Student spotlights - Archaeology

Archaeology spotlight: Paula Levick

Individuals and communities are shaped by landscape and place. Archaeology enables us to read that relationship back over the generations, and has always been a favourite subject within the university adult education curriculum. Alumna Paula Levick tells of her ongoing experience in this fascinating field of study.

'I joined the RAF straight from school. On leaving, I took a degree with the Open University, which included certificate courses in archaeology offered as part of a collaborative scheme with Oxford University Department for Continuing Education.'

'I went on to complete the Department's Advanced Diploma in Archaeological Practice, the dissertation from which won the Royal Archaeological Institute Essay Prize for dissertations, co-sponsored by Current Archaeology Magazine. After an MSc at University College London, for which I was awarded a distinction, I returned to Oxford for a part-time DPhil in landscape archaeology.'

'Part-time study with the Department allowed me to begin a new career while continuing to gain qualifications. While completing my DPhil I worked for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and for West Berkshire Historic Environment Records Office. I have worked as a supervisor on the Oxford University Summer School excavations and continue to be employed on this project as a human remains specialist and post-excavation supervisor.'

'I also work as a Community Archaeology Project Officer on the East Oxford Archaeology and History Project, which is based in the Department for Continuing Education, for which I have a primary responsibility for geophysics and electronic survey, Geographical Information Systems, finds management and maintaining the project website.'

In 2011 Paula completed Oxford's first ever part-time DPhil in Archaeology.

Each year hundreds of people are drawn to Archaeology day schools or short courses, taught in the classroom or online. For some, this is their first experience of university.

Among this public audience are people who want to take their interest in archaeology further, and we offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in the subject, including a part-time DPhil. We work closely with Oxford's School of Archaeology - our focus on British archaeology complements theirs on world archaeology. We also have excellent links with the profession locally and nationally, and run a course on the Historic Environment for the profession in partnership with English Heritage.