The undergraduate concentration in Archaeology and the Ancient World provides students with an opportunity to explore the multi-faceted discipline of archaeology while examining the critical early civilizations of the so-called ‘Old World’– that is, the complex societies of the Mediterranean, Egypt, and Ancient Western Asia (roughly equivalent to the ancient Near East). The concentration, with its three distinct but overlapping tracks, is intended to allow students flexibility in structuring their own path through this diverse field of study. The concentration is also designed to allow students to build progressively upon what they have learned, moving from introductory courses to upper level seminars. Research opportunities, through summer fieldwork, museum experience, or independent study projects, are strongly encouraged.
With this concentration, the three tracks are: Archaeology and the Ancient World; Classical Archaeology; Egyptian and Ancient Western Asian Archaeology. Archaeology and the Ancient World is the most exploratory of the concentration tracks, and this option emphasizes material culture studies across the full spectrum of the ancient world. Classical Archaeology is intended for those interested chiefly in the ‘classic’ civilizations of the Mediterranean (Greece and Rome), as well as for those interested in both earlier (prehistoric) and later (medieval) periods in that geographic region. Egyptian and Ancient Western Asian Archaeology is intended for those interested chiefly in the cultures of Egypt and Ancient Western Asia (the ancient ‘Near East’ — Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia), from prehistoric through Islamic times.
Check our undergraduate pages for more about concentrating in Archaeology and the Ancient World, at http://brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/undergrad/req.html .