23rd July 2013, 06:52 PM
Unitof1 Wrote:it sounds more like bonesgirl should have done a museum conservation degree from the outset. What should be questioned is why anybody should think that these trumpeted up masters are any good. also why is it that some unis try to make conservation some post grad ripoff -ucl and others start with the undergraduate Cardiff. Out of interest bonegirl have you got any science "A" levels.
I don't have any A levels if I'm brutally honest, I went from school straight into work and from there after some time to my undergrad as a mature student. I'm starting a 4 month long distance chemistry course in september which will get me the last thing I need to get onto my masters course.
I did the archaeology degree because when I first started I wasn't entirely sure what my end game was. I was in a dead end job with no chance of progressing and had had enough of call centres and such.
While on one side you maybe right that doing a museum course from the outset was a possibility, the archaeology has I felt given me useful tools for other things such as an understanding of stratification and harris matrices, moderate understanding of human bones and charred seed/plant remains. Furthermore from my placement year I heard from several museums that having front of house staff who were also archaeologists would be beneficial especially places such as Jorvik as they can bring a deeper understanding to the role and the explanation of excavations and so forth.
So while yes I see myself working in museums in the long run I feel the degree as well as the placement year at Bradford has given me some arsenal that if I had gone straight into museum work I may not have had.