest and get expertise in that section.

Riamfada

IxM wrote: »

Also as for job's, thats the arguement my folks are giving me at the minute, but commercial archaeology is only getting popular the past 2 decades, plus as soon as theres another boom in the economy every bit of land being turned into a motorway etc has to be evaluated by archaeologists. In fairness i'd say im looking into leacturing/specialising in a topic anyway

Be aware however that your parents have a point. When people say "there is no jobs in the archaeology sector at the moment" they mean no jobs. The remaining jobs in the commercial sector are highly contested by applicants while the government departments are currently downsizing and even if this recession lifts employment levels will not rise to pre 2008 levels ever again. This is pretty much accepted. The excavation jobs you may be lucky enough to get usually are based on week and month contracts rather than yearly.

If you wish to stay in academics thats just as competitive. A BA and an MA will take you a minimum of 4 years while a phd will continue for another 3-4. Thats a long time in poverty! Coupled with the fact that a phd does not land you a lecturing job right away (but you will be able to tick the Dr box on the social welfare forms :P) . Be wary of this.

Not trying to put you off but you really have to love archaeology to survive in it! Currently Im looking for archaeological work at the moment along with many of my postgraduate and director friends and almost all of us have branched into different industries. For the time being at least.

Raemie

Im going into second year and i was thinking of taking an elective in archaeology. Im a bit nervous since my entire knowledge of the subject comes from watching time team, plus my elective experiments last year didnt go very well! I do history though, so do ye have any advice? How difficult is it to do well?

moretothegirl

Raemie wrote: »

Im going into second year and i was thinking of taking an elective in archaeology. Im a bit nervous since my entire knowledge of the subject comes from watching time team, plus my elective experiments last year didnt go very well! I do history though, so do ye have any advice? How difficult is it to do well?

do the exploring archaeology first year module as an elective. it involves an easy exam at christmas and 2 field trips with associated workbooks to fill out. its very easy to get a good grade in and is actually a really nice and fun course

blingBabe

Grimes wrote: »

Be aware however that your parents have a point. When people say "there is no jobs in the archaeology sector at the moment" they mean no jobs. The remaining jobs in the commercial sector are highly contested by applicants while the government departments are currently downsizing and even if this recession lifts employment levels will not rise to pre 2008 levels ever again. This is pretty much accepted. The excavation jobs you may be lucky enough to get usually are based on week and month contracts rather than yearly.

If you wish to stay in academics thats just as competitive. A BA and an MA will take you a minimum of 4 years while a phd will continue for another 3-4. Thats a long time in poverty! Coupled with the fact that a phd does not land you a lecturing job right away (but you will be able to tick the Dr box on the social welfare forms :P) . Be wary of this.

Not trying to put you off but you really have to love archaeology to survive in it! Currently Im looking for archaeological work at the moment along with many of my postgraduate and director friends and almost all of us have branched into different industries. For the time being at least.

There will be projects starting up in the next few months at a few centres around the country. as soon as I hear of them I will post the relevant details.

I agree that it is a long hard haul to gain the PhD and that there are fewer teaching posts than there are digging ones !! But if you show you have an aptitude for tutoring etc. you will find that the heads of departments will nurture that. I was put under pressure to continue into a PhD and am sorry I didn't now. I just did the MLitt

IxM

Honestly i wouldnt be looking to do a major in it now going back this year if i thought it was the easy way out. At this stage id rather see myself struggle kinda in the future doing something i love than doing 9 -5 something i hate. But by the end of the course i have already made sure i have h-dip open to me thanks to a History minor if all else fails. hopefully not, i mean the country doesnt exactly need another teacher.:p:D

Saabdub

Grimes wrote: »

Coupled with the fact that a phd does not land you a lecturing job right away (but you will be able to tick the Dr box on the social welfare forms :P) . Be wary of this.
.

Look at those lecturing on Irish archaeology in Irish Universities and you'll see that an Irish PhD doesn't land you a lecturing job at all!

If you're going to do a PhD do yourself a favor, skip the Irish MA and get yourself into a decent British University and then you might have some chance of a lecturing job in Ireland when you're about 26-30. Failing that you might have a chance at something in the UK. An Irish PhD is a complete waste of time.

Fletch123

Saabdub- but why is an Irish Phd a waste as opposed to any other ones? Do you mean that the expertise and facilities offered by Irish Universities aren't as good as UK Universities and so cannot support Phd students as well as they should?

I think if you're planning on doing a postgrad in archaeology with a view to attempting to make this your career go the UK, specialise in something like osteo, pollen, geo phys or even medieval roof tiles- basically some area which is lacking in Ireland. If you do this you have better in odds in getting employed when (if) things do pick up.

chrissor

I just completed my first year of archaeology in UCD as part of a BSc in Archaeology and Geology.

I really enjoyed the first year, nothing was particularly difficult but I'm guessing this will change come september. I cant wait for Field Archaeology that begins in a months time!

Saabdub

Fletch123 wrote: »

Saabdub- but why is an Irish Phd a waste as opposed to any other ones? Do you mean that the expertise and facilities offered by Irish Universities aren't as good as UK Universities and so cannot support Phd students as well as they should?

.

I mean that if your aim is to be employed as a lecturer in archaeology by an Irish University you have a better chance if your degree is from a non-Irish English-speaking University. Don't take my word for it just look at who has been employed in the last decade and who awarded them the degrees. Apart from two individuals who got lectureships with MAs I don't know of any Irish PhD who has been appointed since some time back in the 90s. At one point in the early part of this decade in one competition UCD didn't shortlist a single candidate with an Irish PhD degree and a number had applied.

Fletch123

I know this is going more than a bit off topic- apologies OP- but Saabdub would it not be the subject matter of the Phd rather than the institution it was gotten from? I agree with you in that people should diversify as much as possible wit postgrads. Also, are your stats only relating to UCD?

robp

Archaeology is such a small part of Irish Universities.
Compared to other compared to other academic departments they are minute, unusually comprising of a small numbers of staff. Any glance at their websites will confirm this. I don't think their can be any hard and fast rules when it comes to getting a position. The numbers are too small to draw up any typical career path. This is increasingly true for many of the humanities. People who have secured jobs do seem to have been lucky to be available at the right place at the right time to fulfill those occasional skills shortages.


Offhand I can think of at least one lecturer who got a position in UCC with just a Irish MA with in the last few years. I do think that traveling to specialize for a postgrad does show a degree of commitment and dedication to ones area. This must be advantageous for any academic position regardless of field.