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I did a MSc in AIS at York last year with the hope it might make me more employable. I was wrong.
The course itself was alright but the order in which the modules were taught was, in my opinion, backwards. The skills employers ask for - AutoCAD, GIS and VR (VR isn't really asked for but is still a good skill to have) - were all taught at the same time we were meant to be starting our dissertations. In the first term heavy emphasis was placed on digital data preservation, and programming. There was a bit of work on databases but Access was briefly covered then we were thrown into SQL, Oracle and ColdFusion. I can see how these skills may be helpful but there just wasn't enough time to learn two programming languages in order to manipulate an obscure Oracle database!
The quality of the teaching was okay. Didn't help having the supervisor go on sabbatical from January-June, which is when major dissertation decisions were made.
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Hmmmmmm! this is one of the problems that i think we all suffer from. we let our interests rule our brains. we think that just by getting the degree that we will be employed, not the case though is it.
deep
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Idontdodinos raises an interesting point here. Having done my degree as a mature student I realised that my digging shelf life may be limited and therefore I should attempt to "specialise". I have given serious thought to undertaking an MSc in GIS in Archaeology, my twisted logic telling me that this would make me far more employable (hopefully in a more secure job than fieldwork offers). However, in the last year I have seen only one job advertised looking for someone with GIS experience, of course I may have missed others? I am now questioning the idea of expanding my horizons in this way, is it worth the expense and further debt to put myself in the frame for jobs that are extremely thin on the ground? A bit disheartening to say the least.
Penfold
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Penfold - No GIS is possibly a good idea. All the curatorial council jobs have it in their specifications, and through experience I can say that this is highly regarded. Certainly more highly regarded than relevant field experience at an appropriate level, as evidenced by the stupid things Dev Control archaeologists regularly specify in their nonsense briefs. So, personally I would greatly appreciate it if you got a job somewhere near me. It would be nice to be monitored by someone who knows what archaeology looks like away from a VDU. Not that I'm bitter or anything.... Good luck!
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Currently at Bradford, as everyone has said the city could leave a bit to be desired to put it nicely, but the department is great and all the lecturers seem pretty happy to help you if you want to do a bit of specialist work outside of the course.
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as long as you buy and read their books!
deep
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Quote:quote:Originally posted by deepdigger
as long as you buy and read their books!
deep
Too true Deep, I refused point blank to buy one lecturers books, didnt see why I should help finance his kids education when he constantly shortchanged us on ours!
Penfold
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I went out of my way not to buy any if i could.
deep
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If i liked the lecturer i'd buy the book if i thought it was an interesting subject and the type of book i'd buy normally. My person tutor is such a top guy, he puts much more emphasis on practical things, and was a field archaeologist for ages. He has jointly written a few books on a subject that i absolutely love..so i buy them
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I actually asked a Prof how I could get hold of one of her books (on a topic I was interested in) and was told that it was overpriced so not worth it. Hows that for honesty!
