College in the UK, Part 3 — Digging It
University College London, photo by stevecadman via Flickr
I am a third-year student at (University College London) UCL studying for a bachelor of arts degree in ancient history with an emphasis in Egyptology. My degree is joint between the history and archaeology departments, which means that I get to study the past from both the physical remains and from the written evidence. I enjoy this combined approach; it brings the past alive and has given me a new perspective on the usages and limitations of both types of sources. It also means I have more varied courses and assignments. Archaeology courses usually involve several trips to museums and tend to be examined primarily by coursework, and, as well as writing essays, we have to produce reviews of museum displays and interpretations of artifacts; whereas my history courses involve a mixture of essay writing and exams.
My courses have focused on the Ancient Near East and the early civilisations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. I have also taken a couple of courses on Ancient Roman and Greek society. I have studied two ancient languages, Akkadian and Middle Egyptian, as part of my course. I love being able to write in hieroglyphs; a very rare talent and a good pub trick! I spent the Summer of 2009 digging on a Roman site in southern England. Very enjoyable, indeed.
London is an amazing city in which to study, with so many resources on our doorstep. I regularly go to the British Library and British Museum, and I also attend lectures by The London Centre for the Ancient Near East, at which academics discuss their projects. Life in London is fantastic as well; there are so many free events on and places to explore! Coming from a very small town, it was quite a shock to me at first, but now I really miss the energy of the city whenever I leave. In first year, I lived in University of London, rather than just UCL halls, which meant I got to meet a wide mix of people. My best friends include an art historian at the Courtauld Institute, a physicist at Imperial College and a medic at Queen Mary’s University. I also have made many friends through the UCL Amnesty Society and UCL Ancient History Society.
Although I began this course expecting to complete the three years and go on to become a teacher or civil servant, I have fallen in love with UCL and with my degree so much that I am now hoping to continue to do a master’s degree here.
Jennifer Hicks
BA student, Ancient History & Egyptology
University College London
“College in the UK” is a series of op-ed articles written by guest contributors about academics, social life and what is unique about colleges and universities in the United Kingdom compared to American schools. As part of the first installment of this occasional special series, we invited contributions from university professors and students at UCL (University College London). The 2011 UCAS application deadline, which includes applications to UCL, is January 15th.
