MA(SocSci) Archaeology/Business Economics
About this course
Archaeology is the systematic study of the human past through the analysis of physical remains, from pottery sherds and stone tools to buried settlements, agricultural landscapes, and monumental structures. It asks how people lived, what they valued, how societies were organised, and how they changed over time, using methods that range from field excavation and laboratory analysis to remote sensing and computational modelling. Business economics brings a different analytical lens: the study of how economic forces shape the decisions of firms and individuals, and how markets, institutions, and incentives operate across different contexts. At Glasgow, combining these two subjects across four years produces graduates with an unusually broad analytical range. Archaeology trains you to work with incomplete evidence, to think carefully about interpretation, and to develop practical skills in fieldwork, artefact analysis, and research methods. Business economics gives you grounding in microeconomic theory, market analysis, and the tools of economic reasoning, alongside an understanding of how organisations function and make decisions. The combination may seem unlikely, but it reflects the reality that many careers draw on exactly this kind of range, the ability to think rigorously across different domains. The four-year programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner university and experience a different academic and cultural environment. Graduates go on to careers in cultural heritage management, museum work, government and policy, business and management, consulting, and research. The combination of research skills, analytical thinking, and economic literacy is valued in a wide range of professional contexts, from heritage organisations and planning authorities to commercial and public sector employers.
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