Visual and Material Culture of Ancient Rome MA

Explore our Visual and Material Culture of Ancient Rome taught Master's degree at Warwick

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P-V302

MA

1 year full-time;
2 years part-time

29 September 2025

Classics and Ancient History

University of Warwick

Warwick's Classics and Ancient History Department have designed this MA to focus on the history and material culture of Ancient Rome. Students will go to Rome during April and May for a programme of site visits and seminars.

Our Visual and Material Culture of Ancient Rome MA courses provide a thorough preparation in research techniques if you are considering further research in the fields of art, numismatics or epigraphy, or are working on an historical topic that involves the consideration of material evidence. It will also provide a detailed understanding of ancient visual and material culture to prepare you if you are aiming to enter a career in museums and curatorial work, or in education.

For the Visual and Material Culture of Ancient Rome MA, one module is taught by the British School, Rome, focusing on the history and material culture of Ancient Rome. Please note admission is subject to the discretion of the British School and cannot be guaranteed by Warwick.

Skills from this degree

The degree is designed to introduce you to major issues in the study of ancient material culture, and to key methodologies and approaches. It will help to develop your intellectual skills in the following areas:

• Ability to select and respond to particular methodological approaches when dealing with material culture
• Understanding of the ways in which material culture has been studied since antiquity
• Ability to present a structured chain of argument drawing together evidence into a cohesive whole
• Ability to select and apply appropriate problem-solving methodologies
• Ability to conduct independent research and analysis

It will also help to develop the following key transferable skills:

• Written and oral communication skills
• Organisational skills
• Ability to evaluate intellectual progress
• IT skills – word processing

This course is delivered in 10, two-hour seminars held weekly or fortnightly in terms one and/or two and assessed by a 5,000 word essay on a topic of your choice, decided upon negotiation with a member of academic staff.

Most seminars will comprise student-led presentations and discussion; others will take place in museums.

The BSR course is taught via site and museum visits and lectures, with students carrying out independent research in the BSR library.

Teaching methods used for language modules vary depending on the level, but run across all three terms.

The classes of the taught modules comprise 2-10 students and up to 15-20 for Language classes. This size allows teaching to be tailored according to the students’ interests.

For this course, the contact hours are six hours per week.

This includes face-to-face guidance to direct the students to identify their research topics and do their research. Additional hours are provided during the time in Rome.

Most modules (apart from language modules) are assessed by a 5,000-word essay on a topic of your choice, decided upon by negotiation with a member of academic staff. The dissertation will be a piece of work 15,000-20,000 words and built on the research carried out whilst on the programme.

Reading lists 

If you would like to view reading lists for current or previous cohorts of students, most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library on the Talis Aspire platformLink opens in a new window. 

You can search for reading lists by module title, code or convenor. Please see the modules tab of this page or the module catalogueLink opens in a new window.  

Please note that some reading lists may have restricted access or be unavailable at certain times of year due to not yet being published. If you cannot access the reading list for a particular module, please check again later or contact the module’s host department. 

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.

Applicants will need to have achieved or be expecting to achieve a firm 2:1 undergraduate degree in Classics/Ancient History/Archaeology or a relevant subject to be considered for entry.

• Band B
• IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Subject to demand, the options above usually run each year.

It is also possible to take an approved module from other Departments across the Faculty.

We have revised the information on this page since publication. See the edits we have made and content history.

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