Master of Arts in Classical Art and Archaeology Kings College London, UK

Our course offers you the opportunity to study Greek and Roman art and archaeology at one of the largest Classics departments in the UK. The course is intercollegiate with options taught at King’s, UCL and Royal Holloway and you can take advantage of our close links to the Institute of Classical Studies, one of the UK’s best Classical libraries.

It gives you the unique opportunity to acquire technical skills provided by optional modules in papyrology, epigraphy and palaeography.

It leads to further research or careers in education, journalism, finance, politics and the cultural sector.

Key benefits

• Study in one of the UK’s largest and oldest departments of Classics. Classics has been taught on the Strand for over 200 years.
• Classics at King’s ranked first in the UK for research excellence (REF 2021) and in the top five among UK Classics Departments in the QS World Rankings 2024.
• Unrivalled location for the study of the ancient world thanks to London’s unique range of specialist libraries, museums and galleries.
• Extraordinarily wide choice of modules, drawing on the resources of the whole of the University of London.

Through this Classical Art & Archaeology MA you will explores the relationship between humans and their visual and material environment in the ancient world. You will examine monuments, art, objects and the craft skills that produced archeologically significant works. Traditionally, classical archaeology has focused on the art history of Classical Greece and Italy but has more recently branched out geographically, chronologically and theoretically. All trends are well represented here at King’s where our expert staff cover an extraordinarily wide range of specialisms. These include Bronze Age Aegean, Late Antique and Byzantine archaeology and architecture, Roman frontiers, Persian monuments, Greek pottery and sculpture, Roman mosaics and inscriptions. Many other staff members employ art historical and archaeological methods in their work.

The course consists of a required core module, three to six optional modules and a dissertation. The first and last of these will provide you with concentrated training in research techniques and methodology in Classical art and archaeology. Besides purely archaeological topics, you may take modules from our master’s courses in Classics and the Ancient World, and Ancient History. You may also be able to take appropriate modules from other master’s courses at King’s.