The new African Studies degrees at UCL draw on world-leading research and expertise from across the university relating to the study of Africa. The African Studies with Heritage MA draws on UCL's expertise in archaeology, anthropology and heritage studies to provide an essential background to African pasts and provides a critical framework for assessing the management and protection of heritage resources in Africa. The degree pathways share a common core, comprising modules on the continent’s political and economic past and present, together with training in research methods. In addition, the Heritage pathway offers a range of optional modules drawn from the Departments of Anthropology, Archaeology and Geography, and includes research into museums and sites, intangible heritage, local community histories, archaeology, and the presentation and preservation of cultural materials. African Studies marks the first time existing expertise on Africa at UCL has been combined to offer an interdisciplinary degree. The programme interweaves the study of the pre-colonial past, the colonial era, and the post-colonial present, with an eye to the future. Modules are arranged thematically around ‘debates’, with lectures presenting a long-term view of issues to frame subsequent seminar discussions. Graduates will be well placed to take up positions with national and international policy-making bodies, non-governmental development organisations, within national ministries and in the heritage/museums sector.