Digital Media & Information Studies/Archaeology

Digital media and information studies explores the creation, use, and impact of digital content and information in the arts, humanities, and society at large. It brings a human perspective to the issues of the digital age, examining how digital technologies change the way we communicate, access knowledge, consume culture, and organise collective life. Archaeology, meanwhile, is the study of how people in the past interacted with their world through the material traces they left behind, including objects, sites, monuments, and landscapes.

The two disciplines connect across their shared interest in how information is created, preserved, transmitted, and interpreted, with digital methods increasingly transforming archaeological practice.

At the University of Glasgow, this joint degree is studied part-time and includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to engage with both digital media cultures and archaeological traditions from an international perspective. In digital media and information studies, you will examine the theoretical frameworks for understanding digital culture and the practical dimensions of how digital content is created and used. In archaeology, you will develop skills in fieldwork, material culture analysis, and the interpretation of the archaeological record from a range of periods and regions.

The intersection of the two subjects is a particularly lively area of contemporary practice, as digital tools transform excavation, survey, and heritage communication.

The combination of digital media understanding and archaeological knowledge is valuable across a range of professional contexts. Graduates pursue careers in museums and heritage organisations, where digital engagement with collections and sites is increasingly central, as well as in archives, libraries, publishing, arts administration, and media. The digital skills component opens additional routes into content creation, information management, user experience, and cultural technology roles.

Those interested in the archaeological side of the degree may pursue roles with heritage bodies, planning authorities, or community archaeology projects. Postgraduate study in digital humanities, heritage studies, archaeology, or information science is a natural next step for those wishing to specialise.