Discover, explore and question the past and present

Humanities

Receive an education for the future

The Faculty of Humanities consists of the following four Schools:

Within the Schools, we offer a wide range of disciplines, from Medieval Studies to Archaeology, from Classical Studies to Ancient History, from Chinese Studies to Creative Writing, and from Philosophy to Theology.

Some of the subjects that we offer are widely offered at Schools and Sixth Form Colleges: English, History, Religious Studies, and increasingly Philosophy. Others, however, may well be entirely new. Not many applicants will have had the opportunity to study Classical Studies, Ancient History, Anthropology, Theology, or Chinese Studies before.

Although the majority of students study for a Single Honours programme of study, many study for programmes of study that combine one or more disciplines, such as the popular Archaeology and Ancient History degree scheme. Studying for a Joint Honours degree scheme allows students to study two closely related disciplines or combine one discipline that is familiar with a new one. Some programmes of study, such as the BA in Ancient Civilisations span the entire Faculty, allowing students to take advantage of expertise throughout all its Schools.

All programmes of study, however, offer the opportunity to discover areas that you will never have studied before.

Field, site and museum trips are an important and integral part of many of our programmes of study, allowing our students to explore sites within close proximity of the Lampeter campus, on which the Faculty is predominantly based, and much further afield. There are, for example, important prehistoric sites, Roman gold mines, Celtic sites, medieval castles, remains of monasteries, and non-conformist chapels close by. The imposing landscape offers many opportunities for marine and environmental archaeology. Trips and digs further afield lead students to the Mediterranean, Middle East, China, and throughout the UK and offer opportunities to engage with conservation and preservation issues; study abroad opportunities are available with universities and colleges in Europe and Northern America.

Although many of the Faculty’s disciplines deal with the past, many, such as History or Islamic Studies, are also highly relevant for the major problems and issues that the world faces today. All our disciplines are exciting, fascinating and thought provoking explore important questions. Whatever you have chosen to study, the teaching methods used are modern and staff within several of our Schools have won national awards for their innovative teaching. Most importantly, however, we are still able to offer you a personalised experience that prepares you for a sustainable future. You will receive an education that offers you a wide range of options after you have completed your programme of study with us.

While some of our programmes have a strong vocational element (e.g. Archaeology, Creative Writing), all programmes have embedded employability within the curriculum. They encourage students to be analytical and autonomous thinkers and to question what is studied.

In addition, they also ensure that, while students study the subjects that they love, they also acquire the many skills that are needed for future careers. Students within the Faculty develop, for example, communication skills through presentations, team working and interpersonal skills as a result of group projects, problem solving skills and flexibility through the completion of projects and portfolios with very tight deadlines, and strong IT skills. According to the Wales Employment and Skills Board, ‘Employers prize these skills, often above more technical or directly job-related ones.’

Hands-on experience is also offered by the Roderic Bowen collection, the University’s major and invaluable collection of manuscripts and through the possibility of including museum and archive experiences, practical field work skills, work placements and tasters, for example in the Heritage, tourism and education sectors, internships, and volunteering opportunities, within programmes of study.

Dr Mirjam Plantinga
Dean
Faculty of Humanities

For further information contact

Dean of Faculty of Humanities
Dr Mirjam Plantinga
Tel: 01570 424911
E-mail: m.plantinga@trinitysaintdavid.ac.uk